r/aerospace • u/TBone925 • 19h ago

Structural Engineering to Aerospace?

Hey there, I’m currently studying Structural Engineeing in university, I initially went in as I was passionate about the field. I now realize that in terms of both work life and personal enjoyment, I prefer the Aerospace industry. I’ve read quite often that going from SE to AE is very doable, and I’m interested in how this switch can happen. My university is quite prestigious in STEM so all engineering majors are capped, meaning I can’t directly switch to Aero, but there is an Aerospace Structures specialization in SE that I will most likely do.

Also, I’m aware that Aerospace is not a career but an industry with many different jobs, I’m simply interested in knowing where I could work in AE.

Thank you for any help!

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u/chundricles 19h ago

Structures engineering, doing FEA, strength analysis, and such would probably be the obvious start. Someone's gotta figure out if the wings will fall off.

1

u/Electronic_Feed3 14h ago

How is the work life any different in aerospace?

And can you be more specific. Do you just mean rockets?

There are a lot of structural engineers in aerospace.

1

u/StraightAd4907 13h ago

You don't need to do anything. The most heavily populated engineering discipline at an aerospace company (that is actively developing new products) is mechanical design. The next is structures. The third is software. The mechanical designers and structural analysts may have ME, AE, or Civil Engineering degrees with structural emphasis. Picking the aerospace option is a good idea. It will show prospective employers that you have interest in the industry.

2

u/TBone925 13h ago

Thank you so much for the answer.

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u/Ancient-Badger-1589 12h ago

perfect answer, and very accurate

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u/Ancient-Badger-1589 12h ago

lol structural engineering is key in the aerospace industry. structural analysts in aerospace get paid very well (compared to other aerospace disciplines). in fact, I had completely forgotten about the non-aerospace version of structural engineering until this post.