Branches of aerospace engineering

The aerospace engineer is armed with an extensive background suitable for employment in most positions traditionally occupied by mechanical engineers as well as limited positions in the other various engineering disciplines. The transportation, construction, communication, and energy industries provide the most opportunities for non-aerospace applications.

Because land and sea vehicles are designed for optimum speed and efficiency, the aerospace engineer has become a prominent member of the design teams. Because up to half of the power required to propel a vehicle is due to the resistance of the air, the configuration design of low-drag automobiles, trains, and boats offers better speed and fuel economy. The presence of the aerospace engineer in the automobile industry is evident from the streamlined shapes of cars and trucks that evolved during the late 20th century, at a time when gasoline prices were escalating and the aerospace industry was in a lull. Airline companies employ engineers as performance analysts, crash investigators, and consultants. The Federal Aviation Administration makes use of the technical expertise of the aerospace engineer in various capacities.

The construction of large towers, buildings, and bridges requires predictions of aerodynamic forces and the creation of an optimum design to minimize these forces. The consideration of aerodynamic forces of flat surfaces such as the side of a building or superstructure is not new. In 1910 Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel achieved remarkable experimental results measuring the wind resistance of a flat plate, using the Eiffel Tower as a test platform.

Many companies benefit not from the advanced hardware developments of aerospace technology but by the understanding and application of aerospace methodology. Companies engaged in satellite communications require an understanding of orbital mechanics, trajectories, acceleration forces, and aerodynamic heating and an overall knowledge of the spacecraft industry. Advanced aerodynamic design of airfoils and rotor systems is applied in an effort to improve the efficiency of propellers, windmills, and turbine engines. The impact of aerospace technology has trickled down to many companies engaged in the research and development of flight simulation, automatic controls, materials, dynamics, robotics, medicine, and other high-technology fields.