AboutPaul Soderman Expertise Aeronautics, Fluid Mechanics, Aeroacoustics, Noise Control, Muffler Design, Wind Tunnel Research.... I know nothing about India - do not ask about schools, jobs, application requirements, career choices, etc. for India. Please, no text message verbiage; I prefer full words in full sentences. Thanks.
Experience 38 years as research engineer at NASA
Publications AIAA, NASA
Education/Credentials B.S. and M.S. Aeronautical Engineering - U. of Washington
Graduate work Standford U.
Awards and Honors AIAA Associate Fellow (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
Question Hi! I need to interview an engineer for my high school class, because it might be a field of work that I am interested in. The problem is that I do not know any engineers directly, so I need to interview someone over the web. Here are the instructions and questions I was given:
: Find someone who has a job/career position that you want and conduct a brief interview. Use the information from your interview to write an essay about the job/career position and the interview you conducted. Be sure to include the name of the person being interviewed, their job/career position title, where they work, and the date and time of the interview. Questions that should be included:
· Why did you choose this job/career position?
· How did you get to be here? What schooling, training and/or job experience did you need?
· Is there anything else you’ve done besides the required schooling; training and/or job experience that you feel has prepared you for your job/career position?
· How long have you been in this job/career position?
· How long have you been in this career field?
· What is required to maintain this job/career position?
· Do you plan on staying in this position? If not, what other job/career positions are possible in your particular situation?
· What is it about that job/career position that no one tells you about during the schooling, training and/or job experience. What is it that you only learn once you are on the job?
I would really appreciate it if you would please answer these questions. I'm sure that you get these questions all of the time, so I really appreciate it. Thank You!
Answer Ryan - I get so many of these type questions that I have a canned response I hope will suffice:
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. I retired in 2004 and do a little consulting work from time to time.
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 what 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.
In high school I was inspired to be an engineer by my physics teacher and decided I wanted to build bridges or aircraft. I chose aircraft and am glad. I studied two years at Oregon State University, three at U. of Washington, and off and on at Stanford U. I have B.S. and M.S. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering. In those days one only had to apply for college, and if your high school grades were adequate you were given a chance. I don't remember any SAT exam. The flunk out rate the first year of engineering was high. Courses studied include calculus, trig, geometry, algebra, complex variables, differential equations, physics, chemistry, electricity, stress and strain, dynamics, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, gas dynamics, thermodynamics, propulsion, stability and control, aircraft structures, design, elasticity, liberal arts, business, history, and many more.
After graduate school, I found that aerospace companies were recruiting but I chose to go to NASA Ames. I stayed for almost 38 years.
High school students should take all the math and science they can get, especially physics.
Starting salary depends on many factors such as academic performance, skill set, experience, location, and more. I imagine salaries now start at $60,000 per year more or less, but I haven't checked lately. You can find that information on line.
Paul
