From drones to rockets, aerospace engineering is seeing a boom like never before. Based on popular demand, this month we will explore the scope of aerospace engineering and give you a step-by-step guide on how to make it your career.

What is aerospace engineering?

Aerospace engineering is one of the major engineering types. The discipline deals with studying and understanding the design and functioning of objects that fly in the air and space. 

Aerospace engineering has two sub-branches. Aeronautical engineering, that focuses only on objects that fly in the air (aircraft) and astronautical engineering, that focuses only on objects that fly in space (spacecraft).

Skills an aerospace engineer should have

The skills needed to study and pursue aerospace engineering are:

Speed and accuracy: Being able to work quickly and efficiently 

Alertness: Being able to stay alert and focus on small details

Analytical skills: Being able to make sense of a lot of information and data

Teamwork: Being able to work in teams with other people

Scope of aerospace engineering

There are a lot of opportunities for aerospace engineering in India. Here are some of the places where an aerospace engineer can work:

1.The Aviation Industry

This includes airline companies that fly their aircraft and companies that manufacture aircraft. Here, engineers can design aircraft and help in manufacturing and maintaining them.

2. Defence Establishments

Establishments that take care of the defence of the country need people who know how aerospace engineering works. Here these engineers will be involved in operating aircraft systems, and help in coming up with new aircraft innovations for the defence of the country.

3. Research Laboratories

There is a lot of research happening in making unmanned aircraft and spacecraft. Labs that work on this need aerospace engineers to innovate and design interesting vehicles and programs.

4. Space Agencies

A space agency is an establishment owned by the government that works on exploring space. India’s space agency is ISRO, which is known for launching state-of-the-art space programs at an economical cost. Aerospace engineers have a lot to contribute to such agencies. They will be involved in running and coming up with various space programs. 

What you need to study to become an aerospace engineer

Here are the steps you need to become an aerospace engineer:

• The first step is to opt for science with a PCM (physics, chemistry, and maths) combination in the 11th and 12th grades. 
• The next step is to write entrance exams for colleges. Here is the list of major entrance exams for aerospace engineering.

1. Manipal Entrance Test 
2. Hindustan University Entrance Test 
3. IISAT Admission Test 
4. JEE Mains and Advanced 
5. SRM Engineering Entrance Examination Admissions

• In most colleges for aerospace engineering in India, a BE or a B.Tech is offered at an undergraduate level.
• After this, you can specialise at a postgraduate level in either aeronautical or astronautical engineering.
• For admission into a postgraduate course, most colleges require you to write GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) exams.

The best colleges for aerospace engineering in India

Here are some of the best engineering colleges in India that offer a BE/B.Tech in aerospace engineering.

• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras/Kanpur/Bombay/Kharagpur
• Manipal University, Manipal
• SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai
• Madras Institute of Technology India, Chennai
• Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
• The Indian Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Dehradun
• Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology, Chennai

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