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Job Title:

Research Engineer - Icing Research

Related Job Title:

Aerospace Engineer, Aeronautics Engineer, Meteorological Aviation Engineer

Job Description:

A research engineer performing icing research in the refrigerated wind tunnel creates and conducts experiments that help pilots and aircraft manufacturers alike understand more about in-flight icing and its effects on flight characteristics of an airplane. Sometimes the work of icing researchers might take them on board an Icing Research Aircraft for the Ice-Contaminated Tailplane Stall program. This researcher uses very sophisticated computer equipment to take measurements of the forces that are affected by icing on surfaces of an airplane. After creating and running the experiment, icing researchers would then draft their report and present the information to other researchers as well as aeronautical societies, aircraft manufacturers and pilots. Their results will greatly inform pilots about when to expect airframe icing, what icing feels like to the pilot at the controls, how an airplane reacts to different types of icing and how a pilot should react to the different types of icing.

Areas of Expertise:

Fluid Mechanics, Thermal Science, Meteorology, Aeronautics

Interests and Abilities:

• Highly proficient at research, experiments and data collection
• Love of aviation and aeronautics
• Detail oriented, keen observer and meticulous note taker
• Logical thinker
• High mathematical proficiency

Suggested subjects to study in school:

• Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Statistics
• Meteorology
• Physics
• English composition
• Computer science

Education and Training Needed:

To perform research, a Masters or Ph.D. level of degree in any of the following:

• aeronautical engineering
• aerospace engineering
• mechanical engineering
• fluid dynamics (the study of how air flows around an object)

Experience in and knowledge of meteorology

You might want to further explore this career by checking out the web sites given below:

What can I do right now?
Learn about meteorology through the weather stations available on the Web and through television.
Interview pilots about the effects of weather on their aircraft's flight characteristics.
Learn how to read the different types of aeronautical charts.
Learn how to read and interpret the different types of weather data, charts and maps available. "Continue broadening your computer skills.

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