What is Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical engineers design and develop everything you think of as a machine - from supersonic fighter jets to bicycles to toasters. And they influence the design of other products as well - shoes, light bulbs and even doors. Many mechanical engineers specialize in areas such as manufacturing, robotics, automotive/transportation and air conditioning. Others cross over into other disciplines, working on everything from artificial organs to the expanding field of nanotechnology. And some use their mechanical engineering degree as preparation for the practice of medicine and law. The mechanical engineer may design a component, a machine, a system or a process. Mechanical engineers will analyze their design using the principles of motion, energy, and force to insure the product functions safely, efficiently, reliably, and can be manufactured at a competitive cost. Mechanical engineers work in the automotive, aerospace, chemical, computer, communication, paper, and power generation industries. Mechanical engineers will be found in virtually any manufacturing industry. Increasingly, mechanical engineers are needed in the environmental and bio-medical fields. Indeed virtually every product or service in modern life has probably been touched in some way by a mechanical engineer. In the ME-EM department these activities are reflected in the way we organize our teaching and research efforts. Faculty are organized in the following technical areas:

Design and Dynamic Systems Area --This area emphasizes modeling and contr dynamic processes in engineering systems. Current research activity is in engin acoustics and noise control, NVH, vibrations and modal analysis, system model and identification, control systems, system dynamics, computer simulation of material-forming processes, off-line programming of robots, automobile crashworthiness, computer-aided strain analysis, software sensor development, optimal control of automated manufacturing, application of artificial intelligenc interactive design software, environmentally conscious design, and design of or devices for gait rehabilitation.

Energy Thermo-Fluids Area --Emphasizes thermodynamics, heat transfer, and f mechanics. Current research activity is in combustion processes, internal combu engines, transmissions, heat and mass transfer, fluid mechanics, computational f dynamics, and emissions and air quality control.

Manufacturing/Industrial Area--Current research activity is in metal cutting, me forming (with specific thrusts in sheet metal deformation), grinding, tribologica aspects of forming and machining, computer-aided design of dies for forming m and polymers, robotics and automation, metrology, data-dependent system anal industrial engineering, and environmentally conscious manufacturing. The manufacturing systems engineering program emphasizes the integration of desig materials, computers, and manufacturing with an exposure to business and engineering administration, and is particularly suitable for those who have a bac degree in mechanical, electrical, metallurgical, or chemical engineering.

Solid Mechanics Area--Emphasizes topics in mechanics and materials science. Current research activity is in mechanics of materials with microstructure, experimental mechanics, plasticity, wave propagation and dynamic fracture, biomechanics, micromechanics, ceramics, crashworthiness, polymer matrix composites, and computational mechanics.

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What do Mechanical Engineers do?

Up-Sized Tractor Variant Prototype: Elmers Crane & Dozer was formed in 1956. They currently have 15 locations in Michigans Lower Peninsula. They

This Senior Design Team won 2nd place in the Undergrad Research Expo. They developed an automatically Indexing Insert Toolholder design

have built 20 current Du-More tractor models. The current Du-More has a 1.5 yard bucket and 115 HP engine. Our team is designing a larger, more powerful and more capable tractor for Elmers Crane and Dozer, based on the current Du-More model. The new machine will incorporate existing components while preserving the functions of the existing model.

project that focused on the design, prototyping, and testing of a toolholder for turning operations. The key feature that separates this toolholder from others on the market is its ability to automatically rotate an indexable insert from a dull to fresh edge via an electrically actuated mechanism. Doing so saves significant machining downtime associated with the current method of manually indexing an insert. The projected savings in time allow the end user to reduce the costs related to machining parts, especially if the components being turned are made from hard materials that wear the insert rapidly.

Mechanical Engineers study:

Statics: How are forces transmitted to and throughout a structure? Dynamics: What are the velocities,accelerations and resulting forces for a system in motion? Kinematics: How does a mechanism behave as it moves through its range of motion? Strength of Materials: Is the component strong enough to support the loads? Is it stiff enough? Materials Science: Which material has the optimum properties? Thermodynamics : How does energy get converted to useful power? What are the losses? Fluid Mechanics: What is the pressure drop due to the fluid flow? What are the aerodynamic drag forces? Heat Transfer: How do you calculate heat transfer rates from temperature data? How do you predict the temperature distributions? Manufacturing: What manufacturing processes do you select? Machine Design: How do you synthesize all of the above? Electrical Circuits: How do you integrate electronic controls into your design? Laboratory Methods: How do you make and interpret both thermal and mechanical measurements? Vibrations: How do you predict and control vibrations? Engineering Economics: How do you estimate manufacturing costs?

Mechanical Engineers can take the following career paths:

Industry (the most common) Graduate School Entrepreneur/Business Owner Research Labs

Military Government Preparation for other Professions (law, medicine, teaching, etc.)

Mechanical Engineers are engaged in the following activities:

Conceptual design Analysis Presentations and report writing Multidisciplinary teamwork Concurrent engineering Benchmarking the competition Project management Prototyping Testing Measurements Data Interpretation Developmental design Research Work with suppliers Sales Consulting Customer service

Skills that help Mechanical Engineers to be successful in their careers:

Problem solving (The essence of engineering!) Creativity Hands-on understanding Networking Leadership/conflict resolution Knowledge management

Mechanical Engineering careers can have the following stages:

Early years - technical work most important Middle years - project management and product expert knowledge (still technical) become more important. Senior years - corporate, market, and global understanding become important.

Communication and team skills remain important throughout.