Telling the future

Technology and the environment, BWBs and UAVs, and nuclear power may be the forces for the future of aerospace engineering.

If one thinks of the inexorable climb of aviation and aerospace technology during the past 100 years as being spectacular, then the future is likely to bring the sort of advances that today may seem unthinkable. There are two levels of likely development.

The steady evolution of what is available now in terms of materials, powerplants, electronic systems, and overall concepts is one level, which calls for expertise and application but is basically conservative, cautious, and sometimes unimaginative.