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"Design engineers typically create something new - anything from a kitchen blender to a locomotive engineer. System engineers usually work to optimize, maintain, or upgrade existing systems - anything from power plant to medical drug production."

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I'm a 2006 grad mechanical engineer. My freshman year, I thought the exact same thing... what does a mechanical engineering do? These days I think more along the lines of "what doesn't a mechanical engineer do". I realize that's a bold statement, but bear with me.

I would say there are a two main categories mechanical engineers in the real world:

Design Engineers

System Engineers

Design engineers typically create something new - anything from a kitchen blender to a locomotive engineer. System engineers usually work to optimize, maintain, or upgrade existing systems - anything from power plant to medical drug production.

Engineering in general is using science and math to predict the behavior of something. That something can be a chemical reaction (ChemE's), an electrical circuit (EE's), a physical product (ME's), or a complex system (ME's, EE's, ChemE's, etc).

As I design engineer, I am given a design problem. I work with a cross-functional team (yes, the much hated teamwork they give you in school is just practice for the real word) to determine how to solve the problem. I then design my solution based on the fundamental engineering principles that I have learned and the experience that I have gain. I build it, test it, and then improve it before it goes to production. Sometimes due to schedule constraints, all of my improvements cannot be incorporated, thus I must make decisions based on schedule and product performance.

Keeping in mind, that I work at a much smaller company, my role as a mechanical engineer is much bigger. Day to day, my job involves design meetings, quiet design work at my desk, building prototypes with my hands (awesome!), testing the prototype to failure (MORE AWESOME!), working with vendors to manufacture my prototypes, traveling the world to manufacturing facilities to ensure my design is implemented properly.

In larger companies, the mechanical design engineer's role is smaller. They may only design, or only test, or only travel to manufacturing facilities, etc. Regarding company size, it's good to know if you want to be a small part of something big (think Boeing , and how awesome planes are), or a big part of something small (thing headphones, pens, pencils, and other small things).

I've never done system engineering, but I know many who have. This is more of optimization a system. For example, there are many thermodynamic cycles that go on in a power plant. By monitoring the changes in these cycles (temperature, pressure, vibration, etc), you can predict what has gone wrong in the system before you get into the system to fix it - and sometimes you can do this before something catastrophically breaks causing downtime. Imagine you car, based on a small change in sound or vibration, you can pinpoint that your transmission is about to fail before it fails. Now, you can schedule a time to get it fixed rather than having your transmission fail on your way to a really important meet, or a hot date. Now imagine doing the same thing for large systems, where down time doesn't mean missing a date, but instead missing the opportunity to make a lot of money.

If you look at almost any industry, a mechanical engineer is involved. Medical, consumer, industrial, commercial. Typically, if you can touch it, a mechanical engineer was involved. This makes mechanical engineering really broad and appealing to almost any personal interest... which is AWESOME! I love audio, I always have. Thus I have steered my mechanical engineering degree towards the audio world. I have designed headphones, speakers, and subwoofers and loved every bit of it. If I had done the same work, let's say for a toaster company, I would not have loved my job as much because... as much as I enjoy toast, I don't love toasters they way I love audio.

Get your ME degree and during the long hours of Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Fluids (ewww), and kinetics, figure out what you really love. Where do you dream of working? Chances are, they need a mechanical engineer. Steer your electives and your internships in that direction and land you dream job when you graduate!

Last updated Sep 15 at 10:51

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What do mechanical engineers do on a day-to-day basis?

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I'm a 2006 grad mechanical engineer. My freshman year, I thought the exact same thing... what does a mechanical engineering do? These days I think more along the lines of "what doesn't a mechanical engineer do". I realize that's a bold statement, but bear with me.

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The median annual Civil Engineer  salary is $65,929 with a range usually between $60,351-$74,413.

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civil engineer i unemployment insurance benefits compensation unemployed salary range job search career education salaries employee assessment performance review bonus negotiate wage change advice california new york jersey texas illinois florida

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Civil Engineer I Salaries by education, experience, location and more - Salary.com

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View salary range, bonus & benefits information for Civil Engineer I jobs in the United States or search by specific US and Canadian cities and towns. View open positions, job Descriptions and other statistics related to Civil Engineer I jobs.

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To be an engineering you need a bachelor's Degree and if you chooses to work in public you must be  licensed. equirements include completing an accredited program and passing a series of exams.

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Engineers in the United States need a bachelor's degree in engineering. Engineers who work with the public are also required to become licensed. Licensure requirements include completing an accredited program and passing a series of exams. Schools offering Computer Engineering degrees can also be found in these popular choices .

Engineer Job Description

The specific duties of an engineer differ by discipline, but, in general, engineers design, test or build materials, equipment or systems. For instance, electrical engineers may develop or test electrical equipment while civil engineers may oversee the design and construction of bridges, airports or roads. Chemical engineers design equipment or processes related to the production of food, chemicals and other products, and mechanical engineers are responsible for developing, testing and manufacturing mechanical devices.

Important Facts About Engineers

Median Salary (2014)

$75,780 ( for architecture & engineering occupations)

Key Skills

Strong mathematical foundation, critical and analytical thinking, problem solving, observation, clear communication, good judgment and decision making

Work Environment

Primarily full-time with extra hours needed to ensure project success

Similar Occupations

Architects; cartographers; photogrammetrists; drafters; electro-mechanical technicians; landscape architects; surveyors

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Job Requirements

The requirements to become an engineer typically include a bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, though a master's degree may be needed for advancement in some fields. Engineers who wish to become licensed to work with the public must complete a program that is accredited by ABET (formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) and meet the state requirements for licensure.

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering

Bachelor of Science programs are available in a variety of disciplines, but all typically include the education and training needed to perform general engineering practices in the field of your choice. Programs typically include a combination of math and science courses, along with coursework specific to the area of study. B.S. degree programs are available in the areas such as the following:

Aerospace engineering

Agricultural engineering

Biomedical engineering

Chemical engineering

Civil engineering

Computer engineering

Conservation engineering

Electrical engineering

Environmental engineering

Health and safety engineering

Industrial engineering

Material engineering

Mechanical engineering

Nuclear engineering

Licensing Requirements

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), many entry-level engineering positions do not require state licensure. However, earning the credential increases opportunities, particularly in leadership and management. After you earn an undergraduate degree accredited by ABET, you'll then need to complete a 2-part state licensure examination. After passing the first part of the test, you'll need to build some experience through an internship or supervised training. Following that, you may take the second part of the test to become a Professional Engineer (PE). Most states require continuing education for license renewal.

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what are the requirements for becoming an engineer in the u.s.?

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What Are the Requirements for Becoming an Engineer in the U.S.?

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Engineers in the United States need a bachelor's degree in engineering. Engineers who work with the public are also required to become licensed. Licensure requirements include completing an accredited program and passing a series of exams. Schools offering Computer Engineering degrees can also be found in these popular choices .

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Being an engineer is about making a diffrence in the world no matter how small the diffrence is.

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Albert Einstein, one of the world's greatest scientists, hit the nail right on the head when he pondered the question 'what is engineering?'.

In simple terms, engineers identify a problem, and come up with a solution - often creating something completely new in the process.

Traditionally, engineering is about infrastructure. Engineers were known to create bridges and vehicles that got us from A to B faster more efficiently. Now engineering is acknowledged as a discipline that opens up opportunities and creates technology and products that help make our lives easier.

Engineers are shaping the future by applying their skills to almost everything you can think of, from medicine to renewable energy, food technologies to sustainable mining. There really is no limit to what engineers can do.

Inspiring the next generation of female engineers: Debbie Sterling at TEDxPSU

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Albert Einstein, one of the world's greatest scientists, hit the nail right on the head when he pondered the question 'what is engineering?'. In simple terms, engineers identify a problem, and come up with a solution - often creating something completely new in the process.