Wondering if studying Aerospace Engineering at UNSW will take off?
Let’s find out with Amelia Holmes! She’s a final year Aerospace Engineering (Honours) student at UNSW who is here to reveal the real good and bad about studying this degree.
So, let’s hear what she has to share!
Why should you study an Aerospace Engineering degree at UNSW?
Top 3 Pros of an Aerospace Engineering Degree
Top 3 Cons of an Aerospace Engineering Degree
Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make
Things to Know Before Starting UNSW Aerospace Engineering
What Makes this Degree Different
Motivations for Studying UNSW Aerospace Engineering
Potential Career Paths
Why should you study an Aerospace Engineering degree at UNSW?
Soar with one of the top ranking universities in Australia for engineering, as UNSW’s Aerospace Engineering degree propels you ahead of other aerospace graduates with its world class teaching, resources and course content!
With a curriculum that meets international standards, UNSW’s Aerospace Engineering degree forges opportunities for you to work in aerospace industries across the world. Flight mechanics, aerodynamics and propulsion are just some of the degree’s subjects that provide the essential knowledge and skill you need to design an airborne machine in any area of work.
As such, it’s no surprise that UNSW comes up as 1st in Australia and 36th globally for Engineering and Technology under the QS World University Rankings. As Amelia puts it, “It’s this prestige, teaching, resources and subjects that’s going to get graduates their foot in the door of future employees!”
Top 3 Pros of an Aerospace Engineering degree
#1: Tailor your degree
Throughout UNSW Aerospace Engineering, you can pursue your interests and passions as you’ll be allowed to pick from a diverse range of electives.
As Amelia explains, “In the first year, you get two electives… I did one in chemistry and materials. When you get to the third and fourth year of the degree, you can pick more electives again.”
Amelia talks about her own experience with these electives. “So, I picked satellite design and rocket design and then there’s electives in propulsion, or vibration, or materials again. That’s a really cool thing to have as you can cater your degree to your interest!”
Read more about UNSW’s Aerospace electives here!
#2: Opportunity to do Honours
UNSW Aerospace Engineering already has a guaranteed pathway into the Honours program.
Here, you can choose to develop an in-depth understanding of your topic of interest in Aerospace Engineering as you’ll be conducting research for your thesis. Alternatively, you can refine your professional skills through a more practical pathway.
“In your fourth year of any engineering degree, you get to do a thesis,” Amelia says. “I think that’s really great because you can do something that you’re really interested in!”
Amelia shares what she’s doing for her very interesting research project. “I just started my thesis this term and I am looking at noise reduction devices, where I apply sharkskin which has little riblets, as in tiny channels in it, and I applied it to a plane surface to see whether it’ll reduce trailing edge noise.” Wow, how fascinating!
#3: Small cohort
The UNSW Aerospace Engineering cohort is quite small, and this makes it easier for you to get to know everyone doing the same degree as you!
“Aerospace Engineering has a small cohort where aerospace subjects have a class of maybe 80 people compared to mechanical and electrical engineering where the classes are really really big,” Amelia says. “So it’s been nice because I feel like I know so many people in Aerospace.”
Not only this but Aerospace students also love to help each other out, so you know you’re in good hands. “There will always be someone there who I can ask for help if I am struggling with something and everyone is just willing to help each other out,” Amelia says.
Top 3 Cons of an Aerospace Engineering degree
#1: The wait to do Aerospace Engineering subjects
As UNSW’s Aerospace Engineering degree starts you off with the basics like chemistry and physics, it can take a while until you start studying actual Aerospace Engineering subjects.
“It takes a long time until you get to do Aerospace specific subjects,” Amelia says. “Your first two years are all the foundation maths, physics and fluid dynamics and it’s not until the third year where you’ll actually get to start doing aerospace subjects.”
“I guess that’s disappointing but once you’re there it’s really exciting,” Amelia encourages. “You just have to stick it out for the first two years.”
#2: Limited practical learning within course
While Aerospace Engineering can be a pretty hands-on profession to go into, UNSW’s classes and assessments tend to be restricted to 2D designs, rather than building an actual 3D project.
“The physical learning within the course content can be limited,” Amelia explains. “There’s only a few subjects where you can physically build something that you have designed. A lot of it is on computer aided design or a report where you theoretically explain your design and you don’t really get the chance to make it.”
However, you can find ways to develop your practical skills through student projects that are outside of class times and are made available by UNSW. “You have to seek that out in student projects. So, if you really want to have that technical, manufacturing experience, you have to find that outside of the course content,” Amelia advises.
Check out some of the interesting student projects that UNSW has available here!
#3: Competitive to get placements
Aerospace Engineering is quite niche, so it can be pretty difficult to get into placements especially in Sydney.
As Amelia says, “Within Sydney, it is very competitive to get a placement. Sydney is not the greatest place in terms of Aerospace Engineering job opportunities.”
But there are other places where Aerospace Engineering is really starting to kick in. “It’s a really up and coming area in Adelaide in South Australia so you may have to move somewhere else,” Amelia explains.
The good news is, the job prospects for Aerospace Engineering may change in the upcoming years, even for Sydney.
“The good thing is, this industry is really up and coming so we are really coming through with satellite applications and even flying cars in a couple of places. So, it may seem like it’s competitive at the moment but I really think it’s going to be a good field to get into,” Amelia encourages.
Any regrets?
“This is a very personal one because I wished I had done a double degree,” Amelia says. “When I was applying for universities, I didn’t really know that double degrees were an option because my careers adviser never brought it up. I wished that I knew that that was an option.”
“I was really interested in science as well and I didn’t realise that you can do engineering and science as a double degree or you can do engineering and commerce and I really do think that that would have benefited me personally to cater to both of my interests at the same time with only an extra year. It would’ve been a fantastic thing to do,” Amelia adds.
What do you wish you had known before starting UNSW Aerospace Engineering?
#1: Start internship applications early
UNSW Aerospace Engineering requires its students to complete 60 days of industrial training but not many people know that you can start the application process right away in the first year! As they always say — the earlier, the better.
“I wish I had known that it is never too early to apply for an internship,” Amelia says. “I wish I had started applying in first year, not necessarily for getting a job but have the experience of getting a job so early, it would’ve helped with my job applications in the later years.”
“So, don’t be afraid to apply for a job even when you don’t think you have the knowledge yet, everyone feels that way and you can always start earlier.” Amelia advises.
#2: It’s a big transition
Aerospace Engineering at UNSW is not an easy degree and Amelia advises high school leavers to brace for the first year of the course. “The first year is really hard,” Amelia says. “It’s a really big transition from high school to university.”
“I didn’t do very well in my first year,” Amelia recounts. “I was really worried about my marks that they weren’t as good as I wanted them to be but you figure it out.”
Amelia encourages future students that the first year is all about experimenting how things could work best for you. She says, “It’s really rewarding once you get through… so, even if you feel like you’re struggling, everyone feels that way and it’s worth pushing through if you’re really passionate about the degree.”
What makes this degree different from the ones offered at other universities?
#1: Opportunities to expand skills
With UNSW’s student projects, you have a lot of diverse opportunities to refine your technical skills in a project of your interest. “The number one thing is that there are opportunities to expand your skills in the areas you are interested and excited in, particularly in those student projects,” Amelia says.
For Aerospace Engineering students, there are so many different types of student projects you can do such as BlueSat for satellites, “Design, Build, Fly” for planes and The Rocketry to build rockets. These are highly valuable opportunities to build on your practical skills which you may not be able to otherwise in class.
#2: Flexibility with trimesters
Despite all the rants about trimesters at UNSW, it does comes with some benefits such as the increased flexibility to decide how and when you want to study in a year.
“A lot of people at UNSW would hate to admit it but it does provide a lot of flexibility,” Amelia reveals. “You could start subjects in either term 1, term 2 or term 3 and so, you do have the opportunity to work your degree around your life.”
Amelia explains that the trimesters really do provide more flexibility as a full-time course load at UNSW involves 8 subjects per year, so you can distribute them to your own liking such as two in term 1, three in term 2, three in term 3 for trimesters. This makes things easier for you because if you want to drop a subject in term 1 to decrease your burden, you can always move it to the later semesters to make things easier for you.
“It still counts as a full time workload, so I still get a scholarship despite having less coursework,” Amelia explains.
She says that this can really help with your summer internships as she clarifies, “The normal way to do a thesis is to start in term 1 and I started mine in term 2… I did this so that I could have more opportunities to do an internship over the summer. Personally, it’s been really good for me so that I can have more time and focus better!”
#3: Fantastic teaching
UNSW’s experienced and passionate teaching staff in Aerospace Engineering is one of the reasons why this university comes top in Australia for Engineering!
“The teaching is really second to none!” Amelia says. “The lecturers and teachers I’ve had throughout my degree are clearly very passionate about teaching and the things that they are teaching. There are so many resources in the subjects that I’ve done to deepen your knowledge and they’re all really happy to answer any questions that you may have.”
Amelia praises the amazing effort that some lecturers at UNSW has put into the resources to help their students. “The university’s famous lecturer called David Kellermann would print out entire booklets for every person in the class and it would have week by week problems for you to do. It was just so cleanly set out… and there’s always more problems to do with more help to get so this is a great example of him going above and beyond to provide us with resources that we need to succeed.”
What inspired you to choose UNSW Aerospace Engineering?
“In high school, my favourite subjects were mathematics and design and technology and I really enjoyed that,” Amelia reflects. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with that until I went to an Engineering Open Day and I thought that this is fantastic and this is what I wanted to do, I wanted to design and solve things.”
“I actually didn’t decide I wanted to do an Aerospace Engineering degree until I had a flying lesson for Christmas,” Amelia says. “I was always so amazed by how people can come up with this and how we can make things fly and go into space, it was all very interesting to me!”
As for why Amelia chose to do this degree at UNSW, she says it’s because “it’s one of the few that offers it in New South Wales”.
She adds, “There’s USYD and a university in Melbourne that offers it but for me, I really wanted to experience living in the city. I come from a small town in rural NSW and UNSW really helped me mature… I’ve really grown as a person. Living on campus is amazing, there’s so many opportunities and everything is just so welcoming!”
What are the possible career paths?
UNSW Aerospace Engineering can bring you all sorts of job opportunities that involve airborne vehicles. Here are some exciting career pathways that you can undertake:
- Aircraft engineer/designer
- Aerodynamic engineer
- Astronautical engineer
- Defence force aerospace engineer
- Flight test engineer
- Flight systems test engineer
- Rocket engineer
- Materials engineer
And more!
Keen to know more? Check out our other article on Aerospace Engineering at UNSW here!
Kate Lynn Law graduated in 2017 with an all rounders HSC award and an ATAR of 97.65. Passionate about mentoring, she enjoys working with high school students to improve their academic, work and life skills in preparation for the HSC and what comes next. An avid blogger, Kate had administered a creative writing page for over 2000 people since 2013, writing to an international audience since her early teenage years.
