MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
An overview by Joan Omoruyi, Engineering Librarian, Northeastern University
Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest and broadest areas of engineering activity. At
one time mechanical engineering was practiced concurrently with civil engineering
because many of the devices needed to construct civil engineering projects were
mechanical in nature. However during the Industrial Revolution (1750-1850), many great
machines were developed such as steam engines, internal combustion engines,
mechanical looms and sewing machines, and mechanical engineering emerged as a
discipline distinct from civil engineering.
Mechanical engineering is concerned with machinery, power and manufacturing or
production methods. Mechanical engineers design engines, vehicles (automobiles, trains,
planes), robots and generators, machine tools, heat exchangers, power plants, consumer
items and systems for heating, refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation, kitchen
appliances and artificial hearts and limbs. If a device has moving parts, most probably
mechanical engineers were involved in its creation.
Mechanical engineers must have knowledge about structures, heat transfer, fluid
mechanics, materials and thermodynamics. The discipline is concerned with machinery,
power, and manufacturing or production methods. Mechanical engineers design and
manufacture machine tools – the machines that make machines – and machinery and
equipment for all branches of industry.
Their machines move and lift loads and transport and goods and produce energy and
convert it to other forms.
In the power specialty area, mechanical engineers are involved in the design, production,
and operation of hydraulic turbines for driving electric generators and of boilers, engines
and pumps for the development of steam power. They design and operate power plants
and are concerned with the economical combustion of fuels, the conversion of heat
energy into mechanical power and the use of that power to perform useful work.
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Mechanical engineers work closely with industrial engineers and managers in many
fields of manufacturing, designing imaginative machinery and systems that yield great
economies in production.
These engineers are also involved in marine engineering, designing boats, naval vessels,
and merchant ships and in the aerospace industry, working in the design of new aircraft
and spacecraft.
This is a broad field that deals with diverse engineering problems. Often mechanical
engineers work in interdisciplinary activities including automation, computer technology
and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
MEMS
Mems are physically small systems that have both electrical and mechanical components.
Examples include inkjet-printer cartridges, accelerometers that deploy automobile airbags
and miniature robots. MEMS systems usually have sensors that because of their small
size can measure the environment without significantly changing or modifying. Included
are microsensors that can measure pressure, acceleration, strain, vibration, proximity,
sound and many other environmental features. MEMS can be placed in small spaces such
as inside automobile engines, small appliances and living organisms to measure and
affect their environment.
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
Industrial engineers are concerned with the design, improvement and installation of
integrated systems of people, materials and energy in the production of either goods or
services. In the late 1800s industries began to use “scientific management” techniques to
improve efficiency. Early pioneers did time-motion studies on workers to reduce the
amount of labor required to produce the product.
Industrial engineers are primarily
interested in problems that involve economy in the use of money, materials , time,
human effort, and energy. They are more concerned about the big picture in industrial
management and production than with the detailed development of processes.
Most of the activities of industrial engineers fall into one of four categories:
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Those related to plant layout
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Those designed to increase worker productivity
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Those designed to control the quality of products
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Those designed to reduce and control costs.
Plant layout determines the floor space needed for each product component – workers,
equipment and materials handling and storage. It also includes arranging and sequencing
various operations to ensure a safe, smooth and efficient operation.
Industrial engineers perform time and motion studies of workers, set standards of
performance and propose new and improved methods to increase productivity. Quality
control techniques are used to reduce waste and customer complaints. Statistical
procedures are used to establish reasonable tolerances in quality and develop procedures
to routinely check product quality. Industrial engineers are employed by manufacturing
industries, but they may also be found working in other settings such as hospitals,
railroads, retail businesses, municipal state and federal government agencies, hospitals,
banks or overnight package delivery services. Those industrial engineers who specialize
in human factors may design products such as hand tools or airplane cockpits with the
human user in mind.
References
1. Holtzapple, Mark T, Reece, Dan, W. Foundations of engineering. Boston (MA):
McGraw-Hill, 2003.
2. Wright, Paul H. Introduction to engineering. 3rd Ed. New York (NY):2003.
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