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What is Mechanical
Engineering
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Mechanical Engineering is a diverse
subject that derives its breadth from the need to design and manufacture
everything from small individual parts and devices (e.g., micro scale sensors
and inkjet printer nozzles) to large systems (e.g., spacecraft and machine
tools). The role of a mechanical engineer is to take a product from an idea to
the marketplace. In order to accomplish this, a broad range of skills are
needed. The mechanical engineer needs to acquire particular skills and
knowledge. He/she needs to understand the forces and the thermal environment
that a product, its parts, or its subsystems will encounter; to design them for
functionality, aesthetics, and the ability to withstand the forces and the
thermal environment they will be subjected to; and to determine the best way to
manufacture them and ensure they will operate without failure. Perhaps the one
skill that is the mechanical engineer’s exclusive domain is the ability to
analyze and design objects and systems with motion.
Since these skills are required for virtually everything that is made,
mechanical engineering is perhaps the broadest and most diverse of engineering
disciplines. Mechanical engineers play a central role in such industries as
automotive (from the car chassis to its every subsystem—engine, transmission,
sensors); aerospace (airplanes, aircraft engines, control systems for airplanes
and spacecraft); biotechnology (implants, prosthetic devices, fluidic systems
for pharmaceutical industries); computers and electronics (disk drives,
printers, cooling systems, semiconductor tools); microelectromechanical systems,
or MEMS (sensors, actuators, micropower generation); energy conversion (gas
turbines, wind turbines, solar energy, fuel cells); environmental control (HVAC,
air-conditioning, refrigeration, compressors); automation (robots, data and
image acquisition, recognition, control); manufacturing (machining, machine
tools, prototyping, micro fabrication).
To put it simply, mechanical engineering deals with anything that moves,
including the human body, a very complex machine. Mechanical engineers learn
about materials, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer,
control, instrumentation, design, and manufacturing to understand mechanical
systems. Specialized mechanical engineering subjects include biomechanics,
cartilage-tissue engineering, energy conversion, laser-assisted materials
processing, combustion, MEMS, microfluidic devices, fracture mechanics,
nanomechanics, mechanisms, micropower generation, tribology (friction and wear),
and vibrations. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) currently
lists 36 technical divisions, from advanced energy systems and aerospace
engineering to solid-waste engineering and textile engineering.
The breadth of the mechanical engineering discipline allows students a variety
of career options beyond some of the industries listed above. Regardless of the
particular path they envision for themselves after they graduate, their
education will have provided them with the creative thinking that allows them to
design an exciting product or system, the analytical tools to achieve their
design goals, the ability to overcome all constraints, and the teamwork needed
to design, market, and produce a system. These valuable skills could also launch
a career in medicine, law, consulting, management, banking, finance, and so on.
For those interested in applied scientific and mathematical aspects of the
discipline, graduate study in mechanical engineering can lead to a career of
research and teaching.
( Courtesy:
http://me.columbia.edu/pages/dptoverview/whatisme/index.html )
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