Career path in jet propulsion or aircraft structure from Plymouth without A-C grades

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Mackay1011
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Hi, my mate has just left school and wants a career in jet propulsion or aircraft structure, he lives in plymouth (uk) and don't have any A to C grades... what would you recommend his best route is? and what decent colleges are there that specialize in this sort of thing?
 
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Since I am not from GB, I can't really say where to go. However, with any engineering career path, there are the same things anyone can do.

Firstly, I do not know of any university that specializes in propulsion. There are plenty of schools in the US that have aerospace programs with a good selection of classes related to propulsion. The best thing I can think of is to look at aerospace or mechanical programs and tailor your class selections toward your desired career, i.e. fluids and thermal, propulsion, etc...The propulsion field is not a very large one, so it is a bit tough to get your foot in the door unless you get a bit lucky. God knows I was very lucky to get in when and where I did.

Admittedly, a structural position will probably provide more opportunities in terms of employment. Again, if structures is where you want to be, alter your course selections to reflect what you want to do.

One thing to remember is that when you decide on a relatively narrow career path, you must be prepared to move wherever the work is. A lot of people do not want to do that and wonder why they can't find the job they want.
 
Very nice answer

Although I am not the person who asked the question , you answered Him in a very good way .
thanks for this informations , and your anwer was really fruitful ,
regards
 
lol haa72, would someone with crap academic grades be capable of learning something like this or is it hard to understand?
 
Mackay1011 said:
lol haa72, would someone with crap academic grades be capable of learning something like this or is it hard to understand?


llooolll , MAckay How do u definr someone with crap academic grades :) , I don't know if it hard to undewrstand or no , maybe u should asked :)

let me know
 
well I would say that you don't have good academic grades as you can't spell... what I mean is my mate has 5 GCSE's ----english (e) maths (f) science double award (dd) design technology (c) design technology resistant materials (d)

Does a career in jet propulsion require the need for extended math?
 
Mackay1011 said:
well I would say that you don't have good academic grades as you can't spell... what I mean is my mate has 5 GCSE's ----english (e) maths (f) science double award (dd) design technology (c) design technology resistant materials (d)

Does a career in jet propulsion require the need for extended math?
well definitely yes , because u need to do some good and hard derivations , I am more involved in the turbomachinery applications , but i guess there are some common things between the two .
I ddint get what u said : well I would say that you don't have good academic grades as you can't spell...

can u explain , hope I answered ur question
 
OK plain and simply, my mate wants to get a job in jet propulsion... 99.9% of the time you would need a degree in physics or extended maths or something... he has none of that, what's the chances of getting an apprentiship with the grades he has?? read my other post for that ...
 
I graduated in Economics but I want to return to school and obtain a career in Aerospace Engineering as well. I know you do need advanced mathematics to be able to succeed. You need All calculus courses + linear alg, diff eq, and others. My university also requires Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Thermodynamics, and some quantum mechanics..these are just core classes as you will also need fluid dynamics etc..

It's quite a feat..but even if you have crap grades..if you try hard and don't give up (and you won't if this is truly what you want to do) you'll be ok.
 
Mackay1011 said:
OK plain and simply, my mate wants to get a job in jet propulsion... 99.9% of the time you would need a degree in physics or extended maths or something... he has none of that, what's the chances of getting an apprentiship with the grades he has?? read my other post for that ...
It all depends on what kind of subject in regards to propulsion that he wants into. There are plenty of jobs within a company that would not require a seriously heavy side degree. However, I think he would be hard pressed to get one without an engineering degree, which, is math heavy, but not to the extent of the others you list. There's no way around it.

I would recommend that your friend work on getting into some kind of engineering program. Get over that hurdle and then worry about employment.
 
FredGarvin said:
...The propulsion field is not a very large one, so it is a bit tough to get your foot in the door unless you get a bit lucky. God knows I was very lucky to get in when and where I did.

I'm not sure if that is really true, at least it should not stop you from studying thermofluids since there are plenty job opportunities in energy related fields.
 
I know this thread is old, but my advice would be that unless the friend wants to go back to school to get some decent GCSE grades, he's unlikely to pass enough A levels to get onto an engineering degree course. (Ideal courses for 'jet propulsion' would be any aerospace/aeronautical engineering course at any of the top 20 UK universities for engineering.)

The only feasible route open to him would be to try the vocational route, get to college and study for an NVQ or some such (in engineering), and try and get an apprenticeship with Rolls Royce in Bristol or Derby. This is all tougher than it sounds.
 
jaap de vries said:
I'm not sure if that is really true, at least it should not stop you from studying thermofluids since there are plenty job opportunities in energy related fields.
I never told him to not study anything. My point was that if one os going to hedge everything on getting into a very specific field, the number of job opportunities falls off dramatically.
 
I don't know how the UK system works, but those grades would be a huge barrier in the US. The way to get around them would be via vocational training followed by night school at a local college (maybe a two year or community college) or perhaps service in the military (an aviation trade school), followed by college.

In the US, when the first big wave of VietNam vets showed up for college, it was quickly noted that high school grades didn't mean much. My buddy was in the second semester of an honors program in engineering before the college found out he had flunked out of the 8th grade and enlisted in the Navy.