Engineering Careers From Distance Learning Engineering Courses

When we talk about Engineers, we can mean many things. If you've chosen to explore training in Automotive and/or Aeronautical Engineering, it's likely you're looking for a technical challenge and an exciting career.

Great Britain is renowned for its aeronautical engineering excellence, and its aerospace industry turns over many billions of pounds every year. When it comes to the automotive industry, over 300,000 people in the UK are employed in design, development and manufacturing.

Reputable Training

Training in the UK is excellent - in fact there are over thirty British universities offering aeronautical engineering based courses alone. Plus some go on to provide postgraduate-level study as well. It's also possible to find other engineering diplomas and fitting vocational courses. BEng and MEng courses at university usually follow the same structure for the first two years, and then take on a different format for the final year or two.

Sandwich courses can also be available on certain training programmes. Engineering students can also look into sponsorship options which are provided by both private industry and the Armed Forces. It really is good advice to do your research thoroughly, as there are such a lot of alternatives to consider.

Auto Engineering

Automotive engineering has come a long way in the last hundred years. The automotive engineer's skills are tested right from the initial design concepts. With new technologies such as ultra low emissions, active suspensions, composite material structures and electric vehicles, there is much to challenge the thought processes of the student.

In the life cycle of a vehicle, design engineering comes first, followed by development engineering and then manufacturing engineering. First comes design. These engineers have to design all the component parts and systems on a vehicle.

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. With all the design and development work complete, the manufacturing engineers have to build the vehicle.

Degree courses in automotive engineering are very demanding, but extremely interesting. Modules will cover all aspects of design, development and manufacture - and use examples to illustrate principles such as fluid mechanics.

Safety engineering is one of the most important disciplines for the automotive engineer, and students will learn how assessments are carried out with various methods and tools.

All components have to function well for the job they're designed to do, but they also have to work synergistically with the whole vehicle. Thus students will be taken through aspects of development or systems engineering. 'Trade-offs' come under this function, for example balancing fuel economy with engine performance. The final vehicle must also meet government regulations, which are becoming increasingly environmentally relevant.

Once the designers and developers are absolutely satisfied that everything is ready, the manufacturing engineers take over. Manufacturing engineers need to learn how to plan and engineer both the individual parts and the whole vehicle assembly. This work includes project management of tools, machines, people and safety procedures.

Aero Engineering

Aeronautical engineering covers all things to do with flight technology - the design, construction and science of aircraft. Those who study aeronautical engineering should be able to challenge conventional thinking. The aerospace industry needs people who are technical, analytical and lateral, who can also work well with others.

As an aside - Formula One racing cars share a common technological base with modern airliners.

Contemporary flight vehicles must endure very severe conditions such as differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure. An understanding of technologies such as aerodynamics, materials science, avionics and propulsion is needed, and each are very specialist subjects in their own right.

Aeronautical engineering students will be taught design principles throughout their training, and receive a thorough insight into analytical subjects. Modules that deal with solving problems, like thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, are what we mean by analytical subjects. The behaviour of fluid can now be tested with computerised simulations, reducing the time and expense spent on wind tunnel testing. 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. All academic programmes will involve a mixture of group and individual assignments to design and build actual machines or components. Other more broad based vocational skills may be incorporated into an engineering degree programme. Things like oral communication, leadership skills and teamwork might be on the list.

Aero and auto engineering degrees not only provide the opportunity to develop technical expertise, they also put graduates into the top sector for employment opportunities. To apply for professional status following graduation, engineers should contact the Engineering Council - a national body that promotes and advances the science and practice of engineering.