In today’s world, Engineering is one of the most sought after career options in the world. Among all streams, Mechanical Engineering is one of the most basic form of engineering and even a few decades ago, a career in Mechanical Engineering used to be a very rewarding one. Is it still a relevant a career choice today? Read on to find out.
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Why to choose a Career in Mechanical Engineering?
As time is progressing and the world is moving towards digitalization and information technology, demand for them is increasing. But, that doesn’t make a career in Mechanical Engineering less rewarding or obsolete in any way. Sectors like Manufacturing, Design, Aerodynamics and Propulsion are continuously growing in demand. There is a dire need for skilled Mechanical Engineers who can solve the modern day problems. All you need to build a successful career in Mechanical Engineering are a set of skills and qualities that are described below. If you can master them, you can excel in your career and have a bright future.
Skill #1: Ability to Visualize and Imagine
Once you start your studies of Mechanical Engineering, you will soon realize that you need be good at visualizing and imagining things. How should the final manufactured product look like? How is a particular mechanism going to work? How will a beam bend? All such questions are very important in this field.
Therefore, to build a successful career in Mechanical Engineering, you must have this ability to visualize and imagine things.
Skill #2. Strong Fundamentals and Mathematical Background
A career in Mechanical Engineering requires you to have a sound knowledge of the fundamentals. One must be well versed with the basic principles, laws and equations that govern this discipline. Basic subjects like Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics are of utmost important.
A mechanical designer needs to have a strong foundation in the principles of mechanical engineering in order to create effective designs. This includes knowledge of Strength of materials, including stress, strain, SFD & BMD diagram behavior of structure under various loads and deformation analysis. Design principles including process planning, prototyping, and testing. Different properties of materials and material selection for engineering design. Statics and dynamics of machine including Newton’s laws and principles of motion, degree of freedom. Thermodynamics, including different laws of thermodynamics, different thermal cycle, method of heat transfer, and thermodynamics systems.
At the same time, a career in mechanical engineering also demands you to have a very strong background in mathematics. Almost every equation in the discipline include some derivatives and integrals. Some subjects like metrology and design also demand that you must be good at statistics and co-ordinate geometry. Any one who has a thorough understanding of mathematical concepts will find it easier to build a successful career in mechanical engineering.
Skill #3. Knowledge of using Mechanical Engineering Softwares
Gone are the days when people used pen, pencil and paper to solve problems or make designs. Everything today is done by the means of softwares. Be it drafting, design or simulation, softwares have made our life easy and have made problems easier for us. With upgradation of industry it is important to update ourselves as a professional engineer. While automation technology helps us to complete work in much less time with more accuracy and less Man power it is important to be a highly skilled engineer to drive those machines. Most mechanical designers use CAD software to create and refine their designs, so proficiency with these tools is essential. This includes both 2D drafting and 3D modeling software.
A person desirous of building a successful career in Mechanical Engineering must have the skill and knowledge to use various softwares and simplify problems. The most important softwares that you must know are as follows:
- AutoCAD, Creo, Catia and Solidworks for Design
- Ansys and Matlab for Simulation and Analysis
- Coding and Programming Languages like Python and Java for dealing with complex problems
Skill #4. Having an area of interest
Whenever you go for an interview in the field of mechanical engineering, one question is sure to be asked. And this question can make or break your chances to build a successful career in mechanical engineering.
The question is – “What is your favourite subject?”
This question is asked so that the interviewer can further ask you questions on that topic. While answering this question, you must be sure that you are aware about all the basic concepts and theories of that subject. And it is recommended that you have an area of interest in a subtopic of that subject. You must have done some research level deep study on that topic. It would be best if that topic is a hot topic on which a lot of research is going on.
For example, if your favourite subject is Fluid Mechanics, you can have your area of interest in ‘Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)‘.
If your favourite subject is Machine Design, you can have your area of interest in ‘Finite Element Analysis (FEA)’ and so on.
Skill #5. Research and Project Work
The final year days of your Undergraduate Degree in Mechanical Engineering are very crucial in deciding the direction in which your career will head. Once you have chosen a favourite subject, the next thing that you should do is identify an important subtopic on which cutting edge research is going on. Try to follow some research news on that particular topic.
It is also a golden opportunity to do your project work on that topic itself. It will give you an opportunity to explore the subject of your interest and while taking a deep dive, you might also get a lead in some new idea which was previously unexplored. If you do this right, you can straight away venture into research work and go for masters. All leading institutes and R&D centres are always search for such students who have the ability to do a deep dive and develop new and unique ideas. This would greatly help you grow your career in mechanical engineering.
Skill #6. General Managerial and Soft Skills
No matter what you do, you will most likely have to work in a team. As a team leader or team member, you must have certain skills that will help you make the most out of your efforts. This includes good communication skill, ability to co-ordinate between team members, leadership qualities and risk taking abilities.
This skills will not only help you during your project work in the final year of your undergraduate degree but also in your workplace. It will make your career in mechanical engineering successful.