Professional Courses to Boost Your Resume

Are you an aerospace engineering professional looking to boost your resume? I have compiled a brief list of some short courses to help give you an edge in your career.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

AIAA On-Site Courses: Check out the website for a myriad of courses which your employer can bring right to your office from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to model-based systems engineering to tactical and strategic missile guidance and so many more.

AIAA Online Education: Here you’ll find a long list of courses (of varying lengths) taught by industry experts. All courses are taught online, offering great flexibility.

The University of Kansas: KU Aerospace Short Courses

KU offers a wide variety of options for many disciplines within the aerospace profession. Check out the course catalog for the full list of 50+ classes with many options taught several times throughout the year and in multiple locations. Some examples are “Flight Test Principles and Practices”, “Structural Composites”, “Advanced Avionics” and “Project Management Fundamentals for Aerospace Professionals”. They also offer Certificates of Specialization with many specialties to choose from.

Southwest Research Institute: NASGRO Training

NASGRO is the most widely used fracture mechanics and fatigue crack growth software program in the world. It was developed under a Space Act Agreement between SwRI and NASA. I have personally attended this training program and found it invaluable. It is a 3-day course which takes students through the very basic background of fracture mechanics, which is the basis for the program, as well as through each of the program’s modules with hands-on practice examples. Many industry leaders utilize NASGRO to ensure safe operation of structural components.

Dassault Systemes: Introduction to Abaqus

This course is currently offered online and teaches students not just how to model, submit jobs and view simulation results in the software program, but also teaches the technical basis the program utilizes to solve problems. Abaqus is the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool I utilized for my graduate school research.

Codecademy: Learn Python 2

Python has quickly become a favorite language due to its versatility and straightforward syntax. Because Python is open source, meaning it is freely available to the public and thus encourages open collaboration, there are many free resources available online. If you’re looking for something a little more structured, this course takes about 25 hours to complete, requires no prerequisites and promises to leave you comfortable enough with the basics to be coding your own script by the end. You can download Python for free here.

If there’s a class you’ve taken and highly recommend, drop a comment!