Expert: Paul Soderman - 8/23/2010

Question
Describe the duties and responsibilities of someone working in Aeronautical engineering, what are some specific jobs in this feild?
What is your specialty in Aeronautical engineering?
What are some of the projects you've worked on?
How lengthy are you usual projects?

Answer
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 a Group Leader 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.  Much of the work was done in the office, but we also worked in the lab, in the wind tunnels, and in the field conducting experimental studies.

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 of the gas sample instrument.  We found what causes the hole, which led to the worldwide banning of fluro-hydrocarbons.  In addition to aerodynamics, I specialized in aeroacoustics and did many wind tunnel studies of aircraft noise and technologies for reducing noise.

Projects can last from a few months to a couple years depending on the complexity of the work and scheduling of research facilities.
Paul