Favorite Parts of Working in the Aerospace Industry as a Retired Aerospace Engineer
Michael, a retired aerospace engineer, finds the industry appealing due to the constant challenges and innovation, contrary to initial plans of being a corrosion engineer; as Michael notes, "you never do the same thing twice," because each new system, whether "airplane science [or] missile science," requires a different approach and set of problems due to evolving technology.
Aerospace Engineering, Technological Innovation, Problem Solving, Continuous Learning, Challenging Work
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
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. Aerospace offers incredibly challenging and diverse problems, ensuring you rarely do the same thing twice.
2. The rapid pace of technological advancement in aerospace means each new project involves different sensors, payloads, and requirements.
3. Aerospace engineering demands continuous learning and problem-solving due to the complex nature of building airplanes, missiles, and radar systems.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
The best part about industry aerospace is, and I loved aerospace. It wasn't what I wanted to do in my plan. I wanted to be a corrosion engineer, work out of the aqueducts in the middle of the California Eastern Sierras, go trout fishing, and be a long-haired, hippie, beatnik engineer.
Long hair would have been nice, but I just don't have hair anymore. That's the way it goes, but that's what I wanted to do. Then I started working in aerospace, and the challenges are so hard. What you do, and like they say, "It ain't rocket science." It is rocket science. It's hard. Airplane science is hard. Missile science is hard. It's very difficult.
You never do the same thing twice. Once you've built a system and it goes into production, it's done. The next system is going to be completely different because the technology's changed. So you carry different sensors, different payloads.
The thing you built does its job. You don't want another thing to do its job; you have a new job to do. The system, whether it's an airplane or a missile, rocket, or radar, it's completely different. It's a very different set of requirements, a different set of problems. So you never do the same thing twice, and it's never easy.