I got accepted to msu into their aerospace engineering program! :O

thought I'd share, since we are all a dysfunctional forum family

 

Congrats!

 

Wait what? You're going to be only a hour away from me?

 

congrats lil bro. make the best of it!

 

Awesome C! Can you engineer a rear foil for me? It's so fast I need down force on the corners . Having a rover puts you light years ahead of any other AE out there.

 

Think calculus is hard? Try doing it blindfolded - put those on safety glasses under the Rover. You'll like calculus , lots and lots of it, about five semesters. Also check out a book at the library - "Boyd" - bio of Air Force fighter instructor pilot who went back to get a degree in aerospace, and came up with a whole new way of using calculus to predict performance of fighters, F15 on, you'll be amazed. Find a professor you like, who needs help writing DARPA grants, and he could hire you as a grad student later (free tuition plus a salary)....

 

First let me congratulate you.

Second let me pass on a bit of advice. Get as much practical experience as you can along the way. You will need it to fall back upon during those lean times in between programs in your future.

Aerospace employment in the US is always in a state of flux. It bounces rapidly between feast and famine. I speak from experience. I was a Co-op student with Ga Tech after serving 4 years in the Navy as an Aviation Electrician. I worked on a research program in a lab at Lockheed.

My first professional job was with Martin Mariettta Denver Aerospace on the Titan and MX Missile programs and even worked on the Manned Manuvering Unit that was used on the Space Shuttle. I left there when the MX Program was experiencing funding issues. Many of my coworkers had worked for Martin several times over their careers.

I then was relocated to Titusville Florida to work for McDonnell Douglas on the new Tomahawk Cruise Missile Program. That was my longest employment with one company. In ten years we went from producing 6 qualification missiles the first year, then 12 production missiles the second year, then 120 the thrird year. In a ten year span, we manufactured over 1000 Tomahawks, only to see the program come to a screeching halt and the entire Titusville facility mothballed. The building still sits unoccupied today.

Thankfulkly I was able to all back on my electrical experience to get thru periods of downturn in Aerospace contracts.

I relocated to my wife's childhood home of Pittsburgh and transitioned into Quality Auditing and Consulting in the Steel and Automotive industries. Both of them were undergoing massive changes. After a few years in that arena, I ended up on contracts to the USPS as a Auditor.

With the demise of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA's future is uncertain. Boeing and Lockheed Martin still exist as primary players in Aerospace. I receive a small pension from Boeing since they absorbed what was once McDonnell Douglas.

Aerospace can be an exciting field to work in during the good times. It can be very lean and experience massive layoffs and cutbacks during the other cycles of programs.

Learn all you can and be prepared to go anywhere that a contract exists if you plan to work in Aerospace.

 

i wish i was back in college.

 

First of all thanks guys

And spike, isn't grand rapids really far away from Starkville?

Danny, after reading all of that I admit it's kind of intimidating but i think I can do it. So do you see foresee jobs in the next 5-6 years?

 

all you damn states that start with M... no one can tell your state schools apart. MSU, MSU, MSU or MSU?