About
Aerospace vessels such as aircraft and spaceships must be tested to assure their safety. Even carrying out these tests necessitates the use of sophisticated equipment, which is where aeronautical engineering and operations professionals come into play.
These individuals are in charge of constructing, installing, running, and maintaining the equipment and facilities required to test airplanes. Their job is critical for correctly testing planes and spacecraft in order to find and rectify faults that, if not recognized, might lead to major catastrophes such as airline disasters.
Technicians collaborate closely with aircraft engineers to understand the test methods that will be carried out. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, they design test facilities and install equipment components into testing systems (BLS).
Another aspect of an aeronautical engineering technician’s job includes calibrating wind tunnels, computer programs, and other components of the equipment required to accomplish these tests. Aerospace engineering professionals also supervise the tests to verify their safety.
They record information gathered from test parts. When equipment fails, an aircraft engineering technician must determine why the item failed. These experts also work on the aircraft itself. They supervise the quality of systems that will be put in planes and also install numerous devices themselves.
Because the aerospace industry is increasingly reliant on computer simulations, computers play a surprising role in an aircraft engineering and operations technician’s work. Candidates must be proficient with computers since aerospace engineering technicians are frequently responsible for both developing and running these simulations.
As three-dimensional printing and additive manufacturing grow more common in the aerospace sector, technicians are increasingly responsible for employing this technology, and some are even specializing in these skill sets, according to the BLS.
Degree
According to the BLS, the most common route into a profession as an aeronautical engineering and operations technician is an associate’s degree. Community colleges normally provide applicable associate’s degree programs, although vocational schools and technical institutes may also provide certificate and diploma programs to prepare students for jobs in the sector.
Students participating in an ABET (the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) recognized aeronautical engineering technology program take collegiate algebra, trigonometry, and fundamental science courses.
According to the BLS, students in associate’s degree programs will take more theory-based courses than their peers in vocational and technical institutions. They will also gain a more comprehensive education by pursuing liberal arts classes.
This additional education, as well as the degree that comes with it, can provide graduates with a competitive advantage in the job market over those with merely a certificate or diploma.
Career
According to the BLS, the median annual compensation for aerospace engineering and operations technicians is $63,780. Technicians are paid the most in industries such as aerospace product and components production and computer and electronic product manufacture.
The BLS now expects jobs for aerospace engineering and operations technicians to rise by 4%, which is less than the average growth projected for all occupations, but the job prognosis for this field is still better than for comparable professions such as drafter and engineering technician.
Bottom Line
Commercial and passenger planes and other aircraft can undergo accurate safety testing thanks to the expertise of aerospace engineering and operations personnel.
Aerospace safety may be improved while earning a good pay for these individuals who have earned an associate’s degree in mathematics, mechanical engineering, critical thinking and computer science.
