Mechanical Engineering’s Top Ten Achievements
6. Integrated-circuit mass production. The electronics industry has developed remarkable technologies for miniaturizing integrated
1.5 T YPICAL P ROGRAM OF S TUDY
As you begin to study mechanical engineering, your program will most likely include the following four components:
• General education courses in the humanities, social sciences, and fi ne arts • Preparatory courses in mathematics, science, and computer programming • Core courses in fundamental mechanical engineering subjects
• Elective courses on specialized topics that you fi nd particularly interesting After completing the core curriculum, you often will have the fl exibility to build an individualized program of study through elective courses in such fi elds as aerospace engineering, automotive engineering, computer-aided design, manufacturing, biomedical engineering, and robotics, among other fi elds.
The major topics in a typical mechanical engineering curriculum are shown in Figure 1.19. While the topics are allocated into separate branches, the mechanical engineering curriculum is becoming an integrated system with interrelationships among many of the courses, topics, and knowledge
Figure 1.19
Hierarchy of topics and courses studied in a typical mechanical engineering curriculum.Mechanical engineering
Design process
Contemporary issues
Professional practice
Manufacturing sciences
Mechanical systems
Thermal-fluids engineering
Fluid mechanics
Energy systems
Heat transfer System
requirements Innovation Decision making
Technical problem-solving
Communication skills
Cyber and digital engineering tools Statics and forces Machine
components Global
Economic
Social
Environmental
Materials and stresses
Motion and dynamics Innovation
and design
Engineering sciences and analysis
1.5 Typical Program of Study 25
areas. At the heart of being a mechanical engineer are innovation and design. An important place to start your study is to understand that the design of products, systems, and processes is how mechanical engineers impact the social, global, environmental, and economic challenges in the world. Engineers are relied on to be creative not only in solving technical problems in innovative ways, but to fi nd and to pose these problems in novel ways.
Knowledge of innovation and design will require the study of how a design process is structured, including the following topics:
• The development of system requirements from a variety of system stakeholders
• The generation of innovative concept alternatives and the effective selection and realization of a fi nal design
• Principles of sound decision making applied to the multitude of trade- offs involved in a product development process
In addition, knowledge of contemporary and emerging issues is critical to design products and systems that will sustain and transform lives, communities, economies, nations, and the environment. Of course, because of the direct impact mechanical engineers have on potentially billions of lives, they must be outstanding professionals of the highest character. To become such a professional, you will learn the following skills:
• Sound technical problem-solving skills
• Effective practices in technical communications (oral presentations, technical reports, e-mails)
• The latest digital and cyber-enabled tools to support engineering design processes
Instruction on innovation and design would not be complete without some fundamental understanding of the processes required to physically realize products. This includes course materials focused on the manufacturing sciences and on how products actually get built, produced, and assembled.
Providing the foundation for the curricular components of innovation and design are the core engineering sciences and analysis. A series of courses focus on mechanical systems, including modeling and analyzing the components of mechanical devices (e.g., gears, springs, mechanisms). These core courses usually include the following issues:
• Understanding the forces that act on machines and structures during their operation, including components that move and those that do not • Determining whether structural components are strong enough to
support the forces that act on them and what materials are the most appropriate
Innovation and design
Engineering sciences and analysis
• Determining how machines and mechanisms will move and the amount of force, energy, and power that is transferred between them
Another series of courses focus on thermal fl uid principles, including modeling and analyzing the behavior and properties of thermodynamic and fl uidic systems. These core courses usually include the following issues:
• The physical properties of liquids and gases and the drag, lift, and buoyancy forces present between fl uids and structures
• The conversion of energy from one form to another by effi cient power generation machinery, devices, and technologies
• Temperature control and the management of heat through the processes of conduction, convection, and radiation
Along with formal study, it is also important to gain experience through summer employment, internships, research projects, co-op programs, and study- abroad opportunities. Those experiences, as well as courses completed outside the formal engineering program, will greatly broaden your perspective of the role that engineering plays in our global societies. Increasingly, employers are looking for engineering graduates who have capabilities and experiences above and beyond the traditional set of technical and scientifi c skills.
Knowledge of business practices, interpersonal relationships, organizational behavior, international cultures and languages, and communication skills are important factors for many engineering career choices. For instance, a corporation with overseas subsidiaries, a smaller company that has customers in foreign countries, or a company that purchases instrumentation from an overseas vendor will each value engineers who are conversant in foreign languages. As you plan your engineering degree, choose electives, and perhaps prepare for a minor degree. Pay attention to those broader skills.
The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET.
http://www.abet.org/) is an organization formed by over two dozen technical and professional societies, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ABET endorses and certifi es almost 3000 engineering programs at more than 600 colleges and universities across the United States through their accreditation process. ABET has also begun accrediting international engineering programs. The board has identifi ed a set of skills that new engineering graduates are expected to have, which are useful benchmarks for you to consider while monitoring progress during your studies:
a. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering. Since World War II, science has been a mainstay of engineering education, and mechanical engineering students have traditionally studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
b. An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data. Mechanical engineers set up and perform experiments, use state-of- the art measurement equipment, and interpret the physical implications of the test’s results.
Gaining experience
1.5 Typical Program of Study 27
c. An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.This skill is the core of mechanical engineering. Engineers are trained to conceive solutions to open-ended technical problems and to prepare a detailed, functional, safe, environmentally friendly, and profi table design.
d. An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams. Mechanical engineering is not an individual activity, and you will need to demonstrate the skills necessary to interact effectively with others in the business community.
e. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems. Engineering is fi rmly based on mathematical and scientifi c principles, but it also involves creativity and innovation to design something new. Engineers are often described as problem solvers who can confront an unfamiliar situation and develop a clear solution.
f. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility. Through your courses and personal experiences, you will see that engineers have a responsibility to act professionally and ethically. Engineers need to recognize ethical and business confl icts and resolve them with integrity when they arise.
g. An ability to communicate effectively. Engineers are expected to be competent in both written and verbal communication, including the presentation of engineering calculations, computations, measurement results, and designs.
h. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global economic, environmental, and societal context. Engineers create products, systems, and services that potentially impact millions of people across the globe. A mechanical engineer who is aware of that context is able to make sound technical, ethical, and career decisions.
i. A recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in lifelong learning.
“Educate” does not mean to fi ll up with facts; rather, it means to “bring out.” Therefore, your intellectual growth should continue to bring out new knowledge and understanding long after you graduate.
j. A knowledge of contemporary issues. Engineers need to be aware of social, global, environmental, economic, and political developments that are of current importance, since they provide the context for the technical problems that a society faces and that engineers are expected to solve.
k. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. This skill is based in part on using computer- aided engineering software tools and the ability to think critically about numerical results.
Outcomes (a) and (b) are attained by learning the core engineering science and mathematics fundamentals throughout the mechanical engineering
curriculum, which are introduced for you in Chapters 4–8. Outcomes (c), (h), and (j) are addressed in Chapters 1 and 2 and will also be part of other mechanical engineering courses, including upper-level design courses. Some of the computer-aided design and manufacturing tools that are discussed in Chapter 2 are also relevant to outcome (k). In Chapter 3, we focus directly on preparing you to attain outcomes (e) and (g), which are critical to preparing you to be a successful engineering professional, ready to design, create, innovate, study, analyze, produce, and impact lives in a dynamic and global society. You will have opportunities to develop skills and understanding to address outcomes (d), (f ), and (g) throughout your curriculum.