Aerospace Engineering jobs in/near Kentucky?

[Mike Switzer]

We just hired a newly minted U of FL mechanical engineer. We probably won't utilize her calculus and FEA knowledge but she also studied manufacturing and took machine shop classes so micrometers and machine tools are at least known objects. She interned here last year. Advise you also intern in your chosen field.
Good luck.

It helps if the applicant knows the difference between a Phillips screwdriver & a crescent wrench, even better if thy know the difference between a milling machine & a lathe, better yet if they know how to run either.

[Mike Switzer]

My first job out of college I was working with an industrial/process maintenance department. Helped that I knew how to use a wrench. The guys I worked with taught me how to weld. (how to really weld, not the controlled environment stuff they teach in high school) They probably wouldn't have taught me anything if I didn't have an understanding of what we were doing.

[Ryan Hornback]

Thanks for the all advice. I definitely plan to intern or co-op while in college. One of the colleges I am looking at actually has 3 individual co-op sections built into their engineering course, where you apply, then go work for a company that you would like, as long as your are accepted, during that time. As for knowing the difference between tools, I have grown up with a Dad who can fix anything, so I have a really good understanding of the basics. I have always been one to like working with my hands, so from a young age I have been building whatever idea I could imagine. I have created things from go karts to tree houses to catapults. I even have had some experience with welding.

[Mike Switzer]

Sounds good Ryan - if you know how to turn a wrench just concentrate on the math, that is what will set you back if you have a problem

[Dana]

Almost nobody uses AutoCad any more. I don't really know why anybody ever did, except that it wasn't copy protected and everybody had a pirate copy of it... there were and are far better programs. Solidworks and Solid Edge were the standard until recently, with more affluent outfits using Pro/E (and incidentally creating a distinct career path of "Pro/E Operator" due to its complexity), but the direct modelers like Keycreator and Creo/Direct are gaining ground. Different programs are popular in different industries. Catia and Unigraphics are used more by the big companies. Different programs are good at different things; Catia's good for surfacing, direct modelers are great for early design and "one off" designs, Solidworks and Solid Edge are good for iterative designs with dimensional changes anticipated but no major design changes, which are a PITA with that kind of modeler.

Still, if you know one 3D CAD program, it's a simple matter to learn another.

[Bill]

with more affluent outfits using Pro/E (and incidentally creating a distinct career path of "Pro/E Operator" due to its complexity), but the direct modelers like Keycreator and Creo/Direct are gaining ground

Creo is the modern day Pro/E. In 2002, PTC renamed Pro/E to "Pro/E Wildfire" and released versions 1.0 through 5.0, which is the version that I learned to use. Then in 2010, PTC decided to change the name to "Creo Direct/Pro R5.0" (or Creo/Elements/Pro R5.0 for 2D CAD), and followed that this year by releasing "Creo Direct Parametric." PTC just loves to rename the same old stuff so they can charge more for it. They did the same thing after buying Mathcad. After Mathcad 15.0, the next release at far greater price was Mathcad Prime 2.0 (notice the similarity). I stopped buying PTC software at that point because of the cost and the explosion of products that was too confusing for little minds like mine.

[Mike Switzer]

From what I have seen, most of the small architecture/engineering firms that I know of are still using autocad, as well as many plant maintenance & process engineering departments. Most design engineering departments are using the higher priced software packages.