Civil Engineering

[freezingbum]

<p>Can a civil engineer work on stuff the mechanical engineers and aerospace engineers do? Well i'm going to major in structural engineering and i'm also interested in mechanical and aerospace. I was wondering if they can have the opportunity to work on the structures of aircrafts, automobiles, etc. Alongside with mechanical and aerospace engineers. I'd probably have a better chance doing the other 2 if that was really what i wanted but i like civil engineering also but wondering if i still have that opportunity. I can't minor or double major in those fields.</p>

[civ_uw]

<p>You're thinking along the same lines as me :) I found an interview with a NASA engineer when I was doing some research on aerospace.</p>

<p>

@NASA site

Describe the duties and responsibilities of someone working in aerospace engineering. What are some specific jobs in this field? There are many different duties for people in the aerospace engineering field, and you might want to think about which part of the field best suits you. First, there are the aerospace scientists; these are the people who ask basic science questions about space or the earth's atmosphere and think of experiments that they would like to conduct to help them answer these questions. There are, of course, the aerospace engineers, who actually create conceptual designs of spacecraft, launch vehicles, aerospace instruments, planes, satellites, circuit boards, etc. Within the broad category of "aerospace engineer", there are structural analysts, thermal analysts, mechanical designers, electrical designers, environmental test engineers, orbital mechanics engineers, loads analysts, and probably half a dozen other specialties that I haven't listed. There are software engineers, who write the software that either makes the space instrument take its measurements and return data to earth, or make control surfaces on planes respond to the pilots commands. There are also engineering technicians, who perform drafting, execute environmental tests (we call it "shaking and baking the hardware"), operate wind tunnels, etc. Then there are the resource analysts, who look at schedule and money issues who help to keep projects on time and under budget. There are also fabrication technicians, who actually build the hardware. Also, there are the project managers who usually start out in any of these fields and lead projects toward the end of their careers after they have substantial experience. There are test pilots and aircraft maintenance folks that fly experimental aircraft or lower atmosphere experiments. Finally, let's not forget the astronauts; most astronauts are medical doctors, pilots, or research scientists who have participated on aerospace projects in one of these disciplines before they started their astronaut training. All of these disciplines work together on successful aerospace projects, and each have their own educational requirements.

</p>

<p>You can find the rest here: </p>

<p><a href="http://meweb.larc.nasa.gov/meweb/Aerospace_Engineer_Interview.html#_Toc434628431%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://meweb.larc.nasa.gov/meweb/Aerospace_Engineer_Interview.html#_Toc434628431&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

[freezingbum]

<p>I'm still researching on civil/structural engineering but those engineering majors can become structural analysists right? I'm doing structural engineering at UCSD.</p>

[freezingbum]

<p>bumpety bump bump bump</p>

[aibarr]

<p>I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to ask... Structural engineers can become structural analysts, sure... I know some structural engineers who work for Sandia National Labs doing fracture analysis for the Air Force and NASA. My old prof at Rice did further structural research for NASA. Lots of work going on for NASA et al in structural engineering.</p>

<p>Caveat: Only the VERY best end up working for NASA. As in, you'll need to end up getting a PhD from UIUC or Berkeley or something and have an established research career in order to randomly consult for NASA. That isn't to say that you <em>can't</em> get there, that's just to warn you that it's not a typical job that structural engineers get their bachelors degree and then skip out and work for NASA.</p>

<p>You can do it, but you've got to know how high you're going to have to aim at the onset. Lots of school, lots of research, lots of proving yourself before you get to where you're going. It's doable, though. Good luck! =)</p>

[freezingbum]

<p>ok thank you. Yeah i'm planning on going to grad school but i'm still young so i dont know my future yet. I just like to know that i still have that option, well after some hard work.</p>