Expert: Paul Soderman - 9/20/2008

Question
QUESTION: My name is Katelin. I am a high school junior in New York. I am enrolled in an engineering academy called Project Lead the Way. As a project we were asked to interview a member of the field of our interest. Well for the past year and a half I have been seriously researching becoming an aeronautical engineer. I was wondering if there was anyway you could help me out in finding someone I could contact. I realize people are very busy, but it's only a couple questions and it really would help me. If you can not help me, thank you for your time anyway.

Katelin E. Kostek

ANSWER: Yes Katelin - I can answer any questions you like through this website.  If you need verbal response, let me know.
Paul

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well it's questions like why did you get into aeronautical and things like that are you really an engineer?

ANSWER: Yes, I am really an engineer. I decided in high school that I wanted to be an engineer because of my love of physics and the desire to solve technical problems.  After two years of college I decided that designing aircraft would be the most interesting of my career choices, which led me to study aeronautical engineering at the U. of Washington.  It was a good decision, though I eventually went into research at NASA rather than aircraft design.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: okay the questions are: (PS email is fine i checked w/ my teacher)

1 how long have you done it?

2 do you like being an aeronautical engineer

3 what does your job consist of?

4 entry level $$$ and experienced level $$$

5 where did you got to college?(sorry i'm just copying the sheet i realized you answered that i'm not THAT blonde)

6 What is your degree in?

7 what college do you recommend?

8 does your company offer interships/shadowing

9 what are your hours?

10 do you travel?

11 benefits? (pension, health care, vacation, sick)

12 Why did you choose this field?

13 if you had to do it all over again, would you, and what would you change?

14 what do you think of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology?

15 Are you involved with any profeesional organisations?

16 where are most the jobs in aeronautical engineering?

**BONUS QUESTION** do you think it would be an advantage for me that women are still considered a minority in the field?

Answer
OK Katelin, I'm going leap to the conclusion that your first question does not refer to my proclivity for roller skating in the rain singing with Jefferson Airplane but has something to do with my career, which has lasted 42 years so far.  A career I have enjoyed very much.  For your other questions I have a canned answer that may or may not address all your queries as follows:

Generally, aeronautical engineers design and develop aerospace devices such as aircraft, missiles, race cars, jet engines, etc.  I was in research at NASA Ames Research Center where I was responsible for planning and executing wind tunnel studies aimed at improving our understanding of aeronautics and related technologies.  

A normal day involved examination of scientific literature, planning experiments, writing code for data analysis, analyzing experimental results, meeting with my peers, requesting support from management, writing reports, etc.  I traveled 4 to 6 times a year to various laboratories or scientific conferences.

The quality of work was high.  The pay was good, not exceptional, but government employees have good benefits such as excellent vacation time, sick leave and pensions.  Hours were good, we had the option of working 9 nine hour days and getting a three-day weekend every other weekend.  Job locations in aerospace are limited by the few number of organizations in the field, but jobs do exist all over the country.

Research is never boring, not counting the occasional meetings on team morale or time efficiency that we had to attend.

I often worked with engineers with different expertise such as electronics engineers, mechanical designers, software programmers, system control engineers, etc.

The projects I worked on can be found in engineering libraries - search on my name.  One project I was proud of was the investigation of the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.  I did the aero design the gas sample instrument.  We found was causes the hole, which led to the worldwide banning of fluro-hydrocarbons.

For this job you must be expert in math and physics as well as computer programming, electronics, and so on.

I knew in high school I wanted to be an engineer, either to build bridges or aircraft.  I chose aircraft and am glad.

High school students should take all the math and science they can get, especially physics.

I chose U. of Washington for my aero studies, but also studied at Oregon State U. and Stanford U.  They are all good schools, but there are many across the country.

Starting salaries depend on academic achievement, experience, skill set, location, and more but generally begin at $60,000 per year plus or minus.

Yes, women have great opportunities in engineering.  We need more of them.

Sorry, I never heard of Vaughn College.
Paul