Also called: Weight Engineer
Tracks the weight and balance point of every part of an aircraft so it flies level and carries enough payload.
You keep a giant spreadsheet-style model of every bolt, wire, and seat on the plane. When a team adds 40 pounds of equipment, you tell them where to put it so the plane stays balanced, and sometimes you weigh real parts on precision scales.
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 aerospace or mechanical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Part of BLS aerospace engineers category.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. CAD and PLM software calculate weight and balance automatically, so fewer specialists; tracking real hardware changes stays human.
Classes: Physics, Algebra II, Computer science, Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2011.
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