By: Eduardo Rendon

Period:3R

AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS

AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER OVERVIEW• Automotive engineers design, test, develop and manufacture

automotive products such as heavy and light vehicles. They help the automotive industry to meet new challenges, for example, they make sure that vehicles are safe. They don’t work only on cars and commercial vehicles but also buses, coaches, tanks and racing cars.

• Some automotive engineers specialize in design. Design engineers need to take into account factors such as the strength, safety, efficiency, appearance and cost of parts. Many design engineers use computer-aided design to help.

TYPES OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS• Product engineers - Product engineers are typically in charge of

testing mechanical parts of the vehicle. Notes are made of what changes need to be made before the parts can safely be placed on a vehicle which is sold to the public. This is one of the most important automotive engineering jobs for an engineer

• Manufacturing engineers - Manufacturing engineers are focused on making the parts. These automotive engineering jobs use designs given to them and they figure out how to make the specified parts correctly.

WHAT YOU NEED TO PREPARE• An automotive engineer's career training begins with a four-

year bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

• After graduating from a bachelor's in engineering program, engineers in all 50 states must obtain a Fundamentals of Engineering license by passing a rigorous exam. Engineers become eligible to take the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam after they've fulfilled the state requirement for work experience, which in most states is four years.

COLLEGES THAT HELP TRAIN

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Stanford University

• University of California—Berkeley

• California Institute of Technology

• Carnegie Mellon University

• Georgia Institute of Technology

• University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign

• Purdue University--West Lafayette

• University of Michigan--Ann Arbor

FUTURE OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS• As an automotive engineer you will work on the development of ground-

based vehicles including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and off-highway vehicles.

• develop new test procedures, using both conventional and innovative methods.

• devise tests, which will answer questions from consumers and other engineers.

• anticipate vehicle or component behavior in different conditions with computer modeling software.

• analyze and interpret technical data into reports or presentations and answering any questions about the product.

• build an individual specialism within a larger team and work independently.

CITATIONS• "Top Engineering Colleges & Best Engineering School Rankings." Top Engineering Colleges &

Best Engineering Schools in USA. U.S.News University Connection, n.d. Web. 29 May 2013. <http://www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com/graduate-schools/engineering.aspx>.

• "Automotive Engineer: Job Description." Prospects.ac.uk. Graduate Prospects Ltd., n.d. Web. 3 June 2013. <http://www.prospects.ac.uk/automotive_engineer_job_description.htm>.

• "What Does an Automotive Engineer Really Do?" About Us. International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, n.d. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.yourfutureinautomotive.com/career-advice/what-does-automotive-engineer-really-do>.

•"What Do Automotive Engineers Do?" - FISITA: The International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies. International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, n.d. Web. 29 June 2013. <http://www.fisita.com/jobs/careers/do>.

•Hudson, Christine, and C. Wilborn. "Automotive Engineering Jobs." WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 29 May 2013. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-automotive-engineering-jobs.htm>.