What is Mechanical Engineering: What it Takes to Specialize in Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical Engineering is one of the most popular branches of engineering. A large number of students opt for Mechanical Engineering during the admissions processes to gain entry into the top AKTU colleges in India.

So, what exactly is mechanical engineering?

Let’s try to understand mechanical engineering from a layman’s point of view.

If you closely watch all the equipment, building materials, and moving parts around you, you will find some or the other form of mechanized working model governed by principles of mechanical engineering. In fact, mechanical engineering is much more than what we understand about tools and appliances.

To really understand what it takes to build mechanized equipment, you need to specialize in mechanical engineering. A Bachelor’s Degree (BE) or BTech degree in mechanical engineering is considered to be the stepping stone to building a career in aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, water management utilities, and energy management, infrastructure management, and much more.

Fact: Roughly 20% of *the world’s engineer population consists of professionals with Mechanical engineering degrees, the highest for any discipline.Mechanical engineering is a highly advanced application of various sciences and mathematical principles that are combined together to understand laws of thermodynamics (heat), structural analysis, electricity, fluid dynamics, materials science, metallurgy, production technologies, operations management, environmental science, computer-aided graphical designing. For many decades, a lot of research has gone into developing mechanical engineering curriculum for graduates and post-graduate students. Today, it is one of the broadest and most advanced streams of engineering that is used to develop aircraft, ships, robots, medical devices, military equipment, transport and infrastructure systems, and so on. In the modern context of building a nation using principles such as Make In India, Start-Up India, and Digital India, aktu colleges are incorporating new ideas into mechanical engineering courses and merging these with other engineering areas in composite designing, electronics, nanotechnology, and chemical engineering.

What does it take to start a career as Mechanical Engineer?

Irrespective of who you are, your career options are set during the formative years. The journey of a mechanical engineer begins very early. The first step anyone can take to become an engineer begins with opting for "Science" subjects during the high school curriculum. A solid background in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics is considered a prerequisite for starting as an engineer. The admission criteria for engineering colleges require candidates to qualify with benchmarks in these three subjects in the entrance exams. Students can enroll for degrees or diploma certificates once they qualify from their high schools or 12th board exams.

Yes, universities and colleges matter when you eventually decide to pursue mechanical engineering. Some companies prefer to see the name of specific colleges and universities in the CVs during hiring interviews. But, things are changing there for good.

What are the core subjects in Mechanical Engineering?

As a graduate pursuing a mechanical engineering degree, a candidate is required to demonstrate tangible skills in the understanding of ethical practices of engineering, Calculus, and physics, tool cutting, instrumentation, and graphics.

Fundamental subjects taught during the mechanical engineering degree course include the following:

• Advanced mathematics and statistics• Static physics and dynamics• Material sciences: strength of material and mechanics• Laws of thermodynamics, Heat transfer, combustion, and HVAC• Fuel conversion, principles of engine manufacturing and working of pumps, generators, and combustion engines• Fluid dynamics• Machine design• Quality control • Robotics• CAD/ CAM

In recent years, new subjects and specializations have been added to the core mechanical engineering curriculum to enhance the skills levels and creativity, enabling graduates to pursue their dream jobs meeting the expectations of the industries that are looking to build a "future of work." Newer streams include cryogenics, fuel development (Battery designing, nuclear power, etc), gemstone cutting and manufacturing, vibrations and optics, driverless car/ drone building, and biomechanics/ robotics for distinguished industries such as medicine, energy management, and defense services.

How to pick the best mechanical engineering college?

Degrees and Diploma certificates are offered from various universities worldwide, and AKTU colleges in India are recognized as one of the leading centers of mechanical engineering research and technical education. The mechanical curriculum that is offered by leading universities in India is more or less the same and often regulated by centralized and state-governed bodies such as AICTE.

Internships, volunteer projects, and in-house experimental projects during the UGC are valued, and if you are ready to get your hands dirty doing part-time jobs and internships shadowing the work of full-time mechanical engineers during your UGC program, you will gain valuable practical knowledge from the industry.

The use of neural networks has reinforced the scopes of machine learning. It has become almost common knowledge among people who have some interest in these matters that neural networks are designed to emulate the biological neurons.