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Science and Technology: An Engineering Diploma

A large number of disciplines come under the umbrella of Engineering. It's likely that you're looking for a chance to contribute technically and creatively if you want to get into either aero engineering or auto engineering.

Great Britain is renowned for its aeronautical engineering excellence, and its aerospace industry turns over many billions of pounds every year. Similarly the automotive industry here provides design, development and manufacturing work for around three hundred thousand people.

Finding The Right Training Courses

You'll find a very high concentration of aero and auto engineering based undergraduate degree courses in the UK - many with international reputations. Engineering graduates can also choose to take post-graduate qualifications. (There are of course less academic college courses available around the country). Degree courses can be studied with or without an industrial placement year. Engineering departments often have good links with industry for gaining work experience.

Some universities will also offer a more formal split between training and working time. The Armed Forces and certain private companies will sponsor students to qualify in both of these disciplines, in exchange for an agreed period of working time. With so many variables open to you, it's a good idea to really research everything that's on offer.

The Automotive Industry

This area involves everything to do with the production of motorised vehicles. It takes in elements of many other engineering disciplines. As standards are constantly set to improve to accommodate global issues, new technologies such as ultra low emissions are being introduced.

If you take the critical path of a vehicle, you have design, development and then manufacture. Designers are not only responsible for the automotive design, but also for testing each component part. We have development engineers next, who are rather like systems engineers. They may stipulate certain requirements to the design engineers. Determining how to make the automobile is the job of the manufacturing engineers.

There's a terrific amount of knowledge for an automotive engineering student to learn. Subjects will include performance, ergonomics, emissions, fuel economy, aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics to name but a few.

One of the most crucial areas of auto engineering is safety engineering. All aspects of a vehicle are stringently tested in both partial and full vehicle crashes and simulations.

As well as performing well by themselves, each component and system has to work in synergy with everything else. Therefore students need to learn about systems, or development engineering. 'Trade-offs' come under this function, for example balancing fuel economy with engine performance. Ultimately development engineering must meet the standards dictated by the manufacturer, the government and of course the buying public.

Following on from the product and development stages, comes the processes needed for manufacturing. Engineers involved in this stage of the build use statistics and process controls to ensure every stage of the manufacture meets rigorous quality standards. Tasks include equipment design and machine specifications as well as people layout and management.

Aeronautical Engineers

Our obsession with flight over the years has created this very diverse and exciting branch of engineering. Students who train as aeronautical engineers would be preparing themselves for a career in the aerospace industry -a most interesting industry at the forefront of science and technological developments. (Some aerospace engineers go into Formula One design and development as well.)

All aircraft have to endure severe conditions and stresses, such as changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature, and structural loading on the components. Aeronautical engineering requires a great deal of specialist knowledge, and so teams of engineers who each specialise in their own branch of science work together on projects.

Degree courses will cover design, systems (such as landing gear), flight mechanics, forces, materials, performance and stability. A thorough treatment of analytical subjects will be included. Lectures will be given on subjects such as fluid mechanics, with laboratory sessions to back them up.

Modern computing methods can now simulate the behaviour of fluid, which reduces the need for empirical testing in wind tunnels. (However students will still carry out experiments using jet engines, large structural testing machines and wind tunnels).

Group ventures are important when learning engineering skills. All engineering students will get the chance to contribute to a practical group assignment to create an automobile or flight vehicle. Other more broad based vocational skills may be incorporated into an engineering degree programme. They could include things like communication skills and time management.

Highly skilled engineering professionals can pursue a variety of extremely rewarding career opportunities that involve leading-edge technology. Graduate engineers can apply to Professional Institutions to become certified with the Engineering Council - an organisation that works to ensure the UK is well served by its engineering resources.