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At The Forefront of Design Engineer Training...

A large number of disciplines come under the umbrella of Engineering. If either automotive or aeronautical engineering appeal to you, you're probably the sort of person who enjoys a technical challenge.

In the UK, the aerospace industry competes on the world stage, and is a front runner in scientific and technological developments. Automotive design, development and production are significant employers, and the UK motorsport industry is recognised globally.

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Many UK universities offering aero and auto engineering degrees are globally distinguished - you will find more than 30 with BEng and MEng syllabuses listed. In addition, some offer post-grad courses for Engineering and Physical Sciences graduates. It's also possible to find other engineering diplomas and fitting vocational courses.

The option of a one year placement in industry is available with most university degree courses, and most students choose to take this between the second and final year.

Those who need the facility to work alongside their study programme may find they can do a sandwich course. Students on engineering courses can sometimes arrange sponsorship in exchange for a certain time working for the sponsor after graduating. As you do your research into the different training options, look for details of graduate sponsorship programmes.

Engineering - Automotive

Automotive engineering covers everything to do with designing and building cars, motorbikes, trucks and buses. Today, it incorporates elements not only of mechanical and electrical engineering, but also electronic, safety and software engineering. There's a lot to take on board, and new technologies are being developed all the time - often to deal with government environmental standards.

Generally speaking, we can separate the automotive engineering processes into three distinct fields. Designers are not only responsible for the automotive design, but also for testing each component part. The second discipline is covered by development engineers, who engineer all the features of the vehicle. Developers supply designers with various specs they have to comply with. Finally, the manufacturing engineers will work out how to actually make the vehicle.

Auto engineering courses are very in-depth, and mastering the detail will take time and experience. Amongst other subjects, you will be taught about aerodynamics, performance, emissions and vehicle dynamics.

One of the most crucial areas of auto engineering is safety engineering. All aspects of a vehicle are stringently tested in both partial and full vehicle crashes and simulations.

It's one thing for a component or system to work in isolation, but quite another for it to work in harmony with everything else on the vehicle. That's why automotive engineering students need to learn about the work of development engineers. This area also covers trade-offs - such as learning how to achieve performance whilst maintaining fuel economy. The final vehicle must also meet government regulations, which are becoming increasingly environmentally relevant.

When the design and development work are completed, the vehicle is ready for the manufacturing process. Parts have to be assembled, (usually in separate plants) and vehicles built to the exacting standards of the manufacturing engineers. Tasks include equipment design and machine specifications as well as people layout and management.

Engineering - Aeronautical

Our obsession with flight over the years has created this very diverse and exciting branch of engineering. If you qualify at degree level or above in Aeronautical Engineering, you will have proved yourself worthy to enter the fascinating business of aerospace. You might also be interested to know that the development and design of a Formula One racing car uses aerospace technology!

Contemporary flight vehicles must endure very severe conditions such as differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure. Therefore aerospace engineering divides into very specialist areas, such as materials science and aerodynamics, which all come together to form the whole.

Training courses will go into depth on aircraft design and flight mechanics, and feature a strong emphasis on analysis. Analytical methods will be developed which allow aeronautical engineers to design and analyse aircraft.

Much of what you will learn is based on theoretical mathematics, but empirical testing also comes into it - admittedly largely in the form of simulations. (However students will still carry out experiments using jet engines, large structural testing machines and wind tunnels).

Practical application is an important element of training to be an engineer. Degree course students will have a practical group assignment at some stage to design their own functional vehicle. Engineering degrees will also allow students to learn various other subjects and skills. These could include time management, teamwork, organisational techniques, leadership and foreign languages.

Highly skilled engineering professionals can pursue a variety of extremely rewarding career opportunities that involve leading-edge technology. Refer to the Engineering Council for details on becoming a Chartered Engineer (CEng) or an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).