Expert: Paul Soderman - 4/9/2008

Question
I always loved working with planes my whole life and want to get a degree in it,
but i heard it takes a long time. I want to ask a person that actually pursued this
career. How long did it take you to become a aeronautics engineer? What college
did you go to? How long after college do you start being paid?

Answer
Hi Richy

When I graduated from high school, I entered Oregon State University engineering school and stayed two years learning the basics of engineering.  A great school.  My third year, I transferred to the University Of Washington and spent 2-1/2 years in Aeronautical Engineering to get my B.S. degree.  I then spent one more year to get my M.S. degree.  During those latter years I worked at Boeing during the summers.  I then went to work for NASA and did more graduate work at Stanford.  In a nutshell, I was working full time for NASA 5-1/2 years after high school.  It went so fast.

Paul