3 answers
Tre'Beon
Student
Laurinburg, North Carolina
10
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What Are The Requirements To Become A Mechanical Engineer
To Find Out What I Need To Do #engineering
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3 answers
Taylor Zhao
Program Manager
144
Answers
Seattle, Washington
Updated
Taylor’s Answer
Hey Tre'Beon!
Becoming a mechanical engineer will require at least an undergraduate degree (4 years of college usually). You have to learn things like heat transfer, solids, dynamics, etc. etc. Although you need a college degree, you can start much earlier! Look for internship opportunities at local companies, do research in the field of mechanical engineering (you can build robots or model heat/stress maps on stuff), or even just shadow a mechanical engineer. There's no issue with cold emailing/calling to find a job in that area.
Good luck with your search!
Becoming a mechanical engineer will require at least an undergraduate degree (4 years of college usually). You have to learn things like heat transfer, solids, dynamics, etc. etc. Although you need a college degree, you can start much earlier! Look for internship opportunities at local companies, do research in the field of mechanical engineering (you can build robots or model heat/stress maps on stuff), or even just shadow a mechanical engineer. There's no issue with cold emailing/calling to find a job in that area.
Good luck with your search!
Shawn Noble
Mechanical Engineer
26
Answers
Naperville, Illinois
Updated
Shawn’s Answer
The short answer to your question is: You must possess any internal curiosity/desire to understand how/why things work and the tenacity to continue life-long learning.
While all of the above answers are true about the required fields of study. What needs to be understood is at the core an internal curiosity/desire to understand how things work and why is absolutely required. Without this internal curiosity and tenacity to continue learning throughout life, one may pass all of the requisite education, graduate with honors, and not become a good engineer. Sounds somewhat harsh, I know. But take a look around at good engineers you know or those engineers and scientists found in the History books. DaVinci, Edison, Curie, Timonshenko, Einstein, and others all were driven to success by this internal curiosity and tenacity to continue learning. These examples are not meant to make you feel lesser for not achieving their level of success; rather; these are only examples. For me, the good engineers I saw around me didn't make it into the History books, but they did have this inner curiosity. The curiosity was seen in their hobbies, activities, daily lives, and what they read. For example, the lawn mower is broken or not working at its best. Instead of replacing it with a new one, these engineers would tear it down methodically to figure out what was wrong and how it could be rebuilt to prevent the same issue(s) from reoccurring. They might wonder how electric vehicle development at a technical level is advancing and procure technical journals for "pleasure" reading; in spite of, not being employed in a field remotely affiliated with electric vehicles. Some have implanted hardware in their bodies which requires replacement returned to them for engineering failure analysis. In each case, curiosity starts the activity.
I hope this helps you understand the underlying requirements to become a good engineer/scientist as it is not what is published in the Core Curriculum at any University.
While all of the above answers are true about the required fields of study. What needs to be understood is at the core an internal curiosity/desire to understand how things work and why is absolutely required. Without this internal curiosity and tenacity to continue learning throughout life, one may pass all of the requisite education, graduate with honors, and not become a good engineer. Sounds somewhat harsh, I know. But take a look around at good engineers you know or those engineers and scientists found in the History books. DaVinci, Edison, Curie, Timonshenko, Einstein, and others all were driven to success by this internal curiosity and tenacity to continue learning. These examples are not meant to make you feel lesser for not achieving their level of success; rather; these are only examples. For me, the good engineers I saw around me didn't make it into the History books, but they did have this inner curiosity. The curiosity was seen in their hobbies, activities, daily lives, and what they read. For example, the lawn mower is broken or not working at its best. Instead of replacing it with a new one, these engineers would tear it down methodically to figure out what was wrong and how it could be rebuilt to prevent the same issue(s) from reoccurring. They might wonder how electric vehicle development at a technical level is advancing and procure technical journals for "pleasure" reading; in spite of, not being employed in a field remotely affiliated with electric vehicles. Some have implanted hardware in their bodies which requires replacement returned to them for engineering failure analysis. In each case, curiosity starts the activity.
I hope this helps you understand the underlying requirements to become a good engineer/scientist as it is not what is published in the Core Curriculum at any University.
Omar Harfouche
Consulting
2
Answers
Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia
Updated
Omar’s Answer
Hi Tre'Beon,
Mechanical Engineering is a very broad field where you can add value or create products in various industries.
The actual courses and work load will be difficult and heavy throughout university; however, the kind of exposure you will get is very impactful.
The process is usually 4 years of college:
- The 1st year revolves around maths, introductory engineering courses, general mechanical engineering exposure.
- The 2nd and 3rd year involves detailed mechanical fundamentals, electrical engineering courses and computer programming. A few examples would be; Thermodynamics, mechanics, fluids (mechanical); Electric circuits (electrical which can lead you to a robotics path); Matlab and C++ programming languages that play a role in both mechanical and electrical courses.
- 4th year would usually entail your Final Year Project and additional courses that you get to choose based on where your interest lies. It could be following the Robotics path or Thermodynamics path. Your Final Year Project would usually differ across professors; mine for example was building a mechanical camera track.
I am a mechanical engineer and to give you a quick idea of what you can do; I have worked in construction as a site engineer, a business analyst in a logistics tech startup, and sales engineer in renewable energy.
The possibilities are endless. Make sure you put in the work and enjoy the journey!
Mechanical Engineering is a very broad field where you can add value or create products in various industries.
The actual courses and work load will be difficult and heavy throughout university; however, the kind of exposure you will get is very impactful.
The process is usually 4 years of college:
- The 1st year revolves around maths, introductory engineering courses, general mechanical engineering exposure.
- The 2nd and 3rd year involves detailed mechanical fundamentals, electrical engineering courses and computer programming. A few examples would be; Thermodynamics, mechanics, fluids (mechanical); Electric circuits (electrical which can lead you to a robotics path); Matlab and C++ programming languages that play a role in both mechanical and electrical courses.
- 4th year would usually entail your Final Year Project and additional courses that you get to choose based on where your interest lies. It could be following the Robotics path or Thermodynamics path. Your Final Year Project would usually differ across professors; mine for example was building a mechanical camera track.
I am a mechanical engineer and to give you a quick idea of what you can do; I have worked in construction as a site engineer, a business analyst in a logistics tech startup, and sales engineer in renewable energy.
The possibilities are endless. Make sure you put in the work and enjoy the journey!