Also called: Gas Turbine Engineer, Propulsion Engineer (Aircraft)
Designs the fans, compressors, and turbines inside jet engines, which spin thousands of times a minute in fire-hot gas.
You might redesign a turbine blade's internal cooling holes so it can survive gas hotter than its own melting point. You review test-cell data from an engine run overnight and look for vibration that should not be there.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in mechanical or aerospace engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Part of BLS aerospace engineers category.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI optimizes blade shapes and runs simulations; engine testing, durability and certification stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Chemistry, Shop class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.