THE BACON

For some reason, I have a fairly difficult time explaining what I do for a living to other people, so I am going to attempt to organize my thoughts on my career here...


Officially, my job title is "Engineer/Scientist", but specifically, I consider myself a design engineer. The best way I can describe this is by explaining that I solve problems, using a majority of common sense and intuition, combined with technical data and advice from specialists. The typical problem would be something like, "we need a ____ that will fit into this space, perform ____ function, last for the life of the airplane, be easy to install and maintain, be acceptable to the FAA, and not break in a way that could hurt anything if the airplane crashes".


My job would then be to make several rough 3D models of different ways to accomplish what was asked for. Some kind of consensus would be made as to which model has the most potential, and then I would spend a few months fine tuning the design and taking input from varying specialists (like stress engineers, materials engineers, producibility engineers, etc...) to make everyone involved in the project happy with the new design. It is a bit of a balancing act at times, because the wants or needs of each specialist may not necessarily be compatible. The real challenge of my job is figuring out a design that can get everyone to compromise and agree on a single design concept.


Once I thought I could convince everyone involved that my design will work for them, I would make detailed drawings (like blueprints) of each individual part, in addition to multiple drawings showing how all the parts should be put together. I would then send all the drawings to a panel of specialists, who would review the entire design one last time. After a few more small changes and comments, my drawings would finally be approved, built, and installed on a shiny new airplane.


The things I work on are usually structural components located behind the scenes in the interior of an airplane, but lately, some of my work will be visible to passengers. I have worked on cargo compartments, water systems, waste lines, oxygen systems, closets, crew resting areas, class dividers, and many other items that have popped up over my 5 years as an engineer. My favorite thing to do at work is to be given a new, complex problem, sit down at my 3-D modeling station, and try out new ideas to come up with a solution. Engineering can be extremely boring at times, but the opportunity to be creative makes it all worthwhile.