Aerospace EPQ

Mate, honestly they haven't told us much, we have to do research and a report of around 5000 words, and I wanna do mine about aerospace/aviation. I have no idea what specific topic tho so ideas are helpful.

I want to work for boeing because they have a massive manufacturing and engineering sector here within a 15 min drive, I don't want to leave home or family, and its great pay.

and yeah, that's baso sixth form, its the academic equivalent of collage here

Can't you do an artefact for it or some shit? Where you make something and write about it. Could make some sort of miniature plane. I don't know.

>extended project qualification

I don't know how things work in England but here in America that stuff is dirt. It doesn't matter if you want to work at Boeing though, since you're not a US citizen Boeing will absolutely hire you under the H1B program, where you'd be given a shit wage and shit benefits because H1B labor is designed to be cheaper than American labor. So this dream is fully plausible.

What Boeing (and their suppliers) look for are US industry certs, licenses to use equipment like cranes, forklifts, PLC-driven equipment, UAVs, and much more. What they really, really, REALLY want are mechanical engineering PEs (Professional Engineers), however this is difficult to get because you have to have both a college degree, pass an exam and study for a few years as an apprentice underneath a PE sponsor. It's not impossible though, my dad did it despite being an illegal immigrant (he worked for a PE building homes). This is where the real money and benefits are, because PEs can legally sign off designs therefore making them valuable.

Another matter to consider are just doing interesting projects. If you build your own DIY jet engine (common with hobbyists), that will get recruiters to look at you much more seriously than other candidates. Same if you're able to gradually improve your design, they like seeing that entire process documented.

If there's one thing to take away from this, engineering in America is very much tied into the trades and what you can actually construct with your hands. Academic experience is usually secondary to a reference letter from a contractor or licensed tradesmen, especially when it comes to joining a Union (aerospace is heavily unionized, due to the amount of technical skills needed).

To be clear, there's more than one way to work in America in an aerospace-related company. One thing to consider isn't so much Boeing as it is Bombardier, as it is FAR easier to immigrate to Canada than it is America. It's also easier being a tradesman or engineer in Canada due to the increased worker compensation and labor laws, whereas in America it's largely unregulated except for occupational safety itself.

Aerospace companies tend to be more high-brow than other engineering firms, but it's largely the same people. A supervisor has no problem putting illegal immigrants, H1Bs, citizens, and anything else into a shop or a design room so long as deadlines are met and products come onto market on time. If an individual has proven/documented himself to produce good results (say, because jet engines or composite materials are his hobby), they'll be used as much if not more than a recent college grad with nothing else to his name.

Keyword being "documented". If you do side projects, catalog every step and compile it into a book or webpage for a recruiter to sink their teeth into. The bigger the catalog, the more experience you're demonstrating. Coupled with OSHA-mandated licenses (say for forklifts) and you'll get a job.

It's the complete opposite here, hands on work and practical qualifications are looked down on.
Wait so could I get an engineering job in the states without a degree if I have a track record in building working machines?

>Wait so could I get an engineering job in the states without a degree if I have a track record in building working machines?

Shop mangers will hire you even as an illegal immigrant without any documents, if you can somehow prove yourself. The -only- thing they care about is money, making their quotas and selling product. People who can do that get all the rules broken and palms greased for them, people who don't get a dead end. It's very much like construction, those who want to succeed need to be extremely mercenary, or to put it more nicely very outgoing and capable of promoting themselves.

This is most notable in the firearms, ammunition and gunsmithing industry, where margins tend to be very small and litigation/insurance costs high. Here people who work machines well are needed because manufacturing defects immediately lead to lawsuits, both gunsmiths and formal companies are willing to look the other way on a lot of things (documentation, drug use, domestic abuse) if a worker is able to reliably make their quotas. Workers who show promise get promoted and more benefits because they are making the company a profit, especially if they can safely run equipment hot (outside their intended specifications).

Aerospace engineering is a bit more uptight but they still run by the basic principles, especially for suppliers that have to compete for contracts and can't afford the mountains of lobbyists Boeing proper can. This is just the nature of industrial, blue collar work focused on building products. It's not a service job where everyone has to abide to a stricter set of rules.

And again there's Canada, where everyone is a bit nicer and friendlier because of the larger safety net. Remember that there is no free healthcare in America - accidents can completely destroy a family's wealth (and the company through lawsuits!). This drives demand for qualified workers, even if they don't have college degrees. Demonstrable experience is paramount.

Also, there's an outsized role references and old boy networks have. Contractors and tradesmen who know each other from working on the job will vouch for each other, and this creates a situation where workplace disputes are often handled by friendships and not official policy. The only exception are Unionized jobs where it's managed by the Union. Networking matters. And it's literally part of the formal process for those who wish to become licensed PEs, as they require a sponsor to be an apprentice under.

Which again is to say there is more than one way to do this. Getting a job at a top-of-the-line company like Boeing is like going to work for Parsons or Tutor-Perini: you need references and pull from people inside the company know to vouch for you. Suppliers are the quickest route to this (as suppliers have to communicate with the company on a regular basis), and the route most avoided by college grads. Given the width and breadth of what aircraft need to be constructed (rubber tires, copper wires, polymer windows, steel struts), this gives a lot of room to maneuver. This isn't to say a college degree is useless, but it's only a singular component as part of a larger set of tools (demonstrable experience) needed to get in. That's how you have to view it, a stud to a greater frame.

And again, there IS Canada. I keep mentioning them because it's far easier to immigrate there, and Bombardier is a real competitor to Boeing. People there really are nicer, because again if someone crushes their body on a job they're not ruined and they're not going to bankrupt themselves and the company to pay their medical bills.

Just to clarify, I am a U.K citizen living in the city of Sheffield where boeing have just built an advanced manufacturing research center, where research will be done and parts developed for boeing's 737, 737 MAX and 777 aircraft.

I have been thinking of designing and building a RC plane, however there is not enough variables that can go into this and it simply does not seem suitable.

A DIY jet engine seems very intriguing so I will look into it thanks, however this may have the same problem.

The EPQ I am looking into doing is research based mainly with a sizable summary essay to document and conclude results, so while these practical ideas are things I would love to do, they are not suitable for the qualification.

If you have any suggestions for specific research please leave it here, replies are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Nice. Thanks user.
Make a hoverbike.

fuck off underage northerner

Mate, britbong here on a gap year. What are your reasons for doing an EPQ? It's a pretty large amount of work, so much so that the time may be better off spent focusing on acing maths. From what I saw during offers period, the most the EPQ did was let people off with getting one grade letter less for uni

Yes mate I'll morph into Elon Musk while I'm at it with the hoverbike.

I'm 16 yeah and not ott northern so.

It's just abit different and more independent really, I'm actually pretty decent at my subjects 9/8's and A* at gcse so... took the EPQ cos why not, I'm only taking 3 A levels and a btec, Kinda feel like the EPQ and btec equate to the same amount of work as 1 A level so it's kinda like taking 4 really, which is manageable, plus I enjoy them, just can't think of fuck all to do mine on.