Expert: Paul Soderman - 8/28/2006

Question
sir,
   Are Engineering Mechanics and Strength of Materials subjects important in areonutical engineeering ?

sarat

Answer
Yes - aero engineers often design hardware for wind tunnel or laboratory tests that require analysis of stress and strain.  Furthermore, aero engineers work closesly with structural engineers who design aircraft and aircraft components, so a basic understanding of structural analysis goes a long way to understanding design requirements.

Come to think of it,  a basic understanding of strength of materials is inherent in all engineering disciplines.  An engineer who can't design a simple structure to carry a load would be like a farmer who doesn't know how to plant corn.  Which leads me to a pet peeve of mine - the term 'engineer' is often used too loosely to include people who operate heavy equipment, or clean buildings, or design software.  The only consolation is that those pseudo-engineers are attempting to gain prestige justly earned by professionals who have studied the basic engineering disciplines at the university level.

Paul