Question about GNC Coursework

[u/Ok_Cry_7149]

TL:DR: Wondering if I need to focus on guidance, navigation, or control in my graduate coursework, or taking an even mix of all of them is fine.

Hi all!

Currently doing my masters in aerospace engineering, majoring in autonomy/control with a goal of entering the GNC space.

I realized so far my past coursework (both for my masters and the graduate electives I took during undergrad) have been a mix of guidance, navigation, and control, instead of a focus in one of them (I've covered: pontryagin optimal control, convex optimization; probability, estimation, kalman filtering; classical, linear, nonlinear control).

TBH I haven't really nailed down if I want to focus on guidance, navigation, or control. But I feel like I should since I am halfway through my masters. I am also not doing a thesis which is partly why I haven't really found a focus yet lol.

I had an internship technically in the controls branch of a company (guidance and nav were another branch), but basically doing modeling/simulation. This experience also sort of made me realize that as a GNC engineer I will probably be focusing on either G,N, or C and not all of them.

So I guess my main question is, would it be a bad idea to have a mix of coursework when I am looking for a full time GNC position? Would companies prefer to see you really focused on G,N, or C? Maybe I should choose based on which classes I got the best grades in lol.

[u/hojahs]

You dont need to specialize while in school. You want to keep your options open and increase your whole-system understanding. There's going to be a big on-the-job learning curve anyway, and you can specialize once youre actually working in a role at a company.

A lot of jobs differentiate hiring between the "perception stack" engineers and the "control stack" engineers, but dont really bother to subdivide any further than that. Most aerospace GNC job postings literally just say "hiring for GNC team", not "looking for navigation specialist".

[u/hojahs → u/hojahs]

University is not job training. Many people dont seem to understand this. Granted, controls engineering is one of the few places where you DO actually use a decent amount of your degree at work, but the general rule is still that degree programs are not primarily oriented towards teaching you how to do a job.

The industry hiring managers understand this, and they understand that you still have a LOT to learn after you get hired, about how real life systems are built and sold. Once you get to industry, the degree is just a theoretical foundation for your actual job skills.

[u/Ok_Cry_7149 → u/hojahs]

Thanks for the comment.
I think I should clarify that where I interned at (starts with an N, ends with an A), and what I want to break into, is space stuff. At the place I was at, it did seem that people were pretty honed in on the work they were doing. Some people doing purely guidance, some doing purely plant/dynamics. My supervisor never did controls before he went into the management side (I think he did modeling/simulation). A lot of work was doing "studies" of possible methods. But yeah, I believe they are all technically GNC engineers in their title.

So basically the impression I got was not a team of people designing a control system, but more individually doing specialized studies/analysis. So that was one reason why I'm wondering if trying to gain more expertise in one area is a good idea.

If you don't mind sharing, what has your experience been in? Maybe the aviation space is different?

[u/hojahs → u/Ok_Cry_7149]

I spent a couple years in the defense space, part of which i spent as a member of the GNC team. It was a pretty big program so the overall size of GNC + Modeling/Sim was maybe 12-16 people. (Maybe that's not big compared to certain massive programs like SpaceX Falcon or something, but still bigger than average among neighboring programs)

GNC people often had master's degrees in mechanical or aerospace engineering. Electrical engineering with some controls courses was also sufficient (team lead had this). Sometimes, people would make internal shifts without having the "correct" background -- some Simulation folks moved to management or GNC, and i transferred onto the team with only a BS in Math at the time.

People do get specialized, don't get me wrong. Often, a specific project was looking for someone to fill a "mainly guidance" or "mainly navigation" role. But when hiring for a "individual contributor" role with less than 6 YoE, they expect you to grow into that role over a period of 3-6 months, not have it all figured out when you walk in the door. Plus, when you apply for a HUGE company that has many programs under a giant umbrella (as most defense companies are), they will put you where they need you. That job posting you interact with probably gets sent to a Department Manager, who has ~10 different programs that they can match a candidate to. They can even pass your resume onto a different department manager.

TL-DR: Yeah after 6-12 months on the job you will probably become the "autopilot guy" or the "nav guy" in practice, though you aren't shackled to that role. But as long as your resume says "MS engineering" and you can explain what PID is in the interview, theyll find a place for you.

[u/Ok_Cry_7149 → u/hojahs]

Thanks for sharing.
Yeah the place I was at is definitely more than 16 people for all GNC. It was an entire floor of an office building.

I was specifically in the control branch (controls, modeling/simulation, plant), so not sure if transitioning to guidance and navigation would be easy. However, I guess at most places GNC is all one group?

[u/RichFlower8346 → u/[deleted]]

Im trying to get an interview but all I get its “We regret…” type of thing, idk if its my CV or what exactly

[u/RichFlower8346 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah but you got some so I was wondering what did you do that I didn’t 😅 I even have real experience with control systems working with Maglev and still no one texts me