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Challenging Careers With A Civil Engineering Degree

The word Engineer covers a very wide range of disciplines. It's likely that you're looking for a chance to contribute technically and creatively if you want to get into either aero engineering or auto engineering. In the UK, the aerospace industry competes on the world stage, and is a front runner in scientific and technological developments. When it comes to the automotive industry, over 300,000 people in the UK are employed in design, development and manufacturing.

Courses Of Repute

You'll find a very high concentration of aero and auto engineering based undergraduate degree courses in the UK - many with international reputations. Graduates can also follow on and take a PhD or MSc if they wish. (Other colleges and institutions offer training in the subjects as well). University students can choose from full-time three, four or five year courses, some with a year out in industry or at an alternative overseas university or learning establishment.

There may also be options for part-time study in some educational establishments. If you're prepared to agree to work for a particular organisation following graduation, you may be able to negotiate a sponsorship deal. It really is good advice to do your research thoroughly, as there are such a lot of alternatives to consider.

The Automotive Industry

All cars, bikes, coaches and heavy goods vehicles come under the remit of auto engineering. As well as the traditional disciplines, automotive engineers now need to incorporate electronics, safety and software engineering into their skill-sets. As standards are constantly set to improve to accommodate global issues, new technologies such as ultra low emissions are being introduced.

Let's take a look at the engineering stages we go through in the production of a vehicle. Product or design engineers will first design all the parts and test them to make sure they perform properly. The second discipline is covered by development engineers, who engineer all the features of the vehicle. Designers sometimes need developers to specify criteria for their designs. Their work is then given to the manufacturing engineers, who establish how the vehicle will be built.

There's a terrific amount of knowledge for an automotive engineering student to learn. Subjects will include performance, ergonomics, emissions, fuel economy, aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics to name but a few. Auto engineers must be fully conversant with safety engineering - so tests are done for example to check resistance to rollover, seat belt and air bag functionality and front and side crash impacts.

Whilst each individual system has to perform its job properly, it also has to complement the rest of the vehicle. So an understanding of development engineering is necessary. Sometimes systems or components have conflicting aims, and a trade-off has to be made to deliver both satisfactorily. In the end, developers must have carried out sufficient checks and tests to verify that the finished automobile will be street legal and in line with the manufacturers' demands.

The next stage of course is to work on the manufacture of the vehicle. Manufacturing engineering is involved with a wide assortment of tasks related to the planning and engineering of assembly. The responsibilities of these engineers specifically include machine design and layout, and project management of every stage of the assembly.

The Aerospace Industry

Aeronautical engineers are involved in the research, design, manufacture and maintenance of all forms of aircraft. If you are very analytical by nature and have a great capacity for highly technical and innovative thinking, you could do very well building a career for yourself in the aerospace industry. (That said, engineers working in Formula One use aerospace technology too!)

Modern aeroplanes have to undergo many severe conditions in order to safely negotiate the skies. Due to the complexity of flight vehicle development and design, it would be impossible to learn enough about all the technologies involved, so teams of engineers deal in their own specialisations.

With a strong emphasis on analytics, training will include all aspects of design, materials, forces and integration of systems. Lectures will be given on subjects such as fluid mechanics, with laboratory sessions to back them up.

In recent years advances in computing mean that simulations can be used to test the behaviour of fluid, which lessens the need for expensive wind tunnel research. All the same, students shouldn't miss out on aeronautical projects that carry out tests in wind tunnels.

Practical application is an important element of training to be an engineer. Degree course students will have a practical group assignment at some stage to design their own functional vehicle. Aeronautical and Automotive Student Engineers are often also taught a variety of soft skills that will be useful for their career. Such areas as time-management, writing skills and presenting can all help at interview.

Highly skilled engineering professionals can pursue a variety of extremely rewarding career opportunities that involve leading-edge technology. For information about joining a professional body upon completion of your training, refer to the Engineering Council, or SARTOR (the Standards and Routes to Registration).