Top 12 Aerospace Engineer Skills to Put on Your Resume

Breaking into aerospace takes more than a shiny GPA. Your resume needs signal: tools you command, methods you trust, systems you can model without flinching. Put the right skills up front, show impact, and recruiters stop skimming.

Aerospace Engineer Skills

1. MATLAB
2. CATIA
3. SolidWorks
4. ANSYS
5. Python
6. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
7. FEA (Finite Element Analysis)
8. CAD (Computer-Aided Design)
9. Simulink
10. LabVIEW
11. AutoCAD
12. Siemens NX (Unigraphics)

1. MATLAB

MATLAB is a high-level programming and numerical computing environment used for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and simulation of complex aerospace systems.

Why It's Important

It crunches hard problems fast: aerodynamics, controls, signal processing, optimization. One toolchain, tight with Simulink, built for engineering-grade math and repeatable results.

How to Improve MATLAB Skills

Grow depth where it matters most.

1. Nail the core: matrices, vectorization, plotting, function design, scripting discipline.
2. Use aerospace toolboxes: Aerospace Toolbox and Aerospace Blockset for vehicle dynamics, flight mechanics, and transformations.
3. Model systems in Simulink: controls, guidance, sensor fusion; close the loop and test scenarios.
4. Work real problems: flight data cleaning, parameter estimation, aerodynamic curve fits, Monte Carlo studies.
5. Scale up: parallel computing and GPU acceleration for large sweeps and heavy simulations.
6. Read code, share code: study community examples and refactor your own for clarity and runtime.

Consistency beats bursts. Build a small library of reusable scripts and functions tied to your projects.

How to Display MATLAB Skills on Your Resume

2. CATIA

CATIA is a comprehensive CAD/CAE/PLM platform used to design, assemble, and analyze complex aerospace structures and systems with high geometric fidelity.

Why It's Important

Airframes are unforgiving. CATIA handles intricate surfacing, large assemblies, composites, and manufacturing constraints in one environment.

How to Improve CATIA Skills

1. Master foundations: sketching intent, parametric parts, assemblies, surfaces, and drawings.
2. Go advanced: complex surface modeling, composites, tolerance analysis, kinematics, and DMU checks.
3. Mirror real workflows: build top‑down assemblies, manage configurations, and enforce design rules.
4. Practice with aero parts: ribs, spars, fairings, pylons, ducts; chase weight and manufacturability.
5. Study case studies: learn how teams structure data, change control, and release processes.
6. Validate with analysis: integrate quick checks or export clean geometry for downstream simulation.
7. Certify when ready: formal credentials can help in large OEM pipelines.

How to Display CATIA Skills on Your Resume

3. SolidWorks

SolidWorks is a CAD and simulation platform widely used for 3D modeling, assemblies, and design validation of aerospace components and test fixtures.

Why It's Important

Rapid iteration, clean parametrics, and accessible simulation make it ideal for prototypes, tooling, and subsystems that need speed and accuracy.

How to Improve SolidWorks Skills

1. Deepen core features: surfaces, multibody parts, configurations, weldments, and large assembly strategies.
2. Use Simulation: static, modal, thermal, fatigue; correlate with hand calcs and test data.
3. Design for manufacture: apply GD&T, tolerances, sheet metal, and CAM handoff best practices.
4. Automate: design tables, macros, and templates to slash repetitive work.
5. Pursue certifications: CSWP/CSWE validate hands‑on proficiency.
6. Build project breadth: aircraft brackets, avionics enclosures, UAV structures, test rigs.

How to Display SolidWorks Skills on Your Resume

4. ANSYS

ANSYS provides multiphysics simulation for fluids, structures, heat transfer, and electromagnetics—core tools for aerospace design and verification.

Why It's Important

Virtual testing trims prototypes, exposes failure modes early, and tightens margins with evidence instead of guesswork.

How to Improve ANSYS Skills

1. Start clean: robust geometry prep, contact definitions, BCs that match physics, and mesh discipline.
2. Specialize: Fluent for CFD, Mechanical for FEA, Maxwell/HFSS for EM—choose depth based on your role.
3. Converge or it doesn’t count: mesh independence, timestep and residual checks, energy and mass balances.
4. Validate: compare against analytical solutions and test data; document assumptions and uncertainties.
5. Automate runs: parameter sweeps, scripting, and HPC to explore design space quickly.
6. Track versions: small changes alter outcomes—archive models, settings, and solver versions.

How to Display ANSYS Skills on Your Resume

5. Python

Python is a versatile programming language used for data analysis, simulation, automation, and tool building across aerospace programs.

Why It's Important

From flight data pipelines to optimization loops and test automation, Python glues systems together and scales with libraries, not pain.

How to Improve Python Skills

1. Solid core: clean functions, modules, packaging, virtual environments, and testing.
2. Numerics first: NumPy, SciPy, and array thinking; avoid slow loops, profile ruthlessly.
3. Data handling: Pandas for time series and telemetry; build reproducible notebooks and scripts.
4. Visualization: Matplotlib/Seaborn/Plotly for quick insights and stakeholder‑ready plots.
5. Simulation: SimPy and custom models; consider JAX for autodiff in optimization workflows when appropriate.
6. Automation: CLI tools, file parsers, report generation, and API clients for lab and mission ops.
7. Version control: Git workflows, code reviews, and clear READMEs; treat analysis like software.

How to Display Python Skills on Your Resume

6. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

CFD applies numerical methods to simulate fluid flow and heat transfer—central to aerodynamics, propulsion, and thermal management.

Why It's Important

It lets you probe lift, drag, stability, intake distortion, cooling, and plume effects without living in the wind tunnel.

How to Improve CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Skills

1. Strengthen fundamentals: conservation laws, turbulence modeling, discretization, stability, and error sources.
2. Get tool fluency: ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, or similar; know preprocessing, meshing, solver setup, and post‑processing.
3. Mesh matters: boundary layers, y+, inflation, topology for wakes and shocks; run mesh independence studies.
4. Choose models wisely: RANS vs. DES/LES; compressibility, reacting flows, multiphase as needed.
5. Validate relentlessly: compare with trusted datasets and experiments; document deltas and hypotheses.
6. Automate studies: parametric sweeps and scripts to explore design space and sensitivities.

How to Display CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Skills on Your Resume

7. FEA (Finite Element Analysis)

FEA breaks complex parts into elements to predict stresses, strains, deflections, and modes under real loading and boundary conditions.

Why It's Important

Lighter, safer, faster to certify. FEA guides material choices, joint designs, and safety margins before metal meets machine.

How to Improve FEA (Finite Element Analysis) Skills

1. Model with intent: pick 1D/2D/3D elements wisely; simplify where valid, refine where physics demand detail.
2. Quality meshes: aspect ratios, transitions, contact definitions; use adaptive and submodeling when needed.
3. Material truth: accurate properties, anisotropy for composites, temperature dependency, and nonlinear behaviors.
4. Loads and BCs: represent constraints and interfaces realistically; include preload, friction, and assembly effects.
5. Solver savvy: linear vs. nonlinear, static vs. transient, eigenvalue extraction; monitor convergence metrics.
6. V&V discipline: benchmark against closed‑form solutions and tests; follow recognized best‑practice guidance (e.g., NAFEMS).

How to Display FEA (Finite Element Analysis) Skills on Your Resume

8. CAD (Computer-Aided Design)

CAD tools enable precise 2D/3D design, modification, and review of aerospace components and assemblies across the product lifecycle.

Why It's Important

Geometry is the contract. Good CAD preserves design intent, speeds changes, and hands clean data to analysis and manufacturing.

How to Improve CAD (Computer-Aided Design) Skills

1. Advance the fundamentals: robust sketches, constraints, parametrics, configurations, and clean feature trees.
2. Think manufacturing: GD&T, tolerances, draft, minimum radii, and suitable fastening and joining schemes.
3. Learn multiple systems: proficiency in tools common to aerospace (CATIA, SolidWorks, Siemens NX, and sometimes Creo).
4. Templates and libraries: standard hardware, materials, title blocks, notes—reduce errors and speed reviews.
5. Collaborate well: PDM/PLM workflows, revision control, markups, and release discipline.

How to Display CAD (Computer-Aided Design) Skills on Your Resume

9. Simulink

Simulink is a graphical environment for modeling, simulating, and testing multidomain dynamic systems, often paired with MATLAB.

Why It's Important

Control laws, flight dynamics, sensor models—built, tested, and iterated before hardware wakes up. Model‑based design shortens loops.

How to Improve Simulink Skills

1. Build strong bases: signals, buses, sample times, solver choices, data typing, and model architecture.
2. Use Aerospace Blockset: vehicle dynamics, environment models, and navigation blocks tailored for flight problems.
3. Co‑simulate: integrate MATLAB scripts, Stateflow for logic, and external code where needed.
4. Test like a pro: model testing frameworks, SIL/HIL workflows, and requirement traceability.
5. Manage complexity: variants, libraries, referenced models, and version control for large projects.

How to Display Simulink Skills on Your Resume

10. LabVIEW

LabVIEW is a graphical programming environment used for data acquisition, instrument control, real‑time test, and automation—common on aerospace test stands.

Why It's Important

It bridges hardware and analysis with speed: sensors wired, data streaming, results displayed, rigs controlled—without reinventing low‑level drivers.

How to Improve LabVIEW Skills

1. Code architecture: queued message handlers, Actor Framework, error handling, and modular VIs.
2. Determinism: Real‑Time and FPGA for tight loops and reliability when milliseconds matter.
3. Control design: use control design and simulation tools to prototype and verify algorithms.
4. Hardware fluency: DAQ, PXI, cRIO; synchronization, timing, and calibration practices.
5. Aerospace rigor: align with safety and reliability standards (such as DO‑178C expectations for software processes).
6. Document and test: self‑describing UIs, clear front panels, unit tests, and deployment checklists.

How to Display LabVIEW Skills on Your Resume

11. AutoCAD

AutoCAD enables precise 2D drawings and foundational 3D models, widely used for layouts, schematics, and manufacturing documentation.

Why It's Important

Blueprints still run factories. Clear drawings and change‑friendly details keep production moving and quality high.

How to Improve AutoCAD Skills

1. Speed tools: blocks, dynamic blocks, attributes, layers, xrefs, and sheet sets.
2. Customization: workspaces, shortcuts, tool palettes, and scripts tuned to aerospace drafting standards.
3. 3D when needed: simple solids and surfaces to verify interfaces; export cleanly to other CAD tools.
4. Drafting discipline: dimensioning styles, GD&T callouts, notes, and title block consistency.
5. Templates and standards: company CAD standards baked into templates and checklists.
6. Practice on real prints: revise legacy drawings, resolve clashes, and tighten tolerance stacks.

How to Display AutoCAD Skills on Your Resume

12. Siemens NX (Unigraphics)

Siemens NX is an integrated CAD/CAM/CAE suite used across aerospace for advanced modeling, simulation, and manufacturing—formerly known as Unigraphics.

Why It's Important

High‑end surfacing, composites, assemblies at scale, embedded simulation, and direct pathways to NC programming—all in one platform.

How to Improve NX Unigraphics Skills

1. Core proficiency: sketching, synchronous and ordered modeling, surfaces, assemblies, PMI, and drawings.
2. Aerospace features: composite layup, routing (tubes/wires), sheet metal, and kinematics.
3. CAE integration: built‑in simulation workflows; keep geometry‑mesh fidelity tight and iterate quickly.
4. Manufacturing flow: CAM strategies, tool libraries, and post‑processing; design with machining in mind.
5. Data management: Teamcenter basics, configurations, and release processes used by large programs.
6. Project practice: wingskins, control surfaces, mechanisms, and system installations with real constraints.

How to Display NX Unigraphics Skills on Your Resume