Executive summary by Wikipedia
Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest and broadest engineering disciplines. It requires a solid understanding of core concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and energy. Mechanical engineers use the core principles as well as other knowledge in the field to design and analyze motor vehicles, aircraft, heating and cooling systems, watercraft, manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, robotics, medical devices and more.
COURSEWORK. Standards set by each country's accreditation society are intended to provide for uniformity in fundamental subject material, promote competence among graduating engineers, and to maintain confidence in the engineering profession as a whole. Engineering programs in the U.S., for instance, are required by ABET to show that their students can "work professionally in both thermal and mechanical systems areas."[9] The specific courses required to graduate, however, may differ from program to program. Universities will often combine multiple subjects into a single class or split a subject into multiple classes, depending on the faculty available and the university's major area(s) of research. 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
• engineering design
• mechatronics and control theory
• drafting, CAD (usually including solid modeling), and CAM.[10][11]
Mechanical engineers are also expected to 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 concepts which may include differential equations and partial differential equations, linear and modern algebra, and differential geometry, among others. 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.[12] Most mechanical engineering programs also require varying amounts of research or community projects to gain practical problem-solving experience. Mechanical engineering students usually hold one or more internships while studying, though this is not typically mandated by the university.
THERMODINAMICS AND THERMO-SCIENCE. Thermodynamics is an applied science used in several branches of engineering, including mechanical and chemical engineering. At its simplest, thermodynamics is the study of energy, its use and transformation through a system. Typically, engineering thermodynamics is concerned with changing energy from one form to another. As an example, automotive engines convert chemical energy (enthalpy) from the fuel into heat, and then into mechanical work that eventually turns the wheels. Thermodynamics principles are used by mechanical engineers in the fields of heat transfer, thermofluids, and energy conversion. Mechanical engineers use thermo-science to design engines and power plants, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, heat exchangers, heat sinks, radiators, refrigeration, insulation, and others.
DRAFTING. Drafting or technical drawing is the means by which mechanical engineers create instructions for manufacturing parts. A technical drawing can be a computer model or hand-drawn schematic showing all the dimensions necessary to manufacture a part, as well as assembly notes, a list of required materials, and other pertinent information. A U.S. mechanical engineer or skilled worker who creates technical drawings may be referred to as a drafter or draftsman. Drafting has historically been a two-dimensional process, but computer-aided design (CAD) programs now allow the designer to create in three dimensions. Instructions for manufacturing a part must be fed to the necessary machinery, either manually, through programmed instructions, or through the use of a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) or combined CAD/CAM program. Optionally, an engineer may also manually manufacture a part using the technical drawings, but this is becoming an increasing rarity, with the advent of computer numerically controlled (CNC) manufacturing. Engineers primarily manually manufacture parts in the areas of applied spray coatings, finishes, and other processes that cannot economically or practically be done by a machine. Drafting is used in nearly every subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, and by many other branches of engineering and architecture. Three-dimensional models created using CAD software are also commonly used in finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
FRONTIERS OF RESEARCH. 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 (see also exploratory engineering).
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 this 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.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. ^ Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
2. ^ http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9105842/engineering, accessed 06 May 2008
3. ^ R. A. Buchanan. The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Feb., 1985), pp. 42–60
4. ^ ASME history, accessed 06 May 2008.
5. ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07, engineering, accessed 06 May 2008
6. ^ ABET searchable database of accredited engineering programs, Accessed June 19, 2006.
7. ^ Accredited engineering programs in Canada by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, Accessed April 18, 2007
8. ^ Types of post-graduate degrees offered at MIT - Accessed 19 June 2006.
9. ^ 2008-2009 ABET Criteria, p.15.
10. ^ University of Tulsa Required ME Courses - http://www.me.utulsa.edu/Undergraduate.html - Accessed 19 June 2006
11. ^ Harvard Mechanical Engineering Page - Accessed 19 June 2006
12. ^ Mechanical Engineering courses, MIT. Accessed 14 June 2008.
13. ^ "Why Get Licensed?". National Society of Professional Engineers. http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/WhyGetLicensed/index.html. Retrieved on May 06.
14. ^ "Engineers Act". Quebec Statutes and Regulations (CanLII). http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/i-9/20050616/whole.html. Retrieved on July 24.
15. ^ "Codes of Ethics and Conduct". Online Ethics Center. http://onlineethics.org/codes/. Retrieved on July 24.
16. ^ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Engineering - http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings - Accessed 19 June 2006
17. ^ http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/engineering/mechanical-engineering-major.htm - Website cites NACE and Dept. of Labor as sources, but was unable to verify. Accessed 19 June 2006
18. ^ Mechanical Engineers on jobfutures.ca - Accessed June 30, 2007
19. ^ Note: fluid mechanics can be further split into fluid statics and fluid dynamics, and is itself a subdiscipline of continuum mechanics. The application of fluid mechanics in engineering is called hydraulics and pneumatics.
20. ^ ASM International's site containing more than 20,000 searchable documents, including articles from the ASM Handbook series and Advanced Materials & Processes
FURTHER READING
• Burstall, Aubrey F. (1965). A History of Mechanical Engineering. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-52001-X.
Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest and broadest engineering disciplines. It requires a solid understanding of core concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and energy. Mechanical engineers use the core principles as well as other knowledge in the field to design and analyze motor vehicles, aircraft, heating and cooling systems, watercraft, manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, robotics, medical devices and more.
COURSEWORK. Standards set by each country's accreditation society are intended to provide for uniformity in fundamental subject material, promote competence among graduating engineers, and to maintain confidence in the engineering profession as a whole. Engineering programs in the U.S., for instance, are required by ABET to show that their students can "work professionally in both thermal and mechanical systems areas."[9] The specific courses required to graduate, however, may differ from program to program. Universities will often combine multiple subjects into a single class or split a subject into multiple classes, depending on the faculty available and the university's major area(s) of research. 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
• engineering design
• mechatronics and control theory
• drafting, CAD (usually including solid modeling), and CAM.[10][11]
Mechanical engineers are also expected to 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 concepts which may include differential equations and partial differential equations, linear and modern algebra, and differential geometry, among others. 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.[12] Most mechanical engineering programs also require varying amounts of research or community projects to gain practical problem-solving experience. Mechanical engineering students usually hold one or more internships while studying, though this is not typically mandated by the university.
THERMODINAMICS AND THERMO-SCIENCE. Thermodynamics is an applied science used in several branches of engineering, including mechanical and chemical engineering. At its simplest, thermodynamics is the study of energy, its use and transformation through a system. Typically, engineering thermodynamics is concerned with changing energy from one form to another. As an example, automotive engines convert chemical energy (enthalpy) from the fuel into heat, and then into mechanical work that eventually turns the wheels. Thermodynamics principles are used by mechanical engineers in the fields of heat transfer, thermofluids, and energy conversion. Mechanical engineers use thermo-science to design engines and power plants, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, heat exchangers, heat sinks, radiators, refrigeration, insulation, and others.
DRAFTING. Drafting or technical drawing is the means by which mechanical engineers create instructions for manufacturing parts. A technical drawing can be a computer model or hand-drawn schematic showing all the dimensions necessary to manufacture a part, as well as assembly notes, a list of required materials, and other pertinent information. A U.S. mechanical engineer or skilled worker who creates technical drawings may be referred to as a drafter or draftsman. Drafting has historically been a two-dimensional process, but computer-aided design (CAD) programs now allow the designer to create in three dimensions. Instructions for manufacturing a part must be fed to the necessary machinery, either manually, through programmed instructions, or through the use of a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) or combined CAD/CAM program. Optionally, an engineer may also manually manufacture a part using the technical drawings, but this is becoming an increasing rarity, with the advent of computer numerically controlled (CNC) manufacturing. Engineers primarily manually manufacture parts in the areas of applied spray coatings, finishes, and other processes that cannot economically or practically be done by a machine. Drafting is used in nearly every subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, and by many other branches of engineering and architecture. Three-dimensional models created using CAD software are also commonly used in finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
FRONTIERS OF RESEARCH. 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 (see also exploratory engineering).
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 this 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.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. ^ Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
2. ^ http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9105842/engineering, accessed 06 May 2008
3. ^ R. A. Buchanan. The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Feb., 1985), pp. 42–60
4. ^ ASME history, accessed 06 May 2008.
5. ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07, engineering, accessed 06 May 2008
6. ^ ABET searchable database of accredited engineering programs, Accessed June 19, 2006.
7. ^ Accredited engineering programs in Canada by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, Accessed April 18, 2007
8. ^ Types of post-graduate degrees offered at MIT - Accessed 19 June 2006.
9. ^ 2008-2009 ABET Criteria, p.15.
10. ^ University of Tulsa Required ME Courses - http://www.me.utulsa.edu/Undergraduate.html - Accessed 19 June 2006
11. ^ Harvard Mechanical Engineering Page - Accessed 19 June 2006
12. ^ Mechanical Engineering courses, MIT. Accessed 14 June 2008.
13. ^ "Why Get Licensed?". National Society of Professional Engineers. http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/WhyGetLicensed/index.html. Retrieved on May 06.
14. ^ "Engineers Act". Quebec Statutes and Regulations (CanLII). http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/i-9/20050616/whole.html. Retrieved on July 24.
15. ^ "Codes of Ethics and Conduct". Online Ethics Center. http://onlineethics.org/codes/. Retrieved on July 24.
16. ^ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Engineering - http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings - Accessed 19 June 2006
17. ^ http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/engineering/mechanical-engineering-major.htm - Website cites NACE and Dept. of Labor as sources, but was unable to verify. Accessed 19 June 2006
18. ^ Mechanical Engineers on jobfutures.ca - Accessed June 30, 2007
19. ^ Note: fluid mechanics can be further split into fluid statics and fluid dynamics, and is itself a subdiscipline of continuum mechanics. The application of fluid mechanics in engineering is called hydraulics and pneumatics.
20. ^ ASM International's site containing more than 20,000 searchable documents, including articles from the ASM Handbook series and Advanced Materials & Processes
FURTHER READING
• Burstall, Aubrey F. (1965). A History of Mechanical Engineering. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-52001-X.
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