Engineering is one of the most popular career options for many students across the world.
There are many engineering branches you can choose like computer science engineering civil engineering mechanical engineering and chemical engineering.
But not a lot of people know that there is also one less popular engineering branch called aerospace engineering.
So in this article let’s take a look at what is aerospace engineering and aeronautical engineering and also look at some advantages and disadvantages of aerospace engineering to decide whether it is a good career option or not.
So let’s jump right in.
Table of Contents
What is aerospace engineering?
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the design, development, testing, and production of aircraft, spacecraft, and related systems and equipment.
The field has traditionally focused on problems related to atmospheric and space flight, with two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering.
Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons of aerospace engineering in detail.
Pros and cons of aerospace engineering
Pros of aerospace engineering
1. Good pay
The first and main advantage of aerospace engineering is that you can make a decent money from this profession.
According to bureau of labour statistics the average salary of a aerospace engineer is 118,610$ per year which converts into $58 per hour.
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists earn on average 68000$ salary per annum which converts into 33$ per hour.
And according to payscale, the average earning of an aerospace engineer in India is 815000 rupees per annum.
Obviously you can earn more money with more skills and knowledge and your salary will also be dependent upon which company hired you and your overall experience in the field.
2. Create New technology with your creativity
Another big advantage of aerospace engineering is that you can work on to create new technology and innovate new things in aircrafts.
Your creativity and problem solving skills will play a huge role to thrive in this career.
So if you are a creative person and like to learn new things everyday, have good problem solving skills then this can be a good career option for you.
3. Key role in developing aircrafts
Another important advantage of aerospace engineering is that it can play a key role in development of aircrafts.
And we all know the importance of airplanes and aircraft in our daily life.
Aeroplane is not just important for transportation of goods for trading or winning a battle against an enemy in war but also for moving to new places faster and it plays a huge role in the development of any country.
Because of such a huge contribution of aeroplanes in our daily life your job can be extremely satisfying in your life.
A Survey of career Explorer from aerospace engineers have done which shows that, aerospace engineers rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 34% of careers.
You can also find a purpose and meaning in your life through this job because at the end of the day your ideas and innovation can help by adding value to millions of people not just today but of tomorrow as well.
But at the end of the day the amount of satisfaction and happiness you can find in your job will depend upon you and it is a very subjective thing.
4. Wide & broad career
Another big advantage of this career is that you can work in a wide variety of career options and industries.
You can work in,
- Defence and armed forces to work on helicopters, fighter jets, bombers, missiles and drones
- You can work in Aviation department in the maintenance, design, development of aeroplanes in the airport
- You can also work as astronautical engineer for the maintenance of satellites, space crafts and improve the communication system and radars, building rockets, launch vehicles, etc
In all these different sectors there are many companies where you can work for example in defence,
You can work in Indian army or with private companies or government organisations like ISRO, BDL, HAL, DRDO in-building helicopters and missiles at the same time,
you can work in aviation department in companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, blue origin and Airbus, etc
you can also work as an astronautical engineer in NASA or ISRO or even spacex.
Because of such a wide variety of job opportunities you can choose any one industry and sector,
you can work in multiple companies and gain much exposure, meet new people and increase your network and connections and gain experience from it.
5. Demanding job
Another big advantage of this career option is that it is quite demanded career.
For Example according to the bureau of labour statistics the average job growth of this profession is 8% between the timeline of 2020 to 2030.
As a matter of fact at present you can find more than 730 jobs on Glassdoor related to aerospace engineering in India.
At the same time the artificial intelligence and robots cannot completely replace this career.
The reason is because this career option requires problem solving skills and creativity in order to come up with new ideas and innovation which artificial intelligence
cannot acquire at any cost but repetitive tasks in the manufacturing unit can get replaced by robots to increase the speed and efficiency from aerospace engineers.
At the same time apart from your job you can also get many other benefits like health insurance and paid leaves from your company.
These are all the advantages of this career.
Cons of aerospace engineering
1. Work Load
The main disadvantage of this career option is that it can have a lot of work load and it can also sometimes be a very stressful profession.
On average aerospace engineers work around 40 to 50 hours per week.
This job can be stressful because you sometimes have to work over the board and limit yourself in order to complete the tasks and projects before the deadline.
Aerospace engineers now spend more of their time in an office environment than they have in the past, because modern aircraft design requires
the use of sophisticated computer equipment and software design tools, modeling, and simulations for tests, evaluation, and training.
Aerospace engineers work with other professionals involved in designing and building aircraft, spacecraft, and their components.
Therefore, they must be able to communicate well, divide work into manageable tasks, and work with others toward a common goal.
2. Job location
Another big disadvantage of aerospace engineering is that you might have to move to a different location in order to get a job.
Because the majority of aerospace companies like aviation companies and their manufacturing units are located in rural areas, or sometimes you might have to move to a different city altogether where the company is located for employment.
you might have to travel a long distance everyday in order to reach your office which can take a lot of time and energy every day in transportation.
3. Prone to recessions
Another big disadvantage of this career is that it can be very prone to recessions in the country and you can also lose your job.
The aviation industry also got affected because of lockdowns in many countries due to pandemic and when the aeroplanes are not getting in use,
obviously aerospace engineers will have no work, and the aviation company would remove many jobs.
At the same the job growth rate of this profession is also not very great.
You can learn more about the impact of coronavirus pandemic on aviation industry here.
These are all the advantages and disadvantages of an aerospace engineering career option.
Is aerospace engineering a good career?
After learning all the pros and cons, if you still want to know whether aerospace engineering is a good career option or not then I would say of course it is.
Aerospace engineering just like any other engineering field like computer science and mechanical has its own benefits and drawbacks and it is not suitable for everyone and it can be a good career option for you if,
- You are really passionate about aircrafts and aeroplanes or spacecraft
- You have a great deal of knowledge in mathematics and physics
- You have good observational skills, problem solving skills and time management along with a lot of creativity
- You want to select a job which has high earning potential and cannot get easily replaced by artificial intelligence
In all these cases aerospace engineering can be a good career option for you.
But I want to make it very clear that unlike other career options, studying in aerospace engineering can be quite hard because of the subjects and
you need to put extra effort to get good grades and I would recommend you to take your under graduation from top colleges in your city or
If you are in countries like India then you should consider IIT/ NIT as your college for undergraduation.
With that said let’s conclude the blog.
Conclusion
These are all the things you need to know about aerospace engineering.
Do let me know your thoughts about this career option in the comment section below.
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