What
is Mechanical Engineering?
Engineers design, build,
develop, maintain, and modify the tools of our technological society. The
profession of engineering can be broken into several branches including
electrical and electronic, chemical, civil, industrial, petroleum, and
mechanical. In the broadest terms, mechanical engineering is concerned with
the conversion, transmission, and use of energy. Of the four basic forms of
energy - thermal, mechanical, chemical and electromagnetic - the mechanical
engineer is primarily concerned with thermal and mechanical energy. These
"tracks" of mechanical engineering - thermal sciences and mechanics
- make mechanical engineering one of the most diverse fields of engineering,
with a tremendously wide variety of career opportunities.
Mechanical engineers design power
plants, airplanes, spacecraft, automobiles, heating and air-conditioning
systems, conveyors, recreation equipment and elevators. They are employed as
environmental engineers, nuclear engineers, and railway engineers. Mechanical
engineers are involved in development of technologies for solar and wind
energy and exciting new areas like micro-machines. They work in industry,
consulting practice, government, and universities. They may work in
classrooms, factories, offices, laboratories, or testing facilities as
teachers, managers, designers, or researchers. Some mechanical engineers work
in sales and product quality control or equipment maintenance. Many hold
managerial positions in their companies. Whether working on an oil rig or in
corporate headquarters, mechanical
engineers are solving the technical
problems of today and tomorrow. Mechanical engineers touch almost every aspect
of our lives.
While civil engineers build
bridges and tunnels, it is the mechanical engineer who provides the mechanisms
and systems for drawbridges and ventilation systems for tunnels. Similarly,
the chemical engineer develops new plastics, coatings, and adhesives, while
the mechanical engineer uses these in the design of new equipment. Electrical
engineers build computers and develop software while the mechanical engineer
incorporates these into control systems or designs of computer printers and
other accessories.
Some mechanical engineers work
in areas not usually considered the domain of the engineer.
Biomechanical engineers, for example, form a specific sub-discipline of
mechanical engineering. The biomechanical engineer cooperates with physicians
and veterinarians to design aids and instruments used in the anatomical
treatment of humans or animals.
