Exploring Mechanical Engineering: Pros, Cons, and Job Opportunities

[brewAP2010]

I'm currently a senior in high school who is wondering about the difference between some fields of engineering. I'm taking AP Calculus, and AP physics. Mechanical Engineering is my top choice as of right now I'm wondering what the pros and cons of the job is, as well as the difficulty of the material that I would be studying, and if i will be adequately prepared? I was also wondering if i do decide to pursue a mechanical engineering degree what are some job opportunities? Any information will be helpful.

 

[chingkui]

What is your career goal and what do you like to do? Why do you pick ME?

 

[hotvette]

A good start is to understand what kinds of gadgets you envision working with. I went into ME because I liked airplanes, cars, and propulsion. A guy I know chose ME beause he loved trains. Also, it's important to realize that every product area has it's stars. I worked in a chemical plant one summer as an ME and realized very quickly (duh) that the ChE's are the big stars whereas ME's were part of the support team.

 

[brewAP2010]

yea i love cars and airplanes, i also am really into music, but i don't really think there is much engineering in music...and yea i understand the whole stars thing...i just figured since i love math and physics engineering was the right field for me and mechanical engineering was the first one to catch my attention.

 

[Ben Espen]

There is some engineering in music, but it is mostly on the EE side. Be aware this is a much smaller job field than ME in general. ME is the the most general field of engineering. You can work on anything from bridges to rockets with an ME background. The companies that recruit at a particular school can give you a good idea of what you might end up doing if you graduate from that institution.

If you want to design cars or airplanes, ME is an excellent choice. GM and Boeing hire mechanical engineers for that purpose. It is pretty difficult to be specific about the pros and cons of the job because the field is so broad. The details will depend upon the specific position, company, and your coworkers. You can probably expect a desk job involving the use of CAD software of some sort, and perhaps the use of MATLAB or something similar.

Without more information, it is not possible for me to tell whether you will find the material in ME hard or whether you are well-prepared. Your guidance counselors can assist you with this. Make them earn their pay. The best I can say is that ME relies upon a solid foundation of mathematical and physical reasoning, so your ability to understand these subjects at the university level will be related to your performance in ME classes.

 

[brewAP2010]

Yea I have taken a CAD class already, i really liked it, and i am somewhat familiar with the software...and thank you so much this has been a really huge help.

 

[dav2008]

An interesting thing to try would be to get out to an engineering career fair at a university (and if you can sneak/convince yourself in), and just talk to companies and ask what mechanical engineers do at their company.

 

[brewAP2010]

ok, i'll look into that, thank you for the advice.