Aviation engineering is a branch of engineering which deals with airspace development, airport design, aircraft navigation technologies, and aerodrome planning. It also involves the formulation of

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

, regulations, aviation laws pertaining to

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is the ...

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

s and the conduct of air services agreements through treaty. This branch of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

is distinct from

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

which deals with the development of aircraft and spacecraft.

Airspace development

The global airspace is divided into territorial airspace which then belongs to a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

. Generally, airspace has to be engineered to benefit both military and civil users. Planning and designing airspace is important so as not to affect military operations and in order to designate air routes for commercial airlines to navigate freely without intervention by military authorities. For instance, not all of China can be used for commercial aeronautical navigation. Certain airspaces are designated as military-use only. Navigating outside commercial airspaces in the country may lead to the risk of the astrayed aircraft. In prior years, airspace has been limited to military and airmail services. The advancement in aerospace engineering brought to fore aircraft designs that lead to the development of commercial airliners. Governments around the world concluded air rights for their respective airlines and their corresponding aircraft. The government saw the economic potential of airspace as a state enterprise. This rise in the development of commercial aviation led to the study of the complexities of aircraft (plane) management, airport design and construction, international air services agreements (treaties). In recent years, the global airline industry has demanded that China should reform its aviation policies.

Airport design

Recent designs of airports have been engineered to align with global environmental standards. Advancement in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

make an interplay of the two disciplines.

Career

Governments around the world hire aviation engineers for all sorts of reasons. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, federal, state and local agencies all commonly employ aviation engineers for agencies such as the Department of Transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration, which is in charge of controlling aircraft navigation throughout the whole nation, maintaining navigation, licensing and certification for aviation engineers. FAA employs many aviation engineers to work on research and development problems,

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mai ...

and hypersonic aircraft among other things. Engineers are heavily involved in improving aviation technologies to support the advancement of military and commercial aviation. Aviation engineers are often employed in aerospace machine shops specializing in the technological advancement of aircraft parts and equipment. These shops produce aircraft components such as electrical connectors, oxygen generation systems, landing gear assemblies, and other pieces that require special attention. Aviation engineers do more than work on planes. Aviation engineers also play a large role in airport design. They provide guidance for the construction and daily running of the airports, as well as help in the operation and maintenance.

References

{{Reflist Engineering disciplines Occupations in aviation