.Mechanical Engineers: Math Used & Work Explained

[PhysicsHigh]

For engineers, specifically Mechanical engineers, what kind of math do you use daily and why? Could you also state what kind of work you do.

Thanks a lot

If you do some other engineering work I would not mind to hear from you as well

 

[fasterthanjoao]

It would be helpful if you hint as to what you hope to actually get out of this question. Mechanical engineering is a huge area, there will be applications of many more math topics than you've even heard of.

 

[PhysicsHigh]

Ok.. What is a regular day in an engineers life?

 

[Ben Espen]

I will answer both questions. I work as a medical device design engineer. This position is often filled by mechanical engineers, but you find ChemEs, and the occasional odd physicist like me. The math I use on a regular basis is algebra, trig, and simple discrete math. The statistics I do are moderately complicated, but nothing to base your dissertation on.

At typical day for me will involve a short spurt of prototyping or testing, several hours of meetings or phonecalls or otherwise attempting to keep track of the state of the project, and several hours of completing required documentation. My field is documentation heavy because of the regulatory bodies that oversee my work, such as the FDA, GMED, and the PMDA. Other kinds of engineers will typically spend much less time on paperwork than me.