What Is Mechanical Engineering?

Technically, mechanical engineering is the application of the principles and problem-solving techniques
of engineering from design to manufacturing to the marketplace for any object. Mechanical engineers
analyze their work using the principles of motion, energy, and force—ensuring that designs function
safely, efficiently, and reliably, all at a competitive cost.

Mechanical engineers make a difference. That's because mechanical engineering careers center on
creating technologies to meet human needs. Virtually every product or service in modern life has
probably been touched in some way by a mechanical engineer to help humankind.

This includes solving today's problems and creating future solutions in health care, energy,
transportation, world hunger, space exploration, climate change, and more.

Being ingrained in many challenges and innovations across many fields means a mechanical engineering
education is versatile. To meet this broad demand, mechanical engineers may design a component, a
machine, a system, or a process. This ranges from the macro to the micro, from the largest systems like
cars and satellites to the smallest components like sensors and switches. Anything that needs to be
manufactured—indeed, anything with moving parts—needs the expertise of a mechanical engineer.
Become a mechanical engineer.

What do mechanical engineers do?

What do mechanical engineers do?

Mechanical engineering combines creativity, knowledge and analytical tools to complete the difficult
task of shaping an idea into reality.

This transformation happens at the personal scale, affecting human lives on a level we can reach out and
touch like robotic prostheses. It happens on the local scale, affecting people in community-level spaces,
like with agile interconnected microgrids. And it happens on bigger scales, like with advanced power
systems, through engineering that operates nationwide or across the globe.

Mechanical engineers have an enormous range of opportunity and their education mirrors this breadth
of subjects. Students concentrate on one area while strengthening analytical and problem-solving skills
applicable to any engineering situation.
Disciplines within mechanical engineering include but are not limited to:

Acoustics

Aerospace

Automation

Automotive

Autonomous Systems

Biotechnology

Composites

Computer Aided Design (CAD)

Control Systems

Cyber security

Design

Energy

Ergonomics

Human health

Manufacturing and additive manufacturing

Mechanics

Nanotechnology

Production planning

Robotics

Structural analysis

Technology itself has also shaped how mechanical engineers work and the suite of tools has grown quite
powerful in recent decades. Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is an umbrella term that covers
everything from typical CAD techniques to computer-aided manufacturing to computer-aided
engineering, involving finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). These tools
and others have further broadened the horizons of mechanical engineering.

What careers are there in mechanical engineering?

Society depends on mechanical engineering. The need for this expertise is great in so many fields, and as
such, there is no real limit for the freshly minted mechanical engineer. Jobs are always in demand,
particularly in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, biotechnology, and energy industries.

Here are a handful of mechanical engineering fields.

In statics, research focuses on how forces are transmitted to and throughout a structure. Once a system
is in motion, mechanical engineers look at dynamics, or what velocities, accelerations and resulting
forces come into play. Kinematics then examines how a mechanism behaves as it moves through its
range of motion.

Materials science delves into determining the best materials for different applications. A part of that is
materials strength—testing support loads, stiffness, brittleness and other properties—which is essential
for many construction, automobile, and medical materials.

How energy gets converted into useful power is the heart of thermodynamics, as well as determining
what energy is lost in the process. One specific kind of energy, heat transfer, is crucial in many
applications and requires gathering and analyzing temperature data and distributions.

Fluid mechanics, which also has a variety of applications, looks at many properties including pressure
drops from fluid flow and aerodynamic drag forces.

Manufacturing is an important step in mechanical engineering. Within the field, researchers investigate
the best processes to make manufacturing more efficient. Laboratory methods focus on improving how
to measure both thermal and mechanical engineering products and processes. Likewise, machine design
develops equipment-scale processes while electrical engineering focuses on circuitry. All this equipment
produces vibrations, another field of mechanical engineering, in which researchers study how to predict
and control vibrations.

Engineering economics makes mechanical designs relevant and usable in the real world by estimating
manufacturing and life cycle costs of materials, designs, and other engineered products.

What skills do mechanical engineers need?

The essence of engineering is problem solving. With this at its core, mechanical engineering also
requires applied creativity—a hands on understanding of the work involved—along with strong
interpersonal skills like networking, leadership, and conflict management. Creating a product is only part
of the equation; knowing how to work with people, ideas, data, and economics fully makes a mechanical
engineer.

What tasks do mechanical engineers do?

Careers in mechanical engineering call for a variety of tasks.

Conceptual design

Analysis

Presentations and report writing

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Concurrent engineering

Benchmarking the competition

Project management

Prototyping

Testing

Measurements

Data Interpretation

Developmental design

Research

Analysis (FEA and CFD)

Working with suppliers

Sales

Consulting

Customer service

How much do mechanical engineers earn?

Like careers in many other engineering fields, mechanical engineers are well paid. Compared to other
fields, mechanical engineers earn well above average throughout each stage of their careers. According
to the United States Department of Labor, the mean salary for a mechanical engineer is $97,000, with
the top ten percent earning close to $136,210.

Mechanical Engineering SalariesMedian Entry-Level Salary1 Mean Annual Salary2 Top 10

Mechanical Engineering

National Labor Stats

$64,682 $97,000 $136,210

More salaries and sources.