A Little Bit about Aerospace Engineering

Written by: Haider Janjua

As this is my first ever blog post I should tell you a little bit about me first. My name is Haider Janjua. I am from Pakistan and I am currently in my 2^nd year of Aerospace Engineering. Just like my degree I have variety of interests. I like reading and have interest in writing too. I am also quite interested in photography, so wherever I go, I don’t forget to take selfies! Apart from that, I like travelling, tennis and TV Shows! I have also just started learning graphic design thanks to GRAPHCAD Society and find it quite exciting and fun.

Today I will tell you a little about my course, which is Aerospace Engineering. Aerospace Engineering is concerned with the design, research, construction and testing of the aeroplanes.

Sheffield University is one of the best universities in UK for Aerospace Engineering.  This course is multidisciplinary in nature, which means that we study modules from many different departments. These departments include mechanical, automatic control, materials, computer science, mathematics and law. So not only we get knowledge about different subjects, but also have classes with students from other departments. On top of that we even have a choice in later years to choose the stream we like. So if you don’t really like some specific are like for example electrical stuff you can select Aero Mechanics in the second year and vice versa. Plus all the degrees are professionally accredited by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAes) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Rolls-Royce has two research and technology centres here at the University. The university also collaborates with Boeing and other aerospace companies in the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. And there are two flight simulators (I had a session last year and somehow I managed to go past the map into infinity). In addition to that there are two wind tunnels as well.

There is a choice between different Aerospace Engineering courses. You can either decide to do BEng which is bachelors of engineering or do 1 extra year and get masters. If you want to go and experience living in another country for one year, you can choose the study abroad option and go for your 3^rd year (can only do so if you are on MEng course). Also if you want to get experience of working in the industry you can also do that in your 3^rd year and come back afterwards to complete your BEng or MEng. The university career service helps you a lot in obtaining placements. And if you would want to learn to fly an aeroplane as well, you can choose the private pilot instruction option as well. It takes place in 2^nd semester of the 2^nd year (next semester for me as I am doing it, so exciting! :D) .

You don’t have to worry if you didn’t choose the industry/study abroad or pilot instruction at first because you can change your course till your second year and if you chose BEng but afterwards want to convert to MEng course; it can be done after your 2^nd year if you get more than 60% overall. There is no choice in the first year but you can choose between Aeromechanics, Avionics or the general stream in the 2^nd year.

All in all if you are interested in aeroplanes and you want to learn further about them, plus you are good at maths and physics, you should choose aerospace engineering as it is the BEST!

Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield