The term avionics emanates from combining aviation and electronics. The scope of Avionics not only encompasses the electronic systems installed on all Aerospace Vehicles, be it aircraft or spacecraft, but also ground based surveillance and support systems. Avionics systems include Fly-By-Wire Flight Control Systems, Human Machine Interface, navigation systems, communications systems, vehicle health management systems, sensors, networking, flight and air traffic management systems. With Avionics Systems constituting almost forty percent of the overall aircraft cost, avionics is a multi-billion-dollar industry word wide and rapidly flourishing. The essence of Avionics is to design for Space Weight and Power constrained environment where safety criticality is the overriding factor. Resultantly, avionics engineering is applicable not only to air borne and space borne platforms but all autonomous systems where safety is paramount, self-driving cars being a prime example. The futuristic transportation systems like Urban Air Mobility and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) will further enhance the scope of Avionics Engineering.
Avionics Engineers are employed by Avionics Original Equipment Manufacturers, Avionics Systems Integrators, Airlines, Maintenance Repair Overhaul Centers, Unmanned Aerial System Manufacturers, Manufacturers and operators of Air Traffic Surveillance Systems, Air Forces, Space Craft designers, Aviation Regulatory organizations and designers of safety critical autonomous systems.