The World of Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering is one of the biggest and fastest growing fields in the United States today.  Mechanical Engineering is a field that continues to grow because of the advancements in technology and growing needs of society. 

Many colleges in the United States offer Mechanical Engineering degrees but some of them have better placement rates in specific careers than others.  A Mechanical Engineering degree generally requires four to five years of coursework that is math intensive.  Mechanical Engineers are required to take courses such as fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, and design programs.  All these courses are tied into the rigorous coursework that is required to become a Mechanical Engineer.

Mechanical Engineering is a constantly changing field that has a projected growth in employment in 2012. Along with the growing employment opportunities will arise for new careers in multiple fields.  This growth can be attributed to the changing needs of society as populations continue to grow and the technologies that society uses everyday continue to change creating new product needs and wants. A few of the fields that Mechanical Engineering careers cover can be found at the link provided. Because Mechanical Engineering has such broad coverage, a degree in Mechanical Engineering can also be used in other Engineering disciplines.

Mechanical Engineering relies heavily on research, design and testing.  Mechanical Engineers use research to create new ideas or find economical ways to improve existing designs and ideas.  Mechanical Engineers use a variety of programs to create three dimensional models of these new and existing ideas.  Some of the most widely used programs are Pro/Engineering, SolidWorks, and CAD. These are just a few of the programs available to Mechanical Engineers to design real live working models of new ideas and technologies. Testing is the other cornerstone of Mechanical Engineering.  Mechanical Engineers design and execute tests to validate the new designs and improvements of existing designs to make sure they are safe and economical.

Mechanical Engineers strive to produce low cost products that are efficient and reliable.  These products range from automobiles to agricultural equipment to the toys that children play with, to the advanced technologies that companies and industries use every day.  The products designed by Mechanical Engineers are used every day around the world and because the world is constantly changing the need for new ideas is economical cost effective ideas is constant.

Mechanical Engineering is a field that offers a great starting salary to graduating college students along with a variety of career choices. Mechanical Engineering was ranked third in 2011 for highest average annual starting salary among graduates with a salary of $60,739.  These are a few of the reasons that students have for pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering but most look for a degree and career in Mechanical Engineering because it is a constantly changing field that will always be at the fore front of economic and technological development.

Mechanical Engineers can be summed up with the following quote by Freemon Dyson: “A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering.”