What Do Mechanical Engineers Do?
Mechanical engineers can be skilled in a variety of engineering disciplines, and can be found in almost every field of science and technology. Mechanical engineers are responsible for all aspects of the design process, including generating new ideas, making plans, fabricating hardware, analyzing components and maintaining systems.
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Significance
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Mechanical engineering is the study of applied physics, which is foundation for all engineering fields, which makes them valuable in many types of jobs. ME students take a wide-range of courses in structural design, electrical circuits, fluid flow, and machine dynamics. As professionals, Mechanical Engineers work in technology fields such as automotive, aerospace, energy, robotics, construction and computer science.
Function
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Mechanical engineers often design mechanisms using computer aided design (CAD) programs and then fabricate components using machine shop tools.
Mechanical engineers analyze structures and components for physical properties such as strength, weight, fatigue and vibration. This can be competed by hand calculation or sophisticated computer programs. -
Expert Insight
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In the United States, Professional Engineers (PE) are state- or government-licensed engineers that have passed a two-part written exam and worked with a PE mentor for four years. In some professions, such as civil engineering, a PE must approve design plans prior to construction and are responsible for the integrity of the design.
Fun Fact
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American Society of Mechanical Engineers (AMSE) is a professional society for mechanical engineers, and has more than 127,000 members worldwide (see Resources).
Famous Ties
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Famous mechanical engineers include TV's "The Science Guy" host, Bill Nye; NASCAR drivers Ashton Lewis and Ryan Newman; and New Hampshire's senator John Sununu.
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