Career in Aerospace Engg with Bldg Structural Engg Background 1

[engrgracie]

I have 6 years experience in structural building structures (wood, concrete, steel, etc etc.)Degree: BSCE. I am very knowleadgeable in 3-D structural design analysis program and 2-D/3-D Computer Aided Design.
I'm really interested in aircraft/aerospace structural design. What training/certificate should I have to prepare myself? CATIA V5? Composites?Reference materials?
With the economy, I know that it is really competitive to get a job in aerospace engineering with without aerospace background, tips and suggestions are welcome.

 

[rb1957]

CATIA if you want to be a designer, rather than a stresser.

how are you hand calcs ? airplane structures have quite different failure modes (than buildings). crippling, shear, post-buckled, ... also there is some weight restriction ! i think a particular difernce with the airplane business is the calculation of allowables; i suspect that your building codes deine these for you, but i could be wrong !

FEA is always good. i'd pick up a demo of NASTRAN and see how it goes.

i'd start reviewing standard texts ... bruhn, Niu,

maybe an underfgaduate course. face it, it's going to be tough to convince someone in the airplane business that your background has prepared you.

 

[KENAT]

How about a directly relevant Masters?

Or, I believe there may be more targeted aircraft stress diplomas or the like.

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[btrueblood]

Kenat has probably the best idea. The wife did exactly that, from an EE Bachelor's degree.

FWIW, my MSAA was the same focus as hers (structures), and several of the more advanced courses we took were hosted from the Civ E dept. (and some of their MS/PhD students were taking some of our 400-level courses, or similar ones over in the ME dept.)

 

[engrgracie]

thanks rb1957 and KENAT..
I know that it'll be a long shot for me to get in aerospace engineering.
I did a lot of steel connection designs (shear, tosion, buckling,crippling..)using hand calculations, design software & spreadsheets.. both in (Allowable Stress Design) and LRFD..
I did steel building structure design and analysis using SAP 2000(FEA)..Concrete (RAM Concept).. etc etc..
I'll read the references and check out the software programs..
I have to take Masters in Aerospace Engineering since I had my Bachelor in Civil Engg already. And to get in the program I need experience in Aerospace and work references (Aerospace) which I don't have. Tough competition out there.
Thanks again.

 

[btrueblood]

Gracie,

Dunno about needing work exp. in aerospace. At least, 20 years ago that was not the rule at all (see my post re the wife). What schools are you looking at? If you are willing to pay your own way, many, if not most US state schools are more than happy to take your money, as enrollment at grad levels are not as high as for undergrad. Or am I that out of it?

"I did a lot of steel connection designs (shear, tosion, buckling,crippling..)using hand calculations, design software & spreadsheets.. both in (Allowable Stress Design) and LRFD.."

Ability to do hand calcs would be a huge plus with most employers, at least the ones worth a damn. Code jockeys are a dime a dozen, but people with enough sense to check what the FEA code spits out are worth investment. You may or may not need to review fracture mechanics, esp. fatigue design for non-ferrous materials, and brush up on shells and panels, stability, composites.

 

[engrgracie]

thanks btrueblood for the info..
They have MS in AA and MS in MechE at UW.. (Unfortunately they don't have MS in Structural Engg).. I'll inquire and look at my options..

 

[btrueblood]

Hm, how 'bout that, my (and the wife's) alma mater, and same degree and emphasis. Good for you, and good luck. Go dawgs, rah rah and all that.

Say hello to Prof. Bruckner for me, if he's still around.

When I was an undergrad, I got my arm twisted by him to come back for another year. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Forgot, you may also need to brush up on structural dynamics, esp. vibration response for random and shock excitation. Used all the time in real-world aero. structures, but wasn't well covered by the AA dept. of my time...things may have improved there over the years.

Even if you don't want to move, at least be familiar with other schools (California, Stanford, Alabama, Colorado) and their offerings, and mention them in passing to the people you talk to at UW. Never hurts to name drop, and they are as hungry for your money as they've ever been.

Oh, and be NICE to the ladies in the front office. Drop in, say hi, bring coffee, let them put a face to the name on the application. Worked for me and two buddies who all enrolled as undergrads (xfer from GRCC). The wife hated me for how well I got on with the secretaries/admin assistants. Probably still resents it.

 

[Andries]

Hi Engrgracie,

rb1957 made the good recommendation that you read up on the standard texts, including those by Niu. According to Niu's biographical sketch he started his professional life as a civil engineer specialising in hydraulics; therefore, with your structures background you are even closer to the mark than he was. So, knuckle down and go for it.

Andries

 

[KENAT]

Things may be tighter now, but back in the late 90's - mid 2000's a decent stress annalist could write his own ticket in aerospace, at least as a contractor/job shopper. $200 an hour or the like in some cases.

However, by decent analyst I mean someone familiar with the classical methods as well as FEA. FEA button pressing jockey's are 10 a penny.

So, while it may not be the typical, or even ideal background, it may not be too much of a problem. They used to tell us at uni in the UK that the first year was common for almost all engineering specialties, second year wasn't much different and that it was only in the 3rd year (and 4th if you took a Masters) that it really got different.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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(probably not aimed specifically at you)
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[aeroafrix2]

With your background in structural designs/analysis, I think your best would be to become a stress man. Mind you very few companies today want the old school stress man that does the old handcal in a whitey rules paper! Many are now after Analysis Engineers which is like stress guys with very good backgroud in aerodynamics. Our company barely take a look at the old stress guys are virtually all the stress guys in the company are analysis engineers who can carry out normal stress guy job and abit more dynamic analysis/mechanical. My chat with some of the guys that work in big aerospace companies like ours also mention samething.

I think the best advice would be that suggest by rb1957 and if you can maybe enroll for CPD programs which I find usually more helpful to gus like you integrate into aerospace properly.

 

[engrgracie]

I appreciate all your responses.

I actually inquired for a certificate program at University of Washington:

http://www.engr.washington.edu/epp/acsad/index.html

"Applicants must have a B.S. in engineering with background in mechanics of materials AND must also be either a Boeing employee or an employee of a partner company with a current export compliance agreement in place."

Unfortunately, I'm not a Boeing employee or a partner employee.

I bought a 300-node NASTRAN Program (w/ manual) and I'll soon buy books. Let's see what the outcome of my efforts would be.

Thanks,

Gracie

 

[btrueblood]

You can still take the same courses as a regular student, on a space available basis. If you are interested in composites, do take as many courses from Prof. Lin as you can stand. His English may not be the best, but after awhile you get used to it, and the man knows his stuff.

 

[Jetgirl8]

I think it speaks volumes that you are the type of person willing to educate themselves and look into options. I work as a structural analyst in a pretty small aerospace company. The colleague I trust most and bounce ideas off of on a daily basis comes from a civil background, so I've also seen the transition you are trying to achieve accomplished; accomplished well. I wish you luck and agree with the book recommendations of Bruhn and Niu.