Industry Standards

Standards and specifications provide direction to the engineer on how best to design and build the product. Standards promote safety, reliability, productivity and efficiency in almost every industry that relies on engineering components or equipment. Standards can run from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages, and are written by experts with knowledge and expertise in a particular field.

The aerospace industry uses a wide variety of standards that encompass everything from fastener design to cockpit displays. It is likely that somewhere along the career path of an aerospace engineer, he or she will encounter or require the use of an industry standard. Some of the organizations providing standards to the aerospace industry include:

• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
• American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA)
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
• Americas Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG)
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Design specifications differ slightly from standards in that they can be internal guidelines developed by a company’s engineering staff or they could come from the customer. The military requires strict adherence to standards and specifications mandated in each aerospace program.