What Is Mechanical Engineering?

Technically, mechanical engineering is the application of the principles and problem-solving

techniques of engineering from design to manufacturing to the marketplace for any object.
Mechanical engineers analyze their work using the principles of motion, energy, and force
ensuring that designs function safely, efficiently, and reliably, all at a competitive cost.
Mechanical engineers make a difference. Thats because mechanical engineering careers
center on creating technologies to meet human needs. Virtually every product or service in
modern life has probably been touched in some way by a mechanical engineer to help
humankind.
This includes solving todays problems and creating future solutions in health care, energy,
transportation, world hunger, space exploration, climate change, and more.
Being ingrained in many challenges and innovations across many fields means a mechanical
engineering education is versatile. To meet this broad demand, mechanical engineers may
design a component, a machine, a system, or a process. This ranges from the macro to the
micro, from the largest systems like cars and satellites to the smallest components like sensors
and switches. Anything that needs to be manufactured indeed, anything with moving parts
needs the expertise of a mechanical engineer.

What do mechanical engineers do?

Mechanical engineering combines creativity, knowledge and analytical tools to complete the
difficult task of shaping an idea into reality.
This transformation happens at the personal scale, affecting human lives on a level we can
reach out and touch like robotic prostheses. It happens on the local scale, affecting people in
community-level spaces, like with agile interconnected microgrids. And it happens on
bigger scales, like with advanced power systems, through engineering that operates
nationwide or across the globe.
Mechanical engineers have an enormous range of opportunity and their education mirrors this
breadth of subjects. Students concentrate on one area while strengthening analytical and
problem-solving skills applicable to any engineering situation.
Disciplines within mechanical engineering include but are not limited to:

Acoustics

Design

Aerospace

Energy

Automation

Ergonomics

Automotive

Human health

Autonomous Systems

Manufacturing and additive manufacturing

Biotechnology

Mechanics

Composites

Nanotechnology

Computer Aided Design (CAD)

Production planning

Control Systems

Robotics

Cyber security

Structural analysis

Technology itself has also shaped how mechanical engineers work and the suite of tools has
grown quite powerful in recent decades. Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is an umbrella
term that covers everything from typical CAD techniques to computer-aided manufacturing to
computer-aided engineering, involving finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid
dynamics (CFD). These tools and others have further broadened the horizons of mechanical
engineering.

What careers are there in mechanical engineering?

Society depends on mechanical engineering. The need for this expertise is great in so many
fields, and as such, there is no real limit for the freshly minted mechanical engineer. Jobs are
always in demand, particularly in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, biotechnology, and
energy industries.
Here are a handful of mechanical engineering fields.
In statics, research focuses on how forces are transmitted to and throughout a structure. Once
a system is in motion, mechanical engineers look at dynamics, or what velocities,
accelerations and resulting forces come into play. Kinematics then examines how a
mechanism behaves as it moves through its range of motion.
Materials science delves into determining the best materials for different applications. A part
of that is materials strength testing support loads, stiffness, brittleness and other
properties which is essential for many construction, automobile, and medical materials.

How energy gets converted into useful power is the heart of thermodynamics, as well as
determining what energy is lost in the process. One specific kind of energy, heat transfer, is
crucial in many applications and requires gathering and analyzing temperature data and
distributions.
Fluid mechanics, which also has a variety of applications, looks at many properties including
pressure drops from fluid flow and aerodynamic drag forces.
Manufacturing is an important step in mechanical engineering. Within the field, researchers
investigate the best processes to make manufacturing more efficient. Laboratory
methods focus on improving how to measure both thermal and mechanical engineering
products and processes. Likewise, machine design develops equipment-scale processes
while electrical engineering focuses on circuitry. All this equipment produces vibrations,
another field of mechanical engineering, in which researchers study how to predict and
control vibrations.
Engineering economics makes mechanical designs relevant and usable in the real world by
estimating manufacturing and life cycle costs of materials, designs, and other engineered
products.

What skills do mechanical engineers need?

The essence of engineering is problem solving. With this at its core, mechanical engineering
also requires applied creativity a hands on understanding of the work involved along
with strong interpersonal skills like networking, leadership, and conflict management.
Creating a product is only part of the equation; knowing how to work with people, ideas, data,
and economics fully makes a mechanical engineer.
What tasks do mechanical engineers do?
Careers in mechanical engineering call for a variety of tasks.
Conceptual design

Measurements

Analysis

Data Interpretation

Presentations and report writing

Developmental design

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Research

Concurrent engineering

Analysis (FEA and CFD)

Benchmarking the competition

Working with suppliers

Project management

Sales

Prototyping

Consulting

Testing

Customer service