A Day In The Life Of A Retired Aerospace Engineer At Northrop Grumman
An engineering system architect's daily life revolves around "influencing the details" of a system, like an aircraft or spacecraft, by translating high-level performance objectives into testable requirements derived from standardized military specifications, such as defining environmental requirements and the standard atmosphere. This involves possessing a broad understanding of applicable knowledge, which the professional noted "takes about 20 years to get to that point".
Aerospace Engineering, Systems Architecture, Requirements Engineering, Military Standards, Testing and Verification
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Michael Capoccia
Retired Aerospace Engineer
Northrop Grumman Corp.
Cal State University Long Beach
Pepperdine University Masters In Business Administration , Graduate Studies In Program Mngt. and Systems Engineering Cal Tech
Engineering - Chemical
Aerospace, Aviation & Defense
Research and Development (R&D)
Honors Student, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. System architects influence the design details of various systems, such as airplanes, missiles, spacecraft, automobiles, and computers.
2. A significant part of the job involves translating high-level performance objectives into testable requirements, ensuring the tests are applicable, repeatable, and accurate.
3. Understanding standardized specifications, like military specifications defining the standard atmosphere and environmental requirements for vehicles, is crucial.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of an engineering system architect look like?
The architect's job is to influence the details of whatever system you're trying to create. This could be an airplane, missile, spacecraft, automobile, or computer.
This is done within the requirements of several standardized military specifications. One defines the standard atmosphere of the world, which sounds a bit crazy. Another, Mill Standard 810, defines the various environmental requirements for different types of vehicles.
You have to figure out which vehicle fits into a particular category because the customer doesn't just tell you these things. They say, "Here's what we want done, and here's about what we'll put it on." You then have to go back and figure out all the requirements.
So, a big part of the job is taking these high-level performance objectives and turning them into requirements that can be tested objectively. These tests must be verified as applicable, repeatable, and accurate. There's a whole body of knowledge you need to understand, and it takes about 20 years to reach that point.