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Why I Fell in Love With Dynamics & Controls
View Post: Why I Fell in Love With Dynamics & ControlsI remember taking linear algebra and differential equations and thinking, when and for what will I ever need to know all of this? Many engineers I had chatted with up to that point had told me they didn’t really use advanced math, physics, or complex engineering concepts in their actual jobs. Most of them mainly…
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Politics & Friendships at work
View Post: Politics & Friendships at workMy first job was doing production support at an aerospace prime. This group was riddled with politics, people threw each other under the bus at any time and there were clear underqualified favorite children that moved up the ladder fast. My instinct was to run from this group and in 6 months I took a…
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What Systems Engineering Actually Looks Like in Real Life
View Post: What Systems Engineering Actually Looks Like in Real LifeWhen I was hired as an aerospace engineer intern, the satellite company I had just joined was in the process of building their systems engineering department from a few engineers to triple digits. I was curious as to what was driving that huge hiring ramp up… so I started to dive into systems engineering. Now…
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What Degree Should You Get for Controls Engineering?
View Post: What Degree Should You Get for Controls Engineering?If you Google or ChatGPT this question, you will most likely get an answer along the lines of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Mechatronics as the most common backgrounds for controls engineers. And while that’s not wrong, in my experience it doesn’t paint the full picture of how things actually work in the aerospace industry,…
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GNC Projects Every Engineering Student Should Try
View Post: GNC Projects Every Engineering Student Should TryGNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) is a niche field of engineering. Not many students know about it… or are even exposed to it. In my humble opinion, it’s where the cool kids work. So what is GNC? If you look it up, you’ll find that each subteam focuses on a different aspect of the mission.…
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Career Pyramids
View Post: Career Pyramidsand the rising need for generalists What Is a Career Pyramid? A career pyramid is like a career ladder, except it is wide. Instead of only moving up, you can move up or across. Moving up the pyramid signifies depth in a specific field—say, power electronics—while moving across signifies breadth, such as hardware product development,…
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The Art of Networking
View Post: The Art of NetworkingI started networking before I even knew I was networking. I didn’t have connections in the engineering field, so 18-year-old me had to find ways to understand what I was getting myself into. I started off by asking friends and family who they knew so I could chat with them and learn about this very…
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How to Prepare for an Engineering Interview
View Post: How to Prepare for an Engineering InterviewEngineering interviews are tricky to prepare for. Every interview I have had has been slightly different even if it was for the same or similar role. Every company has a different process and set of criteria they need to follow. That said, I can confidently say that you will be asked to prepare for at…
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How to get started with MATLAB & Simulink
View Post: How to get started with MATLAB & SimulinkJust like with any programming language, the best way to learn it is to suffer through it and work on as many projects as you can. Debug, debug until you become comfortable enough to say, “ah yeah, I know what this is,” or “I know where to look for this.” I never liked coding. I…
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About the Author
Mel is an aerospace engineer with a background in controls, modeling, and simulation. She’s currently pursuing her master’s in mechanical engineering while working full time as a modeling and simulation engineer. Through her social media platform, @engineersteatime, she mentors and helps students navigate engineering, career growth, and hands-on technical skills.
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