Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering - Sneak Peak

As students aspiring to be an engineer and their parents, come across various different engineering streams while looking for admissions in Engineering colleges. But, the two streams that confuse them most likely are aerospace engineering and aeronautical engineering. The fact though is they both are not exactly the same but yes are inter related to each other. 

Aerospace engineering is a stream which is divided further into astronautical and aeronautical engineering. Aeronautical engineering is thus just a subset of Aerospace. Aeronautical Engineering deals with aircraft design, development and maintenance. Aerospace combines astronautical and aeronautical engineering, wherein astronautical engineering is about studying dynamics of air crafts in outer space.  Aeronautical engineering on the other side is related to thermodynamics and mechanical engineering to a great extent. Aerospace engineering needs super precision and is known to be one of the toughest yet most interesting branches because there is just no scope of any kind of error here. An error equals one life hence, high degree of concentration, dedication and precision is needed when it comes to dealing with missiles, rockets, space satellites and more. Aeronautical engineering basically deals with airplane and helicopters. Aeronautical engine in organizations like ISRO and NASA, to name a few. Though, the fact also remains that while aeronautical engineering is offered in many colleges and universities, institutions offering aerospace engineering courses are less in number.  In case you aren’t aware, now building rockets or missiles or space shuttles does not require working at site, it is done sitting inside the office using highly sophisticated computer programs. The other companies that hire Aeronautical and Aerospace engineers in India mainly include government organizations like NAL, HAL, DRDO labs and more. Even private companies like Airbus does hire Aeronautical and Aerospace engineers but not freshers and they often opt for post graduates only. So, if you want to get placed in India then a masters is a better idea. Masters is offered in subjects like Structures, Propulsion, Aerodynamics, flight mechanics and control but not all colleges and universities offer these course, so you need to research and find out a suitable one. If only aeroplanes and choppers is your area of interest then aeronautical is the course and if you are up for space related study then astronautical engineering is the course but as astronautical engineering isn’t readily offered in India, aerospace engineering is the course to opt for. Also, do keep in mind that there are a few qualities or skills that might just help you build a rewarding career in Aerospace Engineering. 

The skills you need to possess in order to be a successful aerospace engineer include strong analytical and critical thinking skills along with mathematical skills as you work around trigonometry, calculus principles as well. Additionally, business skills, writing and problem solving skills are also needed. 

Well, in India, scope for Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering is limited as it is in its infancy stage right now. Though, a masters degree definitely increases your chances to great extent, to work with the best in the core area of work. If you are passionate about aircrafts and spacecrafts and sky is the limit for you as far as geography is concerned, then Aeronautical and Aerospace might just work for you because abroad there are ample opportunities this field has on offer.

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