If you have a passion for aircrafts and are amazed every time one takes flight, aerospace engineering could be the path for you. To help your career take flight, consider a post-secondary degree in the field.

About the program

Aerospace engineering focuses on all aspects of aircrafts and spacecrafts from research, design, development, construction, testing, science, and technology.

James Davis, senior lecturer of aerospace engineering and the undergraduate coordinator at the Institute of Aerospace Studies at the University of Toronto, describes the program as unique, practical, and very demanding.

It's a really neat learning experience  from building an airplane and making it fly, says Davis. We certainly have a lot of practical things that students can do, adding that it's a multidisciplinary course.

Aerospace engineers have expertise all over the engineering field, he says. This means you can go into any area and have a sufficient background to make some contribution.

So long baby boomers, hello millennials

As the aerospace engineering experiences its ups and downs (like any other industry), Davis says right now is a good time to be looking for a job as an aerospace engineer.

Part of it is demographics, he says. The aerospace industry in Canada went through a large expansion in the late 1960s and early 1970s, so a lot of engineers as well as other staff are going into retirement. There's a lot of replacement happening.

Aerospace engineering from a student's perspective

Carlo Torres is an aerospace engineering student at Ryerson University. What he enjoys most about the program is having the opportunity to apply what he's learned in class to real, hands-on projects.

Although some courses can be exhausting and overwhelming, the program has taught him to appreciate every lesson. In his second year, Torres and his classmates had four design projects where they were tasked to build prototypes based on their research and theories.

The most fulfilling part was when we built the prototype and it actually worked according to the analysis that we did, he says.

Torres advises future aerospace engineering students to constantly fuel their curiosity because there is always so much to learn and absorb.

If you lose that passion to learn, it will be extremely difficult to get through some of the courses.

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