The aerospace industry is on the leading edge of technology and constantly is striving to create new products and improve existing ones. The industry invests a great amount of time and money in research and development of aerospace products, and much of the work is performed by professional and related workers, who made up about 31 percent of the aerospace workforce in 2002 (table 1). In addition, thousands more aerospace-related professionals work in research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences industry. A bachelor's degree in a specialized field, such as engineering, is required for many of these jobs; a master's or doctoral degree is preferred for a few. Two years of technical training after high school is favored for many technician occupations.

Professionals and technicians develop new designs and make improvements to existing designs. Aerospace engineers are integral members of the teams that research, design, test, and produce aerospace vehicles. Some specialize in areas such as structural design, guidance, navigation and control, and instrumentation and communication. Electrical and electronics, industrial, and mechanical engineers also contribute to the research for and development and production of aerospace products. For example, mechanical engineers help design mechanical components and develop the specific tools and machines needed to produce aircraft, missile, and space vehicle parts, or they may design jet and rocket engines. Engineering technicians assist engineers, both in the research and development laboratory, and on the manufacturing floor. They may help build prototype versions of newly designed products, run tests and experiments, and perform a variety of other technical tasks. One of the earliest users of CAD, the aerospace industry continues to use the latest computer technology. Computer scientists and systems analysts and database administrators; computer software engineers; computer programmers; and computer support specialists and systems administrators are responsible for the design, testing, evaluation, and setup of computer systems that are used throughout the industry for design and manufacturing purposes.

Management, business, and financial occupations accounted for 16 percent of industry employment in 2002. Many advance to these jobs from professional occupations. Many managers in the aerospace industry have a technical or engineering background, and supervise teams of engineers in activities such as testing and research and development. Industrial production managers oversee all workers and lower-level managers in a factory. They also coordinate all activities related to production. In addition to technical and production managers, financial managers; purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents; cost estimators; and accountants and auditors are needed to negotiate with customers and subcontractors and to track costs.

Of all aerospace workers, 40 percent are employed in production; installation, maintenance, and repair; and transportation and material moving occupations. Many of these jobs are not specific to aerospace and can be found in other manufacturing industries. Many production jobs are open to persons with only a high school education; however, special vocational training after high school is preferred for some of the more highly skilled jobs.

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers usually specialize in one assembly task; hundreds of different assemblers may work at various times on producing a single aircraft. Assemblers may put together parts of airplanes, such as wings or landing gear, or install parts and equipment into the airplane itself. Those involved in assembling aircraft or systems must be skilled in reading and interpreting engineering specifications and instructions.
 

Machinists make parts that are needed in numbers too small to be mass produced. They follow blueprints and specifications and are highly skilled with machine tools and metalworking. Tool and die makers are responsible for constructing precision tools and metal forms, called dies, which are used to shape metal. Increasingly, as individual components are designed electronically, these highly skilled workers must be able to read electronic blueprints and setup and operate computer-controlled machines.

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers perform numerous quality control and safety checks on aerospace parts throughout the production cycle. Their work is vital to ensure the safety of the aircraft.

The remaining jobs in the industry are in office and administrative support, service, and sales occupations. Most of these jobs can be entered without education beyond high school. Workers in office and administrative support occupations help coordinate the flow of materials to the worksite, draw up orders for supplies, keep records, and help with all of the other paperwork associated with keeping a business functioning. Those in service occupations are employed mostly as guards and janitors and other cleaning and maintenance workers. Sales workers are mostly wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives and sales workers supervisors.