Help! Ds wants to design/engineer spacecraft

[HullyEastergully]

How what where when can he go and do?

What about residential courses etc??

I know of Smallpeice but none other.

All help most gratefully received.

Degree in Aerospace Engineering? I've heard Southampton Uni is very good.

What year is he in?

Headstart do course a course but he has to be year 12 and the applications need to be in this week

aerospace headstart at Liverpool University

May not be exactly what he wants but I think Surrey is supposed to be very good for satellite engineering.

How old is he?

Bristol Uni do a degree in aero engineering and have strong links with British Aerospace just up the road.

www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/departments/aerospace/

My DS is at Southampton studying aerospace engineering and spacecraft design. He is loving it, but not much use for your DS till he's 18. The smallpeice courses are really good.
If your DS is little younger, try to find any courses that Adrain Dening is running as these are very good.

Thanks all, he is in Year 11 at the mo (15), so is trying to plan and think ahead. I'll have a look at theose courses.

Oh he would have loved those adrian dening ones when younger, why doesn't anyone tell you about this stuff..??

http://www.arkwright.org.uk/scholars/ he is eligible to apply for an Arkwright Scholarship for those who want to study engineering at uni. You have to apply in yr11.
It's £600 over two years in 6th form plus £400 for the school plus a head start course paid for . Also get a sponsor which may give contacts in industry etc.

Thanks bruffin, I'll get him to get on to it.

Aeronautical engineering is not necessarily the best choice (great degree though!) DHs family pretty much all work in aerospace. Lots have a mechanical or electrical engineering degree, one very succesful relative has an acoustical engineering degree!

If he can narrow down the part he finds most exciting that will help him choose.

www.southampton.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/aeronautics_astronautics.shtml
www.southampton.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/electrical_electronic_engineering.shtml
www.southampton.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/electromechanical_engineering.shtml

leading to

www.southampton.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgstudy/researchareas/ses/ses_overview.html

the UK is the world leader in satellite engineers - other countries might launch them, but the engineers are from here...

Ha! This caught my eye as my 12 year-old dd is very keen on aerospace engineering and I'm on the lookout for clubs/courses for her as a home educator. Oh my! Seriously, thank you so so much for the Smallpeice and Adrian Dening tips! I can't wait to show her! I wish she weren't in bed right now!

Write to Richard Branson and ask how he can get in touch with whoever is designing / building his spacecraft.

My cousin was obsessed with Star Wars from 2. He did astro-physics at Edinburgh and now works for the European Space Agency. He does satellite launch & design. He really enjoys his work and has a girlfriend based in Germany who works in the same industry.

Those that know people working in the industry and loving it, what type of people (personality) are they iykwim?

Your DS might be interested in the Schools Aerospace Challenge if he can get his school interested too.

Cousin is mid-30s, was really into sailing, windsurfing & diving, fairly sociable & friendly.

In actual space related stuff as opposed to aircraft: very bright, not brilliant social skills, bit of a pedant. Nice though.

I forgot to say lots of people on aeronautical engineering students will be looking to work in f1, so it's quite usual to do a course that doesn't look like quite the right one, but is because if the content. If he can get some relevant work experience that will really help.

Please excuse my garbled posts, not getting much sleep!

Thanks, it's good to know the stereotype no longer necessarily holds true...

Thanks, it's good to know the stereotype no longer necessarily holds true...

especially if you've got a sociable, windsurfing girl who might want to go this way. So, not all Howard Wolowitzes?

Quite.

Taking note of this thread... I've a 5yo who wants to be an aero engineer, though he insists that he can build a new Concorde out of Lego

I also decided on my career before the age of 10, so I have no doubt he'll do it. (The engineer part, not the Concorde!)

Utterly irrelevant but I was in Budgens earlier and they has Malteasters (giant Maltesers shaped like bunnies). In December.

I thought of you Hully.

Your son should go to Bristol because it is an excellent place (can't comment on courses as I know nothing).

On that basis he should go to Bali. As should I.