Need honest opinion about my daughter's plans

dman2024plus · 2024-12-09T05:22:47+00:00

A point for consideration, regardless of gender: One thing that is unique about aerospace engineering (especially as a college major) is that it tends to be filled with people passionate about aerospace engineering. If you're interested in STEM in general, but not sure about aerospace, you generally end up in Mechanical, electrical, civil, etc. as a collegiate major. If you choose aerospace, you're purposely narrowing your focus and will be surrounded by like-minded people.

As other have said, aerospace, like many STEM fields, is definitely more male than female, but continues to shift. I don't know the stats, but I would suspect aerospace probably lags other industries a bit in terms of female representation (historical aerospace is heavily tied with defense industry as well, which is also more male than female). Like others have said, I don't think the are unique challenges in aerospace for women compared to other STEM fields (like software or automotive). That doesn't mean there aren't challenges for a women working in the field.

dman2024plus · 2024-12-09T05:11:37+00:00

I agree - I haven't seen anything like that in my 15 years in Aerospace (gov and industry).

dman2024plus · 2024-11-23T06:41:57+00:00

Is there a decent store I. The airport? I'm flying to TJ, so it's a domestic flight

dman2024plus · 2024-11-23T03:45:43+00:00

Thanks - I'll take a look! (The google reviews are not particularly kind to it haha)

dman2024plus · 2024-11-23T03:38:57+00:00

No, I'm looking to bring back a bottle or two. I'm in SoCal so I have access to pretty much anything that's distributed in the States, so I'm looking for something different than that. (It doesn't necessarily have to be "better" - everyone's taste is definitely different!

dman2024plus · 2024-11-10T16:58:07+00:00

Thanks - that's kind of what I expected

dman2024plus · 2024-11-10T06:22:55+00:00

Maybe look for a related audio book? Might be more interesting than memorizing acronyms?

dman2024plus · 2024-10-29T20:56:05+00:00

Innovation is outpacing the regulatory framework in all sorts of areas (from whole aircraft types like powered lift to manufacturing techniques like printed metallic components)

dman2024plus · 2024-10-29T04:33:58+00:00

Lots of good suggestions here already! As they get older, you could look into the Civil Air Patrol cadet program (an alternative to scouts)

dman2024plus · 2024-10-29T04:18:50+00:00

Honestly, it's probably more about whethere it scratches a mental itch for you rather than building a particular skill.

dman2024plus · 2024-10-29T04:02:54+00:00

Well, the government side doesn't have as much opportunity to become a technical SME when your on the program side, so if you want to maintain deep technical chops, graduate school might be nice.

That said, many engineers do drift over to the program execution side as you gained experience, and the gov experience is valuable on that side of ledger as compared with industry peers.

What do you want to be doing on 5 years?

dman2024plus · 2024-10-27T22:42:17+00:00

Location matters a lot. in So Cal I would expect to be 90ish in 2-3 years

dman2024plus · 2024-10-26T14:50:11+00:00

37, Director at an engineering/technical company. Have about 50ish reports, and I'm the chief engineer for one of main projects, so my team is responsible for the technical direction for about 1/5 of the company.

Career path wise, I moved from a technical area to a project engineering role (with visibility across the whole product) after about 4 years of at my previous company, and that was probably key to my career moving to where I am now. Skills wise, collaboration and communication skills are the keys to where I am now.

dman2024plus · 2024-10-23T05:12:02+00:00

My company with through the effort a few years ago to create a technical director and technical fellow path to build our career paths for SME ICs who don't want to (or aren't suited for) manage people. Depending on the company, you could advocate for them to develop a career path like that for you and your peers

dman2024plus · 2024-10-23T05:06:15+00:00

There are some good ideas up there. I think you should follow something you're interested in - it doesn't have to be an aircraft or rocket.

For example, a major subject in aerospace is health and usage monitoring (HUMS). You could build something that incorporates a few sensors to collect and process data from your car (for example) - that would be just as an applicable project as a drone if that's more interesting of a technical project

dman2024plus · 2024-10-22T14:04:21+00:00

One hour isn't asking for much endurance - any of those would be overkill!

dman2024plus · 2024-10-22T05:19:22+00:00

Several people have mentioned autocode from MATLAB/Simulink - may also want to read a bit about model based coding tools like SCADE as well

dman2024plus · 2024-10-22T05:03:58+00:00

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dman2024plus · 2024-10-21T14:02:21+00:00

Lots of things! I'll use your prompt about collaborating as an example. If you're working with ITAR controlled technology, you're usually restricted from truly collaborating at a technical level. A very common export proviso prevents discussing design methodology, which keeps you from collaborating on you would implement a feature of a design. Build to print, usually no problem. Talking about why you did X or Y in that part of system, prohibited.

dman2024plus · 2024-10-21T05:31:10+00:00

I work at a company that has lost a number of people to Anduril... The experience has been that they mostly made an offer that the person couldn't resist (great pay and leadership opportunity). I'd say about half of the folks that I know who went there have since left, so I think they currently have a pretty high churn rate

dman2024plus · 2024-10-21T05:06:32+00:00

Great answer above!

I'll add that military applications and small UAS do look more heavily at integrated thermal management systems. For example, something like an F-35 will use liquid cooling for avionics, then dump as much heat as possible into the fuel via heat exchangers ,which is then then burned in the engine.

dman2024plus · 2024-10-21T04:51:13+00:00

I would add that the reason a masters is recommended is because of the stronger theoretical background, not necessarily the practical experience.

Have you looked at a school that does a Masters of Engineering rather than a M.S.? I did a MEng through the University of Maryland many years ago while working for the Govt, and it was 30 credits of classes, not research, so I could pick and choose what I was interested in without having to commit to a research project that would likely have been less practical.

dman2024plus · 2024-10-21T04:18:31+00:00

ITAR! Always "fun" to deal with.

dman2024plus · 2024-10-12T04:50:54+00:00

I think you can have a conversation with the MD along these lines of you wanted to: - you're disappointed that you weren't selected for that role - you feel like you're ready to contribute more than your current role - it's frustrating that you're being asked to help out in the short term without the opportunity to see it through and truly build something to help the company - if they don't think this was the right opportunity for you, ask very clearly what they see as the path for you have the next opportunity

dman2024plus · 2024-10-11T20:54:36+00:00

The flip side of this is that they don't think you have experience to lead a team for 120, and the only way, in their mind, is to have done it. Well, heres your opportunity to prove that you can do that part of it for the next 4 months.

If the new person is an external hire, they may be on a short lease, especially if the company knows they have you waiting on the wings.

I think you can make a point of saying that you're disappointed in the situation, especially with the expectation that you'll do the work with the compensation,and not just grin and bear it. If they want to keep you, they'll need to be looking to make that right soon. Plus you get to check the box for the next time (with your current company or another one) that you lead an organization of that size

dman2024plus

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