Mechanical engineering for beginners

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Discussion Overview

The discussion focuses on the technical skills required for mechanical engineering students, particularly the necessity and utility of programming skills. Participants share their experiences and suggestions regarding programming languages and software tools relevant to the field.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the necessity of programming skills for mechanical engineering, suggesting that it may not be essential to know much programming to complete a degree.
  • Another participant notes that programming, particularly in MATLAB, can be beneficial for simulating problems in statics and that their curriculum includes MATLAB courses.
  • A different participant emphasizes the usefulness of programming skills for understanding iterative optimization methods in numerical methods classes, sharing their experience with C++ and Java.
  • One participant suggests that having basic programming experience is generally helpful for engineering degrees and reassures the original poster that their current skills are sufficient.
  • Another participant recommends learning MATLAB and SolidWorks, mentioning that peers in their lab are familiar with MATLAB, Excel, and AutoCAD.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying opinions on the necessity of programming skills, with some suggesting it is beneficial while others argue it may not be essential. There is no consensus on the specific programming languages or tools that are most advantageous.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference specific software and programming languages, but there is no agreement on a definitive set of skills required for all mechanical engineering students. The discussion reflects individual experiences and curricular differences across institutions.

Who May Find This Useful

Students considering a mechanical engineering degree, current mechanical engineering students, and educators in engineering programs may find this discussion relevant.

mechgen
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hey there! Sorry, if my post comes as one those repeated over and over but then here it is:
I'm MechE student in freshman year and I'm looking forward to getting started with all the stuff that it encompasses...As such I was wondering what technical skills are required for a mechanical engineer. Do we guys need programming skills?...if not exhaustively then what and how?


P.S: I am sufficiently proficient in C/C++ programming and it would help if you could tell if learning any more of such languages (Python, JAVA, FORTRAN etc.) would come in handy?
 
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In general, it's not that necessary to know much programming to get through a mechanical engineering degree. That said, you can certainly simulate a lot of problems from statics with simple MATLAB programming. My curriculum requires a couple of MATLAB courses, but other universities are different.

I've done a few things with MATLAB, but much more so I rely on my previous experience working on cars and then industrial equipment to understand what's going on. Even for the most analytically minded of us, there's no substitute for hands on work. In your case, since you are already proficient in a couple of languages, leaning more languages doesn't really round out your skills. I'd suggest doing something that's outside of your current strengths. More tools in the toolbox means more to use in solving a problem.
 
I found programming skills to be useful for understaing better the iterative optimization methods in the numerical methods class. When I started college I had taken C++, and ended up taking 3 Java classes as tech electives in addition to my degree (the similarities between Java and C++ made this very easy).

I think having some basic programming experience can be helpful for any engineering degree, and it sounds like you've got enough to be good to go.
 
I too am in my freshmen year of engineering. I am taking intro to Fundamentals of Engineering this Fall term. In my lab there are a few guys who know how to use matlab, excel, and autocad. I suggest you try to learn how to use MATLAB solid works as much as you can.

We will being going over excel's program and some other program I can't think of right now...
 

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