Mechanical Engineer
A mechanical engineer could...
| Design a safety harness for an upside-down amusement park ride. |
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Model the bending and twisting displayed by solar panels on a space telescope. |
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| Design surgical robots that improve precision and reduce incision size, blood loss, pain, and healing time. |
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Design carbon fiber prosthetic blades for high-speed running. |
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Key Facts & Information
| Overview | Mechanical engineers are part of your everyday life, designing the spoon you used to eat your breakfast, your breakfast's packaging, the flip-top cap on your toothpaste tube, the zipper on your jacket, the car, bike, or bus you took to school, the chair you sat in, the door handle you grasped and the hinges it opened on, and the ballpoint pen you used to take your test. Virtually every object that you see around you has passed through the hands of a mechanical engineer. Consequently, their skills are in demand to design millions of different products in almost every type of industry. | |
| Key Requirements | Creative, analytical, mathematical, with a hands-on understanding of the world, as well as excellent communication skills | |
| Minimum Degree | Bachelor's degree | |
| Subjects to Study in High School | Biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, geometry, algebra II, pre-calculus, calculus; if available, statistics, applied technology | |
| Median Salary |
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| Projected Job Growth (2014-2024) |
More Slowly than Average (3% to 6%)
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Education and Training
You generally need at least a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering to enter this field. It takes four or five years to earn a bachelor's degree in engineering. Some programs include periods of work experience along with formal classes. Many engineers go on to obtain advanced degrees in a specialized field of engineering or business administration. Engineers often continue their education throughout their careers to remain aware of new developments in their field. Most employers encourage engineers to take formal courses that help engineers to improve their job performance. Some even pay the cost of tuition for these courses. In addition, mechanical engineers read and study professional and trade journals.
Engineers whose work affects life, health, or property or who offer their services to the public must be licensed by the state in which they work. They generally need a degree from an approved engineering college, about four years of work experience as an engineer, and a passing grade on a state examination before being licensed as a professional engineer.
Other Qualifications
Engineers should be creative, inquisitive, analytical, and detail oriented. They should be able to work as part of a team and to communicate well, both orally and in writing. Communication abilities are becoming increasingly important as engineers frequently interact with specialists in a wide range of fields outside engineering.
Nature of the Work
Engineers apply the principles of science and mathematics to develop economical solutions to technical problems. Their work is the link between scientific discoveries and the commercial applications that meet societal and consumer needs.
Mechanical engineers research, design, develop, manufacture, and test tools, engines, machines, and other mechanical devices. Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines. Engineers in this discipline work on power-producing machines such as electric generators, internal combustion engines, and steam and gas turbines. They also work on power-using machines, such as refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, machine tools, material handling systems, elevators and escalators, industrial production equipment, and robots used in manufacturing. Mechanical engineers also design tools that other engineers need for their work. In addition, mechanical engineers work in manufacturing or agriculture production, maintenance, or technical sales, and many become administrators or managers.
Work Environment
Mechanical engineers spend part of their time in clean, well-lighted office buildings. At other times they work at construction sites or in noisy factories. Working conditions vary widely since mechanical engineers are employed in so many different kinds of jobs. Their basic workweek is usually forty hours. Overtime is necessary in some jobs, especially when project deadlines must be met.
On the Job
- Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, and computer-generated reports.
- Confer with engineers and other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, and provide technical information.
- Research and analyze customer design proposals, specifications, manuals, and other data to evaluate the feasibility, cost, and maintenance requirements of designs or applications.
- Specify system components or direct modification of products to ensure conformance with engineering design and performance specifications.
- Research, design, evaluate, install, operate, and maintain mechanical products, equipment, systems and processes to meet requirements, applying knowledge of engineering principles.
- Investigate equipment failures and difficulties to diagnose faulty operation, and to make recommendations to maintenance crew.
- Assist drafters in developing the structural design of products using drafting tools or computer-assisted design (CAD) or drafting equipment and software.
- Provide feedback to design engineers on customer problems and needs.
- Oversee installation, operation, maintenance, and repair to ensure that machines and equipment are installed and functioning according to specifications.
- Conduct research that tests and analyzes the feasibility, design, operation and performance of equipment, components and systems.
- Recommend design modifications to eliminate machine or system malfunctions.
- Develop and test models of alternate designs and processing methods to assess feasibility, operating condition effects, possible new applications and necessity of modification.
- Develop, coordinate, and monitor all aspects of production, including selection of manufacturing methods, fabrication, and operation of product designs.
- Estimate costs and submit bids for engineering, construction, or extraction projects, and prepare contract documents.
- Perform personnel functions such as supervision of production workers, technicians, technologists and other engineers, or design of evaluation programs.
- Solicit new business and provide technical customer service.
- Establish and coordinate the maintenance and safety procedures, service schedule, and supply of materials required to maintain machines and equipment in the prescribed condition.
- Study industrial processes to determine where and how application of equipment can be made.
- Write performance requirements for product development or engineering projects.
- Apply engineering principles and practices to emerging fields such as robotics, waste management, and biomedical engineering.
- Design test control apparatus and equipment and develop procedures for testing products.
Source: BLS
Companies That Hire Mechanical Engineers
Explore what you might do on the job with one of these projects...
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Try your hand at this engineering challenge. Can you build a "launcher" device to launch a ball as far as possible and a "receiver" to catch it? Building a receiver provides an extra twist to a traditional catapult project. Add to the challenge by using a limited set of materials to build your machine and calculate a score based on your throw distance and materials used.
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Do you want to trick friends and visitors with an amazing optical illusion? In this engineering design project you will learn how to build an infinity mirror,with built-in lights that make the mirror look like a deep tunnel with no end. But pick the mirror up and look behind it, and you will see that it is only a couple of inches thick! Read this project to find out not only how this illusion works, but how to design and build your very own infinity mirror from scratch.
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How can you make a train without wheels? By using magnets! In this project you will build a magnetic levitation ("maglev" for short) train that floats above a magnetic track. How much weight can you add to the train before it sinks down and touches the track?
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This is a really fun project even if you don't like going on roller coasters yourself. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much of an initial drop is required to get the marble to "loop the loop." It's a great way to learn about how stored energy (potential energy) is converted into the energy of motion (kinetic energy).
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Have you ever ridden on a carousel, or a merry-go-round, at an amusement park? On a carousel, you usually get to take a seat on a wooden horse or other animal that spins around and around as the carousel is turned on and powered by electricity. Another smaller type of carousel that people can have in their homes is a candle carousel, which is powered by heat from candles. In this science project, you will get to make your own candle carousel and investigate how the spinning speed of the…
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Do you like drawing or painting? What if you could build a robot that creates its own art? In this project, you will create your own Art Bot, a robot with markers for "legs" that wobbles across a piece of paper, creating drawings as it moves. You can then customize your robot to change how it draws. This is a beginner-level project with no robotics experience necessary, so if you want to try building your own robot, this is a great place to start!
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If you'd like to investigate the physics of amusement park rides, then this project is for you. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much the marble's potential energy at the beginning of the track is converted to kinetic energy at various points along the track.
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Have you ever noticed that when you drop a basketball, its bounce does not reach the height you dropped it from? Why is that? When a basketball bounces, such as on a basketball court, its bounce actually loses momentum by transferring energy elsewhere. This means that to dribble the basketball, players must continually replace the transferred energy by pushing down on the ball. But what happens to the "lost" energy? As we know from physics, energy is not really lost, it just changes form. One…
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The funny thing about friction is that you couldn't get anywhere without it, yet it still acts to slow you down as you're getting there. Here is an easy project to measure the effects of friction.
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Alternative energy sources are a big deal these days. One such source is the wind. Find out how a wind turbine can use the power of the wind to generate energy in this science fair engineering project. You'll design various blades to find out which produces the most energy, and put the wind to work for you!
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What can you do with magnets and ball bearings that makes a lot of noise? Why, build a magnetic linear accelerator, called a Gauss rifle, of course! Now, this magnetic accelerator is not a weapon, but a way for you to learn a lot more about physics concepts, like momentum. In this physics science project, you will investigate how far a ball bearing launched by a Gauss rifle will fly, depending on how many magnetic acceleration stages are in the setup and the ball bearing's initial velocity.…
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Have you ever wanted to build your very own robot from scratch? Bristlebots are a cheap, easy, and fun-to-build robot made from the head of a toothbrush, a battery, and a small motor. Once completed, they buzz along the top of a table like bugs. How can you make a bristlebot go faster? In this project, you will build bristlebots from two different types of toothbrushes, and race them against each other to find out.
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Every day, no matter where you are, you will see people using their cell phones. People use their cell phones for
more than just making calls though. They use them for texting and searching the Internet, too. But some health groups
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If you have ever been shot with a rubber band then you know it has energy in it, enough energy to smack you in the arm and cause a sting! But just how much energy does a rubber band have? In this experiment you will find out how the stretching of a rubber band affects the amount of energy that springs out of it.
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Earth is an amazing planet. It has everything that we need: food, shelter, and water. Sure, we need water to drink, but have you thought about using water to create energy? Moving water has a lot of energy and all we need to do is to harness it. Moving water made the Grand Canyon. That took a lot of energy! In this science fair project, you will demonstrate the power of water by converting the kinetic energy in moving water to mechanical energy, which will lift a small weight.
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Look around you. What types of objects do you see in the room? Furniture, lights, a computer, a fan, pencils, books, etc.? Where did they come from? Odds are you did not build them yourself. You or your parents probably bought them at a store. Before that, they were built in a factory somewhere. And even before that, they were probably designed by engineers. You might think of engineers when you think of complex machines like rockets or huge structures like bridges, but engineers also design…
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3... 2... 1... 0— blastoff! In this science project, you will use a bottle rocket launcher to launch your own bottle rocket. You will load it with water and pressurized air, make several launches, and find out what makes your rocket soar the highest.
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Imagine how cool it would be to build a robot hand that could grasp a ball or pick up a toy. In this
robotics engineering project, you will learn how to use drinking straws, sewing thread, and a little
glue to make a remarkably lifelike and useful robot hand. What will you design your robot hand to do?
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Amaze your friends and family by moving water with just a few turns of your wrist! Nope, it's not a magic trick. It's simply an Archimedes screw. In this science project, you will build a very simple pump, called an Archimedes screw, to transfer water from a low-lying location to a higher location.
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Ask Questions
Do you have a specific question about a career as a Mechanical Engineer that isn't answered on this page? Post your question on the Science Buddies Ask an Expert Forum.
Additional Information
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers: https://www.asme.org/
Sources
- BLS. (2019). Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2019 Edition, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- O*Net Online. (2019). National Center for O*Net Development. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- Career Corner Digital. (2008, March 17). Mechanical Engineer: A Day in the Life. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
- WGBH Educational Foundation. (2008). Pete Gosselin. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
- Net Industries. (2009). Mechanical Engineer Job Description, Career as a Mechanical Engineer, Salary, Employment - Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
Additional Support
We'd like to acknowledge the additional support of:
- Medtronic
- Northrop Grumman
- Seagate
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