Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

It is the branch of engineering that encompasses the Generation/Application of Heat /Mechanical power and the design, production, use of machines and tools. It is one of the oldest and broadest engineering disciplines. In last three decades Computer technology brought a great revolution in the field of Mechanical Engineering.  

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Mechanical

is equal to 5 M's (Man,Machine,Material,Motion,Manufacturing)

Man

Human being is the prime requirement of any discipline of working. He/She who is capable of working to develop economic and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics, scientific knowledge and ingenuity while considering technical constraints.

Machine 

Any device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks. according to this from hand pump upto the space shuttle all are machines. we are designing, developing, using, repairing these machine to get the variety of outputs. it is the second most important part of mechanical.

Material

Everything is made up of some material. Material is a tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object; Sometimes the term "material" is used more narrowly to refer to substances or components with certain physical properties that are used as inputs to production or manufacturing. In this sense, materials are the parts required to make something else, from needle to space shuttle.

Motion

Motion is change of location or position of an object with respect to time. Change in motion is the result of an applied force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity also seen as speed, acceleration, displacement, and time.

An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as described by Newton's first law also known as Inertia.

An object's momentum is directly related to the object's mass and velocity, and the total momentum of all objects in a closed system (one not affected by external forces) does not change with time, as described by the law of conservation of momentum.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing process is used to produce a part by using different machining operations such as turning, milling, boring, drilling, grinding etc. Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. It is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing other, more complex products, such as household appliances or automobiles. 

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Engineering

 Engineering means solving the problem by thinking differently than others. 

Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or invention.

Today there are lot of branches in the Engineering field i.e. Aerospace · Agricultural ·Architectural · Audio · Automotive · Biochemical · Biological · Biomechatronics · Biomedical ·BioTech · Broadcast · Building officials · Ceramic · Chemical · Civil · Computer · Construction ·Control · Cryogenics · Electrical · Electronic · Engineering Management · Engineering technology · Enterprise · Entertainment · Environmental · Food · Genetic · Hydraulics ·Industrial · Materials · Mechanical · Mechatronics · Metallurgical · Mining · Naval · Network ·Nuclear · Ocea · Ontology · Optical · Petroleum · Radio Frequency · Software · Structural ·Systems · Technician · Telecommunications · Textile · Tissue · Traffic · Transport.

Engineer term is derived from the Latin root "ingenium," meaning "cleverness".  The work of engineers is the link between perceived needs of society and commercial applications".

Special Skills

Every person can not aquire every skill and can not work in every field. That is the only reason the skills are divided into different disciplines and levels. People are learning different skills in different fields such as business, banking, Administration, clothing, automotive, aviation, casting, environment, food processing, dairies, hostpitality, fish industry, paper production, entertainment, printing, agriculture, wood working, steel products, construction, oil and gas etc.There are differrent levels of education on different skill like undergraduate, graduate, masters, diploma, B.Tech., M.Tech, M.S, Certificate Courses etc.

Master Knowledge

After completing the education on a prticular skill the person is master in providing solution on that particular skill. if any company is looking for a particular skill it will aquire the person from that level of education.

Thinking Differently

Instead of same level of education Thinking differently is actually making difference between Engineers. "Engineering is solving the problem, but who can solve the problem? The person who can think on the problem differently than others will find N number of solution for it". To improve this power (Thinking Differently) we should feed our brain everyday.

Planning    

Planning always come after thinking differently. we need to plan only if we have some new thing to do. For example if we need to produce new part we have to plan different machines, materials, people etc. planning is main part of the engineering.

Execution

Planning is of no use if not implemented. Execution is working on planning. Engineers execute their plans and generate final products or services for the customers.

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Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineer is having maximum knowledge about 5 Ms (Man, Machine, Motion, Material, Manufacturing) than anybody else. He is always capable of solving the problems coming in the mechanical part of the industry. If any company is looking for a person to work on 5 Ms that will hire a Mechanical Engineer.

Mechanical Engineer requires a solid understanding of core concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, materials science, and energy. Mechanical engineers use the core principles as well as other knowledge in the field to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, heating and cooling systems, motor vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, robotics, medical devices and more.

Mechnical Education:

Degrees and Diplomas in mechanical engineering are offered at universities worldwide.

In Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, North America, and Pakistan, mechanical engineering programs typically take four to five years and result in a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc), Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng), or Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc) degree, in or with emphasis in mechanical engineering.

In Spain, Portugal and most of South America, where neither BSc nor BTech programs have been adopted, the formal name for the degree is "Mechanical Engineer", and the course work is based on five or six years of training.

In Italy the course work is based on five years of training; but in order to qualify as an Engineer you have to pass a state exam at the end of the course.

In the U.S., most undergraduate mechanical engineering programs are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) to ensure similar course requirements and standards among universities. 

In Canada Mechanical engineering programs are accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), and most other countries offering engineering degrees have similar accreditation societies.

Some mechanical engineers go on to pursue a postgraduate degree such as a Master of Engineering, Master of Technology, Master of Science, Master of Engineering Management (MEng.Mgt or MEM),

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Coursework:

Each country may have different methods and durations of teaching mechanical engineering. the subjects and syllabus may be different but the fundamental subjects of mechanical engineering usually include:

• Statics and dynamics
• Strength of materials and solid mechanics
• Instrumentation and measurement
• Thermodynamics, heat transfer, energy conversion, and HVAC
• Fluid mechanics and fluid dynamics
• Mechanism design (including kinematics and dynamics)
• Manufacturing technology or processes
• Hydraulics and pneumatics
• Mathematics - in particular, calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra.
• Engineering design
• Mechatronics and control theory
• Material Engineering
• Computer Aided Designing (CAD)
• Computer aided Manufacturing (CAM)
• Computer aided Engineering (CAE) 

they should also understand and be able to apply basic concepts from chemistry, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, and physics. Most mechanical engineering programs include several semesters of calculus, as well as advanced mathematical.

In addition to the core mechanical engineering curriculum, many mechanical engineering programs offer more specialized programs and classes, such as robotics, transport and logistics, cryogenics, fuel technology, automotive engineering, biomechanics, vibration, optics and others, if a separate department does not exist for these subjects.

In the United States it is common for mechanical engineering students to complete one or more internships while studying, though this is not typically mandated by the university.

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Salaries and statics of mechanical engineer:

Ref: wikipedia.com

The total number of engineers employed in the U.S. in 2004 was roughly 1.4 million. Of these, 226,000 were mechanical engineers (15.6%), second only to civil engineers in size at 237,000 (16.4%).

The total number of mechanical engineering jobs in 2004 was projected to grow 9% to 17%, with average starting salaries being $50,256 with a bachelor's degree, $59,880 with a master's degree, and $68,299 with a doctorate degree. This places mechanical engineering at 8th of 14 among engineering bachelors degrees, 4th of 11 among masters degrees, and 6th of 7 among doctorate degrees in average annual salary.

The median annual income of mechanical engineers in the U.S. workforce is roughly $63,000. This number is highest when working for the government ($72,500), and lowest when doing general purpose machinery manufacturing in the private sector ($55,850).

Canadian engineers make an average of $29.83 per hour with 4% unemployed. The average for all occupations is $18.07 per hour with 7% unemployed. Twelve percent of these engineers are self-employed, and since 1997 the proportion of female engineers has risen to 6%.

Mechanical Engineering is the second highest paid profession in the UK behind medicine. A Mechanical Engineer with a CEng Status earns an average of £55,000 a year.

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Research in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineers are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible in order to produce safer, cheaper, and more efficient machines and mechanical systems. Some technologies at the cutting edge of mechanical engineering are listed below

Micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)

Micron-scale mechanical components such as springs, gears, fluidic and heat transfer devices are fabricated from a variety of substrate materials such as silicon, glass and polymers like SU8. Examples of MEMS components will be the accelerometers that are used as car airbag sensors, gyroscopes for precise positioning and microfluidic devices used in biomedical applications.

Friction stir welding (FSW)

Friction stir welding, a new type of welding, was discovered in 1991 by The Welding Institute (TWI). This innovative steady state (non-fusion) welding technique joins materials previously un-weldable, including several aluminum alloys. It may play an important role in the future construction of airplanes, potentially replacing rivets. Current uses of this technology to date include welding the seams of the aluminum main Space Shuttle external tank, Orion Crew Vehicle test article, Boeing Delta II and Delta IV Expendable Launch Vehicles and the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket, armor plating for amphibious assault ships, and welding the wings and fuselage panels of the new Eclipse 500 aircraft from Eclipse Aviation among an increasingly growing pool of uses.

Composites:

Composites or composite materials are a combination of materials which provide different physical characteristics than either material separately. Composite material research within mechanical engineering typically focuses on designing (and, subsequently, finding applications for) stronger or more rigid materials while attempting to reduce weight, susceptibility to corrosion, and other undesirable factors. Carbon fiber reinforced composites, for instance, have been used in such diverse applications as spacecraft and fishing rods.

Mechatronics:

Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, and software engineering. The purpose of this interdisciplinary engineering field is the study of automata from an engineering perspective and serves the purposes of controlling advanced hybrid systems.

Nanotechnology:

At the smallest scales, mechanical engineering becomes nanotechnology and molecular engineering—one speculative goal of which is to create a molecular assembler to build molecules and materials via mechanosynthesis. For now that goal remains within exploratory engineering.

Finite element analysis

This field is not new, as the basis of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or Finite Element Method (FEM) dates back to 1941. But evolution of computers has made FEM a viable option for analysis of structural problems. Many commercial codes such as ANSYS, Nastran and ABAQUS are widely used in industry for research and design of components.

Other techniques such as finite difference method (FDM) and finite-volume method (FVM) are employed to solve problems relating heat and mass transfer, fluid flows, fluid surface interaction etc.