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Aerospace Engineer

ProfessionalsUsually a bachelor degree or higher, or long experience

What the work is

Performs and supervises engineering work concerned with the design, development, manufacture, maintenance and modification of aircraft, launch vehicles and spacecraft for flight.

Would you enjoy the work?

These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.

  • Designs and develops aircraft, launch vehicles and spacecraft, components and systems
  • Studies and analyses aerospace products to improve their efficiency, performance and safety
  • Researches and identifies new technologies, materials and methodologies that can help to improve aerospace products and systems
  • Tests, evaluates and assesses aircraft or spacecraft systems, prototypes and equipment to ensure compliance with regulations and standards
  • Analyses data to solve technical issues identified in aircraft or aerospace vehicles and their systems
  • Inspects damaged aircraft or spacecraft products to identify source of problems and provide possible solutions

Try it

A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the engineering workshop of a regional hospital, where the machines that help care for patients are tested and repaired. They are fictional.

The kind of days you could have

Good days

  • A machine the ward thought was broken is back in service within the hour
  • Staff tell you a new device is easier to use because of a change you suggested
  • You design a small fix that makes a clumsy piece of equipment safer to handle

Hard days

  • Two wards want the same machine and only one is available
  • A device fails a safety check on the day you most need it in use
  • You are called away from a long project to deal with a fault that cannot wait

Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.

Work a mission

Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.

Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 243932, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.