Expert: Ray Wilkinson - 5/9/2006

Question
sir i have just completed my 12th grade from GSEB(gujarat State Education board) (with 55%)and i am confused about which path to choose in aeronautical eng...its obvious i want to pursue this career ...but i dont not know which field to excel in ...i am mostly intrested in mechanical area concerned with the engines,speed, designing and dynamics...it would be nice of you to help me out and guide me through what i am looking for...
i would like to know from you which colleges are suitable and advisable for me in gujarat ...if you do not know then it's okay...but your guidance will be a lot of help for me ....
please give me more web sites so that i can find what i am looking for .

thank you
ishan  

Answer
Ishan

To answer your last question first - I don't know the colleges in Gujurat, so you should check out their websites, talk to people in the industry, talk to your teachers. You also need to be comfortable with the environment at the college you choose - you will probably be living there for several years, so you must be confident you will enjoy your time there. Look carefully at the modules (subjects) studied, to see that they will give you a broad mix of disciplines, not force you into one area.

The first part of your question is more difficult. The areas you mention cover a wide range of specialisations. Design of an aircraft is very different from engines, for instance. If you haven't yet studied any engineering disciplines you won't know which you are good at, and this often influences what you enjoy and what you then want to do for a career. As you progress through your course, you will discover what interests you most, and may also come across opportunities to work with certain companies.

You should realise that your career is a bit like a ship in a storm - you can decide at any time which direction to point yourself, but never know where you will end up.

My own career is a case in point: at University I did a final-year project on acoustics of a propulsive fan. On the strength of this I expressed an interest in environmental engineering when I went to BAe Dynamics for interview. (BAeD was the missiles arm of British Aerospace.) I was also interviewed for the Structural Test department. I was offered both positions, and took the one in Environmental. Six months later, the two departments merged. I only worked for a short time on acoustics, spending most of my time there managing test programmes and specifications, which was very interesting. After 11 years I left to join the RAF, but dropped out out training because I didn't like it. I then came to the University as a lecturer in aircraft structural design. Now I teach Design, but also Reliability, and will shortly be teaching Rocket Propulsion. I could never have predicted this!

I hope this goes some way to answering your questions, and I wish you luck. If you can raise the funds, you could of course apply to the University of Hertfordshire!

Regards

Ray