I have been working as an aircraft designer and developer for the last 7 years. While looking around for my next project I came across the field of Industrial Design, which has eluded me for all these years. While doing research I continually realized I could contribute and excel in this field. Yet, I was surprised to find almost nothing in terms of aerospace design! in my opinion aerospace could use good designer.
Does anyone know if any schools touch on aircraft design?
well as far as i have seen all the design schools offer trans,yacht/naval design but none offer aircraft design as you put it.
I would think thats because in aircrafts form follows function and this is why aircraft makers would prefer aeronautical engineer rather than designers as even in car/transportation design most designers have very little idea about the mechanicals
Are you talking about the exterior/body design or the interiors? If you are talking about the exterior, the design is too focused heavily in aerodynamics, which is not what transportation designers are good at (partly because we don't care about it ?). What I learnt at school prepped me to design really cool exterior shapes and all, but aircraft exterior is probably best done by an engineer.
Interiors, on the other hand, is something we can tackle, Aircraft interiors are rather similar with train and car stuff.
depends on the school and program....for example IED has two course one for car design where the first yr is same as prod design i think but later two yrs are entrely car design whereas the CBY(car,bike ,yacht)track focuses on all modes of transport.Massey university(NZ) has a transportation design program but its four years and leans is mostly marine design but also includes car design
Function of aerodynamics in aircraft design is obviously paramount. In my experience engineers can make an aircraft fly efficiently, but they tend to lack the creative conceptual approach to problem solving. With a basic understanding of aerodynamics a designer would be able to develop new types of air transport for the future. In my opinion this aspect is lacking in the aviation industry. Aviation needs more vision!
Morgan, as someone who's seen both sides of the auto industry, I truly understand and appreciate where you're coming from.
I know most trans schools would probably welcome you (assuming you have the talent and drive to progress that talent to back up your passion.) They would either let you do your own projects or ask that you incorporate them into the automotive field so that they can wrap their heads around it - think along the lines of the Honda Business jets. Call around and talk to the directors. See what they say. I'd be surprised if they weren't open to it.
The only caution I can see is that in Trans schools you're instructed by trans designers who can educate you on the finer points of your styling's effects on engineering. Those things can only come from their experiences doing the job. A car designer would be able to help you with your abilities and tell you when it doesn't look right, but you might be missing out on finer points of aerospace design. Design education is expensive and it would suck to short change yourself. If you've got a lenthy background in the industry however, you may find that you know enough to get along fine.
I would totally agree that some engineers can be totally stuck with what they know and because of that it's hard for them to be too creative.
Exterior styling of planes can be a lot more exciting, but I think due to the law of aerodynamics and how the smallest bulges may affect fuel economy, the shape of airplanes are rather smooth and tubular. Other shapes have been proposed before and they are very cool, but many constraints such as payloads capacity, nautical range, and economy of manufacturing drive the shapes to be generic. Blended (complicated) shapes are very costly to make in massive scale as it requires many gigantic tools, not to mention the size of autoclave to bake the fuselage of 787 is at least the size of a single family home. However, if people like Richard Branson, Bill Gates, etc want to have more exciting planes and pay for it,then anything is possible. Ferrari P4/5 is a good example if you have money then anything is possible.
Cars, on the other hand, can be more freely styled inside and outside, as the change in 5-10 MPG is not going to cost you hundreds of thousands dollars in operating cost in a year.
BUT, with all of that said, I don't think there is any need to have a degree in aircraft design to design aircrafts, transportation/car design can give most people enough foundation to be effective right out of school.
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Does anyone know if any schools touch on aircraft design?
After backtracking the discussion, I don't think I actually give you a solid answer, I don't know of any schools offering aircraft design program, unless you take aerodynamics and engineering courses, therefore make you an engineer.
