The lowdown
Aeronautical engineering is a specialist discipline that branches into aircraft and aerospace engineering. An aeronautical engineer is involved in design, manufacture, testing and engineering. S/he updates components, and ensures that all documents concerning regulatory compliance are in place. However, it is licensed aircraft maintenance engineers and not aeronautical engineers who are authorised to inspect, maintain and certify aircraft
Clock Work
An average day of an aeronautical engineer with a public sector manufacturing company depends on the type of job he is doing. The main work areas are manufacture, overhaul, product support, quality control, component/systems design reviews, test flying of aircraft etc. So the daily routine is different in each case. The activities listed below are largely performed by quality control engineer, whose average day with a public sector aircraft manufacturing
company is:
9am: Vet the reports from operations, safety and airworthiness departments
1pm: Lunch
1.30pm: Work on malfunctioning instruments/test sets
4pm: Take the instruments to the testing lab for checking
5.30pm: Collect all reports from the boss
6.30pm: Push off for home
The payoff
An assistant engineer in a public sector aircraft manufacturer earns Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 a month. In the private sector, s/he makes Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 a month
Skills/TRAITS
. High levels of patience and perseverance required to work long hours
. One should have a love for flying machines
. Good communication skills
. One should be a hard worker
Getting there
Take science with physics, chemistry and maths (PCM) in Class 12. Then go for a degree/diploma programme in aeronautical engineering. If you cannot join a conventional college, take ASIe’s Associate Membership Examination, conducted every six months, leading to a qualification equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering. Aspirants should have passed Class 12 with 50 per cent marks each in PCM. Of the 4,000 enrolees taking the exam, a hundred make the grade. ASI gives meritorious candidates a monthly stipend of R3,000 while they get on-the-job training
Institutes
. PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh
www.pec.ac.in
. Manav Rachna International University, Delhi
www.mriu.edu.in
. Amity University, Delhi
www.amity.edu
. Madras Institute of Technology
www.mitindia.edu
. Aeronautical Society of India
www.aerosocietyindia.com
. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
www.iist.ac.in
. Indira Gandhi National Open University
www.ignou.ac.in
. IITs, Bombay, Kharagpur, Madras and Kanpur, offer degrees in aerospace engineering
Institutes
. PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh
www.pec.ac.in
. Manav Rachna International University, Delhi
www.mriu.edu.in
. Amity University, Delhi
www.amity.edu
. Madras Institute of Technology
www.mitindia.edu
. Aeronautical Society of India
www.aerosocietyindia.com
. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
www.iist.ac.in
. Indira Gandhi National Open University
www.ignou.ac.in
. IITs, Bombay, Kharagpur, Madras and Kanpur, offer degrees in aerospace engineering
Pros and cons
. It’s great if you are interested in this field and like to deal with the latest technological systems
. After retirement, you can work as an adviser or facilitator
. Work might include bureaucratic tasks as well
. High-precision, high responsibility job - you cannot afford to err
. Can get very demanding at times
. Extremely challening and demands a lot of attention and concentration
. One should keep oneself updated with the latest technologies around airplanes
. One needs to keep a tab on the latest releases and product launches in the aviation industry