What is aeronautical engineering?

Aeronautical engineering is a field of engineering that involves technologies related to the operation of aircraft or the study, design and development of flight-capable machines. This course gives students training related to the construction, designing, testing and analysis of commercial or military aircraft, missiles and spacecrafts. Aeronautic engineering consists of topics related to propulsion, material science, avionics and aerodynamics.

This course also includes the study of the development of new technologies in commercial aviation, defense systems and space exploration.

What do aeronautical engineers do?

Aeronautical Engineers are involved in the design, research and production of aircraft, aerospace equipment, spacecraft, satellites and missiles.

These engineers work include research and development work of aircraft and missiles, testing, parts assembly related work and maintenance work. Some aeronautic engineers specialize in studying the impact of aircraft on the environment, the potential risks of new aircraft technologies, and topics related to fuel efficiency. Under aeronautical engineering, one can also focus on designing aircraft systems and this work is also known as avionics.

Aeronautical Engineers also undertake work related to the development and design of supersonic jets, helicopters, space shuttles, satellites and extraordinary technologies related to rocket search and selection.

Educational qualifications to become an aeronautical engineer

Students who want to make a career as an aeronautical engineer, are advised to start preparing for their careers in advance with their full focus in science and mathematics from their high school days. Students who have successfully passed 12th class with PCM / PCB subjects or have attained the same qualification, can apply for the entrance exam for Aeronautical Engineering under B.Tech course. For most entrance exams, you need at least 60% marks.

Students who are currently giving 12th class exam, they can also apply for the test but, those students will have to submit their qualifying certificates at the time of admission.

Only students who are between 17 and 25 years of age can apply for the tests. Age relaxation has been given to 5 years for the candidates of reserved classes.

For MTech courses, candidates should have a B.Tech degree in aggregate with minimum pass percentage in all subjects at degree level.

Other programs

Some colleges and universities offer cooperative programs or internship opportunities that provide students with working experience until the completion of their degree programs. No license is required for entry level engineering positions; However, engineers must be licensed as professional engineers for higher level positions.

List of entrance exams in aeronautical engineering

Entrance exams for graduate level (BE / B.Tech)

All India Engineering / Architecture Entrance Exam (AIEEE)

• The Indian Institute of Aeronautics (IIA) entrance exam
• IISAT Admission Test (IIST, Thiruvananthapuram)
• Delhi University Combined Entrance Exam (CEE)
• Hindustan University Entrance Exam (HITSEE)
• SILET Entrance Exam (SET)
• JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) organized by IITs
• SRM Engineering Entrance Exam (SRM EEE) Admissions

Entrance Tests for Postgraduate Level (ME / MTech)

• Sathyabama University ME Entrance Exam
• Punjab Engineering College PhD Entrance Exam
• Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)

Institutes participating in the said exams

• Guru Gram Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Technology, Gurgaon
• Engineers Training Center (ETC), Thrissur
• Guru Gram Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Technology, Nagpur

Adhiyaman College of Engineering, Hosur

• Guru Nanak Engineering College, Hyderabad
• Flytech Aviation Academy, Secunderabad
• Hindustan University, Kelambakkam (Tamil Nadu)
• Indian Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Dehradun
• Hindustan Institute of Technology, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu)
• Indian Institute for Aeronautical Engineering and Information Technology, Pune (Maharashtra)
• Hindustan College of Engineering and Technology (HICET), Coimbatore
• Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology (HIET), Chennai
• Institute of Aeronautical and Marine Engineering, Bangalore (Karnataka)
• Bharat Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET), Hyderabad
• Jain University, Bangalore (Karnataka)

Karpagam Institute of Technology, Coimbatore

• Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore
• MLR Institute and Technology, Hyderabad
• Jaya Engineering College, Thiruvallur
• MVJ Engineering College, Bangalore
• MNR College of Engineering, Hyderabad
• Mohammad Seethak Engineering College, Ramanathapuram
• Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal
• Nehru Institute of Engineering and Technology (NIET), Coimbatore
• Nehru College of Engineering and Research Center, Thrissur
• Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh

Park College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore

• Sai Flytech Aviation Private Limited, Bilaspur
• School of Aeronautics, Dwarka (Gujarat)
• Siddharth Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Information Technology, Bangalore (Karnataka)
• Sathyabama University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
• RVS (Ratnavel Subrahmanyam) College of Engineering and Technology
• Tagore Engineering College (TEC), Chennai
• Vell Tech Engineering College, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
• Rajasthan Institute of Technology and Engineering Science, Kota
• Institute and Information Technology and Management Aeronautical Engineering Training Academy, Pune (Maharashtra)
• Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore
• VSM Institute of Aerospace Engineering and Technology, Bangalore
• Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology
• IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Mumbai
• Institute of Information Technology and Management’s Aeronautical Engineering Training Academy, Pune

Exam pattern for BTech program test

For graduation level course, questions are asked from the following subjects in the test:

• Physics
• Chemistry
• Mathematics

The questions asked are objective type and students have to choose the correct answer from the 4 options given along with each question. The duration of this exam is 3 hours.

How to apply for entrance test?

Candidates can submit their applications online or offline methods. They can visit the official website of the university and submit their applications online or else, by taking a printout of the online form, filling that form properly and sending it to the relevant address along with all the required documents. These forms can be obtained by going to the admission counter itself or by post.

Jobs available for aeronautical engineers

We now have the knowledge that aeronautical engineers are involved in designing, developing and maintaining aircraft to ensure a high level of technical precision and safe operations. They work closely with aircraft maintenance engineers and flight maintenance teams. In India, the following government organizations provide jobs to most aeronautical engineers:

• Civil Aviation Department
• Government-owned air services
• National Aeronautical Laboratory
• Defense Research and Development Laboratories (DRDO) and
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
• ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization)
• Ministry of Defense, Government of India

Apart from the above government organizations, aeronautical engineers can start their career in many sectors. These sectors are:

• airlines
• Corporations
• Flying Clubs
• Private Airlines
• Aeronautical Development Establishments
• Aircraft Manufacturers
• Aeronautical Laboratories