Career in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineering is one of the largest, broadest, and oldest engineering disciplines. It deals with design, development, construction, production, installation, operation, functioning and maintenance of machines and all other mechanical equipment used in industries. Mechanics, energy and heat, mathematics, engineering sciences, design and manufacturing form the foundation of mechanical engineering.

Mechanical engineers are the driving force behind many of our technologies and industrial processes including innovative products like mobiles, PCs and DVD etc. They use the principles of energy, materials, and mechanics to design and manufacture machines and devices of all types. They work on power-producing machines such as electric generators, internal combustion engines, and steam and gas turbines, as well as power-using machines such as refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, elevators and escalators, and robots used in manufacturing. Apart from creating new designs of machines they also develop materials for them and new ways of making them. Thus they create the processes and systems that drive technology and industry.

Qualifications

To become a mechanical engineer one should at least have a graduate degree (B.E / B.Tech) or a diploma in mechanical Engineering.

After the bachelor's degree one can go in for a postgraduate degree (M.E). The specializations in postgraduate course include areas like thermal engineering, design, and production engineering. Postgraduate degrees are essential for most teaching posts and positions in management.

Associate Membership Examination of the Institute of Engineers (AMIE) enables working people in the private and public sector, or diploma holders to acquire a Bachelor's engineering degree through distance education.

Personal Traits

Mechanical engineers should be typically very good at math and science. You should especially enjoy working on complex problems. You should also be inquisitive, creative, innovative, and practical about how things work. At the very least, you should enjoy learning how to make things work more efficiently.

Excellent design and analytical skills, ability to conceptualize structures and a logical mind will be an added advantage while conceptualizing ideas, handling abstract concepts, and solving problems.

Organizing ability, practicality, ability to keep calm under pressure and flexibility to work in a multi disciplinary area are an asset in this field.

Since most mechanical engineers work together, you should be a team player and have excellent communication skills. This will be important when you are planning and creating new projects.

Career Options

With the rapid rate of expansion in the industrial sector, the employment potential for mechanical engineers is very high.  Mechanical engineers are employed in a wide range of industries.

Candidates with post graduate degree or an additional management degree could find work in administrative and managerial positions in government departments or public and private sector industries or do research as well as teaching in Research and teaching institutes. They could also opt for technical sales / marketing or work as independent consultants. 

Several government departments including Posts and Telegraphs, Defense, PWD, and CPWD employ mechanical engineers. Freshers could join as Junior Engineers and go up the ladder as Assistant Engineers, Assistant Executive Engineers, Executive Engineers, Superintendent Engineers and so on.

Aeronautical, agricultural, automobile, chemical, and power plants, steel plants, oil exploration and refining as well as the railways, need mechanical engineers to design and maintain their machinery. In agricultural sector, mechanical engineers play a vital role by establishing service centers for maintenance of tractors, oil engines, pump sets, electric motors and other agricultural equipments.

Employers in private sector include firms in oil, petrochemical, food manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and aerospace. You may work in design, involved in turning plans into new products or revising existing ones, or within research and development, where engineers try to find solutions to engineering problems, using new technologies. Finally, you might work in production and maintenance, designing new production processes.

Also, emerging technologies in biotechnology, materials science, and nanotechnology will create new job opportunities for mechanical engineers. Additional opportunities for mechanical engineers will arise because the skills acquired through earning a degree in mechanical engineering often can be applied in other engineering specialties as well.