Mechanical Engineering, or really Engineering as a whole, is
a field that designs new products and structures to improve people’s quality of
life. Engineering has shaped our lives,
and its overall importance can be seen in every aspect of a human’s life. Even within just the first few hours of your
day, you have encountered an uncountable amount of devices created by
engineers. The alarm clock that woke you
up in the morning, the coffee maker that brewed your morning coffee, and the
car that drove you to work are all things that engineers have designed and
created. Without Engineering our world
would have none of the luxuries or necessities that we have today.
Mechanical Engineering (ME) in particular focuses on the design
and development of mechanical components within devices. It uses the knowledge of physics, mathematics,
thermodynamics, and materials science to solve problems. This solution is accomplished by analyzing
the problem, designing a mechanical device to solve the problem, drafting
prototypes, testing, and redesigning.
Now this is still a very diverse field because almost all devices, such
as the alarm clock, coffee maker, and car mentioned earlier, have mechanical
components. This leads to their being a
large amount of sub-fields or focuses within Mechanical Engineering.
I personally became very interested in Mechanical
Engineering at a young age. As a kid,
all of my toys allowed me to build and create, and I loved being able to think
of new and creative ways to construct things.
Toys like LEGOs and K’NEX are amazing for children, and I truly believed
that they helped push me towards the career choices that I am making
today. I remember building a K’NEX
rollercoaster, and that was one of my favorite memories as a child. Now I didn’t always want to be a Mechanical
Engineer. The first job that I really
wanted to be was a construction worker.
It wasn’t until I matured a little bit that I came to the realization
that it wasn’t the physical creating that I enjoyed, but instead it was the
designing that I enjoyed.
My yearning to become a Mechanical Engineer grew even
stronger when I took part in FIRST Robotics in high school. FIRST is a national organization that lets
high school students build robots through the use of engineering. Every year FIRST creates a game with a unique
set of rules, and each high school team then creates a robot to compete in
these games. This really embodies the
heart and soul of Mechanical Engineering in a very fun and exciting way. Mechanical Engineering is about finding
problems in the world (The Game). They
then scope out what needs to be done to solve the problem, and they establish
the requirements and limitations they will face (The Rules). Finally they try to create the best
mechanical device that meets the requirements and limitations (The Robot). Mechanical Engineering is a very competitive
field, and everyone is always trying to improve upon each other’s ideas to
create the best product or device.
Overall Mechanical Engineering is a field that takes a large
amount of hard work and dedication, but the results can be very rewarding. Even earning the degree to get into the field
can be a huge challenge, and the classes are very demanding. Within the field there are numerous perks
though. Creating devices that can help
the world and hopefully doing something that you love are two of the biggest
rewards. The median salary for
Mechanical Engineers is around $80,000, and this is certainly a reward in
itself.
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