Aerospace engineering student gains better understanding of field through internship Aerospace engineering student gains better understanding of field through internship

Aerospace engineering is the field of engineering primarily concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. According to Kevin Kraus, it is a captivating subject and he can't get enough of it.

Kraus is a sophomore at Wichita State majoring in aerospace engineering with minors in economics and math. He attended the Engineering & Science Career Fair in spring 2015 and was asked to interview with GE Aviation. The following day, he was hired for a software verification engineer position.

"I do a lot of what I am currently learning in class," Kraus said. "I analyze ADA code and create scenarios to provide structural coverage for Flight Management System software."

Kraus also creates and maintains requirements based on test procedures, formally tests software tools before production release, writes software test reports and maintains software documents. Kraus said having so much responsibility has allowed him to develop leadership skills.

"Working with a large company gave me the opportunity to interact with individuals all around the country," Kraus said. "I learned the importance of communicating potential problems or concerns promptly, clearly and concisely."

Although Kraus' internship has been valuable for his future, he does not intend to work on the software side of engineering, since he has found he enjoys the design side.

"This co-op provided irreplaceable real-world experience in my field," Kraus said. "It was a great insight into understanding how projects are accomplished within engineering."