Even the sky’s not the limit for aerospace engineers, who design and build jet fighters, spaceships, rockets, planes, satellites – essentially any craft that soars through or above the atmosphere.

Make a Difference!
Many of the new aircrafts that aerospace engineers design make use of lightweight composite materials. Why? Lighter planes consume much less fuel, which reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.

Did you know?
Aerospace engineers are experts in aerodynamics, so some of them put their skills to use in making race cars go faster or golf balls fly further.

Where do they Work?
The aerospace industry, which includes companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has an insatiable demand for engineers. So do airline companies (American Airlines, Federal Express). Automobile manufacturers, like Ford and Toyota, also hire aerospace engineers. NASA, of course, is a big source of jobs, as are other government agencies like the Departments of Defense and Energy. And a growing number of aerospace engineers are landing jobs with commercial space operations like Virgin Galactic.

Meet an Engineer!!
Neal Saiki is founder of Zero Motorcycles, which produces the high-performance electric motorcycle Saiki invented — a bike that’s clean, quiet, and capable of hitting 60 m.p.h. in four seconds.

COOL FACT: Saiki honed his skills as an aerospace engineer at NASA, where he worked on future modes of transportation — a job that got him thinking about building a better motorcycle.

Watch a video about aerospace engineer Neal Saiki’s electric motorcycles!

Learn more about aerospace engineering.

Filed under: Aerospace, Explore Engineering

Tags: Aerospace