I want to be the person at Boeing in the lab, testing the aircraft models in the wind tunnel...~~~?

Question

-what type of college degree do I need (eg. Physics major)

-where would this type of employee be located (I know Boeing has many buildings in many places.)

-what colleges would be good to get the major needed to answer the above question

Answer 1

Wind tunnel testing is just about over with.  Computer modelling has taken the place of the wind tunnel, because it is cheaper and easier to make a large number of studies in a short time.

So they really don't use the wind tunnel any more.

If you want to work in aircraft design, you need a degree in aeronautical engineering, or any of the other engineering disciplines:  electrical, structural, chemical, materials, human factors, and many more.

Try an internet search on "engineering degree" for lists of good colleges and universities.

Good luck.

Answer 2

- Aerospace engineering, study aerodynamics. Mechanical engineering may work as well

- Why limit yourself to Boeing? There are other places and applications that are more interesting.

- Any with an Aero. dept with professors that are experimental aerodynamisists would be a good place to start. There is a list on wiki with wind-tunnels (below), but I know that many more schools also have them.

BTW: I'd be surprised if CFD ever eliminates wind tunnels, perhaps only reduces the amount of design work and the number of tests. Also, outside of commercial transport aircraft, CFD is still fairly crude, perhaps it would be a better goal to get into those areas as an experimental aerodynamicist.

Answer 3

You would (to be an aerodynamics test engineer) need an aerospace engineering degree with specialty in aerodynamics.    To run the windtunnel is a technician task, that's different.

These days, companies like Boeing and Airbus use the tunnel more to test overall airplane behavior, flutter, external loads, and noise, not to develop airfoils.  With computational fluid dynamics the efficiency of the tunnel is much better and it takes fewer iterations to close on a good design.

Check https://jobs.boeing.com/JobSeeker/JobSea... to see what is available right now.

The Boeing wind tunnel is in south Seattle, at Boeing Field (King County international airport) on East Marginal Way.

The University of Washington (in Seattle) also has a tunnel that Boeing uses a lot.  They have a good aerospace program.  MIT, Purdue, CalTech, Stanford, are the top schools.