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Future Students
 

Aerospace Engineering

Abbreviated title       BAeroEng
Duration                     4 years
Campus                      Clayton
Double degrees        Arts, Commerce, Law, Science (Clayton Only)

Join an exciting profession in the midst of developing the next generation of flight vehicles.

The Airbus A380, A350, A400M and the Boeing 787 are just some of the astounding technological advances taking place. As an aerospace engineer, your career possibilities are exciting and diverse. What future challenge will you be a part of? Will you be involved in creating more environmentally-friendly passenger aircraft? Perhaps you will contribute to the next generation of fighter aircraft - or the space shuttle replacement? Or will you play a role in the continuing effort to build a space vehicle to explore our solar system and beyond?

What is aerospace engineering?

Aerospace engineering is concerned with the design, development and maintenance of flight vehicles. It involves advanced technologies such as aerodynamics, aerostructures, avionics, propulsion, material science and computational simulation.

What do aerospace engineers do?

Aerospace engineers apply scientific and technological theories, concepts and equations to vehicles within the earth’s atmosphere or beyond.
Activities include the use of wind tunnels for aerodynamic testing, computational modelling for predicting structural behaviour and materials and structural testing.

An aerospace engineer typically studies:

  • Aerostructures: principles of structural mechanics and analytical techniques to ensure a vehicle’s structural integrity.
  • Aerodynamics: fluid motion around a body moving through the atmosphere at subsonic and hypersonic speeds.
  • Propulsion: basics of thrust generation by the application of aero/gas dynamics and thermodynamics.
  • Flight control: the analysis of flight, including techniques for vehicle guidance and stability, space vehicle trajectories and orbits.
  • Aerospace materials: advanced materials used on the airframe and in propulsion systems.
  • Aerospace design: preliminary design of the complete aircraft which emphasises systems integration.
Course overview
 

Careers in aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering reaches beyond traditional aerospace applications. You might work in automobiles, energy production and conservation, lightweight materials or new manufacturing techniques.

When you graduate you are likely to work in one of these main areas:

  1. Design and manufacturing
  2. Research and development
  3. Airworthiness operations

You might join a large aerospace company or a general manufacturer that contracts to the aerospace industry. Or you might work at an airline or a government aerospace laboratory or research centre.

Formula One teams also employ many aerospace engineers.

Aerospace engineering might also lead you towards other professions such as management consulting or finance.

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