Module 1. What is Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering is a discipline which has centuries of tradition, dating back to
middle age craftsman. Such discipline has been instrumental in the start of the
industrial age. Frederick Taylor is generally credited as the father of Industrial
Engineering. This engineering branch has revolutionized the growth of manufacturing
and business.
Mechanical engineers make a difference. That's 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.
Intended Objectives
1. An overview of the basics in mechanical engineering and what it does in the
improvement of society and how it helps find solutions to its problems.
2. Learn and understand the relation of Mechanical Engineering to Civil Engineering
and how it works together.
3. What a students need to do to understand this subject.
What is Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics
and mathematics principles with materials science to design, analyze,
manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It involves the production and
usage of heat and mechanical power for the design, production, and operation of
engines, machines and power plants.
Mechanical engineers design and build machines, tools and power generating
plants. The field is very broad and includes many different specialties in areas like
electronics, aviation and aerospace technologies as well as various industries including
agriculture, architecture and the petroleum industry.
What do you actually learn when you study mechanical engineering at
university?
A mechanical engineering student will be studying approximately 30-40 over the course
of eight semesters. The subjects serve to familiarize students with basic concepts of
thermodynamics, solid mechanics, metallurgy, kinematics, control systems and even
coding.
If you are a student of M.E., you will be learning countless formulae and derivations. We
will be solving hundreds of problems. We would be learning software packages to solve
complex problems. However, frankly those are the things which serve only short term
purpose. We don't know how many problems, constants and derivation will remain with
us a decade down the line.
The most important outcomes of an engineering course are:
•
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thorough understanding of basic laws governing physical nature
ability to analyze a problem systematically and apply the
aforementioned principles to solve the problem
The importance of the Study
In this engineering we built a car, few built robots, still others built a fridge. If you have a
look at the Industry, mechanical engineers are one of the few people who are working in
almost every kind of core industry.
Why Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering plays a critical role in manufactured technologies, from cars
to airplanes to refrigerators. It enables you to do many daily activities with ease, as it
brings helpful technologies to our modern society.
The essence of engineering is problem solving. Mechanical engineering combines
creativity, knowledge and analytical tools to complete the difficult task of shaping
an idea into reality. Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering
disciplines. It makes movement easier, help produce products needed for human
consumption, makes an built home environment more comfortable, and a lot more.
James Watt is often coined the father of mechanical engineering because it was that
particular invention that gave way to many more important developments of the
industrial revolution and beyond. In fact,
the father of industrial engineering
is a mechanical engineer.
What is the relationship between civil engineering and mechanical engineering?
In most large-scale projects all of the engineering disciplines work together. Take
industrial facility design, for example. Engineers utilize civil, structural, mechanical and
electrical engineering to create the facility.
Civil engineers work on large infrastructure-based projects, such as roads and
bridges, whereas mechanical engineers focus on mechanical, thermofluid, and chemical
systems, such as robots, heating and cooling units, engines, and mobility systems. To
be more specific, the application of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) is the
work of mechanical engineering inside a structure built by civil engineering. They also
design other machines inside buildings, such as elevators and escalators.
What are the scope and different branches? (see pdf copy)
Disciplines within mechanical engineering include but are not limited to:
Acoustics
Energy
Aerospace
Ergonomics
Automation
Human health
Automotive
HVAC Design
Autonomous Systems
Manufacturing and additive
manufacturing
Biotechnology
Movement
Composites
Mechanics
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Nanotechnology
Control Systems
Production planning
Cyber security
Robotics
Design
Structural Analysis
Learning the subject
Learning is not a passive process, especially for a mechanical engineer. Don't constrain
yourself to the syllabus and explore. Educate yourself and others and you will be
amazed at the results.