What can you do with a Mechanical Engineering Degree?
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Whether you’re a high school student who is interested in pursuing a career as a mechanical engineer, or you’re already working in the industry and are looking to improve your skills and qualify for a promotion, earning an engineering degree can help you reach your goals.
Whether you’re a high school student who is interested in pursuing a career as a mechanical engineer, or you’re already working in the industry and are looking to improve your skills and qualify for a promotion, earning an engineering degree can help you reach your goals.
Earning your degree from an accredited university will give you an advantage when competing for jobs or promotions, because employers know that they can count on you having the knowledge and ability to do your job well. If you’re looking into getting your mechanical engineering degree online, make sure that the program is accredited by ABET.
Mechanical engineers work in all kinds of environments, ranging from medical laboratories to big oil companies. They are responsible for research, design, development and manufacturing of all kinds of machinery and mechanical systems.
Holding an engineering degree can open many doors for you and help you reach your goals. As a mechanical engineer, you’ll get to work in all kinds of environments, ranging from medical laboratories to big oil companies. You’ll be responsible for research, design, development and manufacturing of all kinds of machinery and mechanical systems. Although mechanical engineers do not perform their roles in isolation, they collaborate with other professionals including other engineers and scientists.
For those who want to become a mechanical engineer but don’t know where to start, we have the answers for you! Read on below as we cover the types of jobs that await people who hold this specific qualification.
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Mechanical engineers do not perform their roles in isolation; rather they collaborate with other professionals including other engineers and scientists. They also need to communicate effectively with non-professionals including managers, clients and customers.
As a mechanical engineer, you would work as part of a team and must therefore be able to work well with others and have good communication skills. You will also be expected to give presentations, contribute ideas at meetings and write reports.
A bachelor’s degree may be enough for entry level jobs but advancement will become difficult without graduate level qualifications. Being a mechanical engineer requires plenty of creative thinking and problem solving abilities, organizational skills and technical acumen.
While a bachelor’s degree is required for entry-level jobs, earning a master’s degree will provide greater opportunities for advancement. To stay competitive in the field and maintain upward mobility, you should consider earning an advanced degree.
A mechanical engineering degree requires plenty of creative thinking and problem solving abilities as well as organizational skills and technical acumen. If you have an interest in practical work with a creative flair, mechanical engineering offers the perfect blend of artistry and design. Technical aptitude is also important, so ensure you have good communication skills along with strong analytical skills.
Careers in Mechanical Engineering
1. Mechanical engineering project manager
As a project manager, you will be responsible for managing the design, development and manufacturing of mechanical products. This would include responsibility for keeping projects completed on time and within budget as well as ensuring that projects are completed safely. You may also be responsible for hiring and training employees to complete assigned tasks.
2. Senior mechanical engineer
The second career option on our list is a senior mechanical engineer. Like the first choice, this job requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and can have different job titles and specialties. If you have a professional license like PE (professional engineer), you will be more likely to get higher salaries as well as more promotions. As an added bonus, potential employers may offer to pay for the test.
What do they do?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a Senior Mechanical Engineer “perform difficult engineering work planning designing developing testing and supervising the manufacturing of mechanical devices equipment systems or processes.” They might also “conduct research into the feasibility design operation or performance of mechanisms machines and systems,” or “design test or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment machinery components products or systems for commercial industrial military or scientific use.”
3. Mechanical engineering building services engineer
Mechanical engineering building services engineers are those guys who take care of things in your building. They come in handy when you want to do something that requires some machine parts or when your toilet won’t stop running.
Mechanical engineers build and design machines for every industry; mechanical engineering building services engineers often work on making all the machines in a building work properly, from elevators and escalators to dishwashers, laundry machines, and dustpans. Mechanical engineering building services engineers can often be found working with industrial machinery such as boilers, steam engines, large centrifuges, industrial cranes, and air conditioning systems.
4. Automotive engineer
Automotive engineers conduct research to develop new ideas and technologies in manufacturing motor vehicles. They are typically employed by the automotive industry, but can also be found working at universities, in government agencies and engineering companies.
The work of an automotive engineer is similar to that of a mechanical engineer but is specifically focused on motor vehicle design and production. Like a mechanical engineer, an automotive engineer may be involved in many aspects of the design and development process, from initial concept designs to testing a prototype or finished product.
What they do: Automotive engineers use computer-aided design (CAD) software to develop ideas for new vehicles or parts. They then test prototypes to make sure they function according to design. Some engineers work on developing alternative fuel sources for automobiles, including hybrid technology and biofuels.
5. Mechanical project design engineer
As a mechanical project design engineer, you’ll work with engineers, designers and production staff to design and develop mechanical products that meet the requirements of a given brief. You’ll take initial specifications from clients and prepare detailed proposals, including outline designs. Your role will include research, design, analysis, testing and manufacture of products such as engines, tools or machines.
Mechanical project design engineers usually work in the manufacturing industry, but can also work in the construction (particularly within building services engineering), energy and transport sectors.
You may need to give presentations at conferences or meetings with other specialists involved in your projects. These could be internal meetings between service groups within your company, or external meetings with other companies involved in the project. You might also be required to attend trade fairs and exhibitions to keep up-to-date with new developments in your field.
6. Maintenance engineer
# 6. Maintenance engineer
You’d be responsible for maintaining and repairing equipment, specifically in a manufacturing environment. This may involve doing preventative maintenance, setting up the equipment, or diagnosing and fixing problems.
- Skills you’ll need: problem solving, practical skills, good communication skills
- Education/qualifications required: diploma or degree in mechanical engineering, registration as a professional engineer
Most importantly, anyone considering becoming a mechanical engineer should have strong analytical skills, a curious mind and an interest in practical work.
Mechanical engineers are responsible for the design, development and testing of a huge variety of machines and devices. Mechanical engineering is a versatile career that can take you into many diverse industries, so it’s important that you enjoy working with your hands and relish learning new things.If you want to become a mechanical engineer, you should:
- Have strong analytical skills – mechanical engineers must be able to analyse complex problems in order to create solutions.
- Have an inquisitive mind – as well as being able to problem solve, they need creativity to come up with innovative solutions in a given situation.
- Be interested in practical work – mechanical engineers use a range of tools and techniques throughout their careers.
US Universities of mechanical engineering degree
Stanford University
The Stanford University program is designed to provide a comprehensive education in mechanical engineering. The department’s graduate program is designed to provide a comprehensive education in mechanical engineering, including original research and thesis work. The department is a major center for interdisciplinary research, with strengths in such diverse areas as bioengineering and fuel cells.
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of the best colleges for mechanical engineering in the US. MIT is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was founded in 1861. MIT is a research university with an enrollment of 4,547 undergraduate and 6,944 graduate students.
MIT ranks #1 in mechanical engineering colleges by “U.S. News & World Report.” They have a 73% acceptance rate, 90% graduation rate, and an average SAT score between 1,400-1,520. The tuition fee for attending MIT is $46,704 per year for residents and $48,702 per year for nonresidents. If you are looking to earn your undergraduate or graduate degree in engineering then MIT should be on the top of your list!
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
The University of Michigan (U-M) is one of the top public universities in the world. U-S News & World Report ranked it number eight on its list of top public schools and number 29 overall for national universities. It’s also ranked number five on Forbes’ list of best value colleges and number 22 on Niche’s list of best colleges in America. U-M is also well known for having a vibrant campus community, contributing to its high ratings from Niche, Forbes and U-S News & World Report.
U-M’s mechanical engineering program has more than 250 faculty members, and they’re all leaders in their fields. The school recognizes that students need to be ready to enter the workforce as soon as they graduate, so it offers extensive career development services through its offices of career development and corporate relations. You’ll also have access to an extensive alumni network—more than 10 million strong—that can help you find a job after graduation.
Carnegie Mellon University
If you’re interested in pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, Carnegie Mellon University offers both a bachelor’s and master’s program. One of the great things about CMU is that it’s a private research university located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA—so you’ll have the benefit of living in a small college town while still getting to experience the perks of being so close to the city!
As with many schools, CMU allows their undergraduates to specialize within their degree by offering minors or concentrations. The school also offers dual degrees so that students can combine their studies across departments. As an example, if you’re interested in learning more about business practices and how they relate to your engineering education, you could consider earning both a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering as well as an Engineering and Public Policy minor.
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Georgia Institute of Technology
The degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering is a research degree. Students admitted to the master’s program must have an earned bachelor’s degree from an ABET-accredited undergraduate program or the equivalent, i.e., the basic requirements for one of these undergraduate degrees.
For admission to the doctoral program, students must meet the same requirements as for master’s students and also demonstrate exceptional ability and preparation in engineering or science with evidence of scholarly aptitude.
Students who are admitted to either program without a graduate minor field will be required to take 6 credit hours of approved graduate courses outside their major field, 3 credit hours at the 7000 level and 3 credit hours at the 8000 level. If a student has a graduate minor field approved by his/her advisory committee, there is no additional requirement for taking courses outside his/her major field.
Caltech
California Institute of Technology, located in Pasadena, California is also called Caltech. The annual tuition and fees for the school are $42,362. The average salary after graduation from the school is $70,600. Notable alumni include George Stephanopoulos (ABC News host), Robin Williams (comedian) and Frank Gehry (architect).
Purdue University West Lafayette
Purdue University is known for its engineering degree programs. In fact, it’s one of the most selective schools in the country–the acceptance rate is only 57%. If you’re not able to get into Purdue right out of high school and you need a few years to raise your GPA and test scores, their “bridge program” will allow you to attend another college first. Once your grades have improved, you can then apply to transfer into Purdue.
The four-year graduation rate at Purdue University West Lafayette is 83%, so it seems that many students choose a more leisurely pace than the typical four-year path.
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin, Cockrell School of Engineering
Experience the power of engineering in the heart of downtown Austin. The Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin has been a global leader in technology-driven innovation for more than 125 years. With nearly 14,000 students enrolled in 10 undergraduate and 13 graduate degree programs, we are one of the largest engineering schools in the nation. Our unique proximity to industry makes us a destination for top employers looking to hire our graduates and collaborate with our faculty on research projects that are changing the world.
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech is a public, land-grant university with a main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. The school was founded in 1872 as an agricultural and mechanical college and was named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. Over the years, the school’s name changed to simply Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) before becoming Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1970.
The university offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees through its eight colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences; Architecture and Urban Studies; Engineering; Liberal Arts & Human Sciences; Natural Resources & Environment; Pamplin College of Business; Science; Veterinary Medicine.
There are 25,869 undergraduate students enrolled at Virginia Tech for the fall 2017 semester.
Best mechanical engineering schools
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Stanford University
- Northwestern University
- University of California – Berkeley (UCB)
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Purdue University – West Lafayette
- Cornell University
- Columbia University in the City of New York
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