Mechanical engineering is the most versatile and one of the oldest disciplines in engineering. They are tasked with implementing physics and mathematics to create solutions, designs, products, and testing to solve real-world problems. Almost everything you see has been touched by a mechanical engineer, from the engine in your car, to the housing of the screen you’re reading this on. So how do you know if you’d make a great engineer.
1. Passion for Mathematics and Physics
It goes without saying that it takes a lot of higher level mathematics and physics courses to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Although a lot of jobs do not require you to use most of what you learned in college, it will be very difficult to get through school if you are not interested in mathematics and physics.
There are many fields that a mechanical engineer can go into, so having a strong foundation in mathematics and physics will make it an easy transition to go from one field to another. For example, if you are not interested in the physics behind hydraulic system designs, there are many properties that are similar to designing an HVAC system for a building.
Having a passion and continued interests in mathematics and physics is critical to how well you will succeed in your career as a mechanical engineer.
2. Tinkering and Figuring Out How Things Work
Do you like building or fixing things in your garage, like a car, lawn mower, etc? Then you would make a great mechanical engineer. In my time as a mechanical engineer, I always found that the best way to learn is having hands on experience. Engineers with prior experience fabricating, fixing cars, or assembling product, in most cases have designs that are a lot more manufacturable than engineers coming straight out of school.
Because of the versatility of mechanical engineering, it is very difficult to pack everything you need to know about every field into 4 years of college. With that being said, it is your responsibility to learn on the job and figure out how things work. For example, in school we spent about 4 class periods on hydraulics. We did not learn much about hose fittings, manifolds, valves, and sensors, which all come into play while designing hydraulic systems.
Being interested in how things work and constantly seeking to learn new things will make you a great engineer in any field.
3. Organizational Skills
Organization is key to becoming a mechanical engineer. Manufacturing drawings are key to being able to create your product/machines. Although drawings/drafting are not a huge focus in school, it is one of the most very important to engineer. Drawings are used to clearly present what you have in your head/CAD model into a 2D readable print for someone else, often with no knowledge of your project, to be able to recreate in reality.
Organization also comes in when deciding how your project will go through a shop floor, or how to split your assembly prints to make it easiest for production. This is mainly in the form of manufacturing engineering, which in my experience could sometimes be harder than the actual design.
Manufacturing is 10,000% Harder than Prototypes
Elon Musk
Staying organized and having a flow to your work will save you time, money, and will make you a better engineer in the long run.
4. Being A Member/Leader Of A Team
I’ve realized that being part a team my whole life has contributed to a huge positive impact on my life. I learned how to follow, but more importantly I also learned how to lead. Whether you like it or not, being a mechanical engineer comes with leadership responsibility. People will look to you for solutions and expect them from you.
Working as an engineer in a company that also manufactures the product being designed, I found that I would also take on the role as project manager. Whenever a problem arises I would be the first call to come up with a solution to those problems. I was the intersection between the customer and manufacturing, this brings on a responsibility to give the customer what he wants, while also trying to bring in a profit for the company.
You will also have a bunch of team projects as an engineer. Gaining the experience of being on a team is indispensable not only in engineering, but in life.
5. Creativity
I would say that the first pre-requisite for becoming an engineer would be a thorough course in Legos. However, I guess now days that could be passed off to Minecraft. While playing with legos or on Minecraft, we essentially let our brains run wild and build whatever we can image with what is available to us. Although we may not be able to build “anything” we want, it is true that creativity is very important for finding solutions and aesthetics.
“Creativity is just connecting things.”
Steve Jobs
As mentioned previously, there is no way for schools to teach you everything you need to know or introduce you to every problem you will encounter. If that was the case, there would be no need for engineers, just technicians. Being able to relate a solution from one problem to help solve the next is how you get innovation and the continuing evolution of technology. Thinking outside the box and looking to past experiences rather than a text book or giving up is a good indicator that engineering is right for you.
Are you a good candidate for Mechanical Engineering?
There are many more indicators of seeing if mechanical engineering is right for you, but here are some of the main ones I’ve come across in my career as a mechanical engineer. These are qualities that once you’ve gained, you will have with you for your entire life. Having these qualities and acting on it is a good indicator that you will become a successful engineer.