Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest and most versatile engineering fields, offering a wide variety of career paths and opportunities. It involves applying math and science to solve practical problems through research, design, development, testing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. The document outlines the broad scope and high employment potential of mechanical engineering careers. It discusses why mechanical engineering is a rewarding field that allows one to work on challenging problems, benefit society, and gain financial stability and respect. The document provides an overview of common mechanical engineering coursework and lists government, research, and industry sectors that hire mechanical engineers.

1. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
M . Raja Reddy, Ph.D.

2. Mechanical Engineering - Overview
• One of the broadest of all engineering disciplines
• Wide choice of career options in many specialties
• High employment potential
• Challenging and fulfilling work
• Involves application of science and maths to create solutions
for practical problems
• Concerned with research, design, development,
manufacturing, construction, installation, operation and
maintenance of engineering systems, machinery, equipment,
tools, devices, components, ranging from rocket engines to
medical instruments.
“Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.”
-James A. Michener

3. Why study ME?
 Best paid jobs, comfortable life and respect in the society
 Job satisfaction
• Global career – works with different worlds on common flat form
• Important to find a career you enjoy.
 Variety of career opportunities
 Challenging work
• Problems will be open-ended
• No single answer to solve complex problems
• No answer in the back of the book
• No teacher to tell you that you are right or wrong
• You find a solution and persuade others that yours is the best one.
 Respect
• People know that engineering requires hard work and strong
technical skills. As a member of this profession, you will receive a
high amount of respect

4. Why study ME?
 Intellectual development
• Develops your ability to think logically and to solve problems
 Benefit to society
• You can choose projects that benefit society
• Cleaning the environment – safe carbon free
• Developing prosthetic aids for disabled persons
• Finding new sources of energy
 Financial security
• You will be well paid and Engineering graduates receive the highest
starting salary of any discipline
 Prestige
• Sustain our nation's international competitiveness
• Maintain our standard of living
• Ensure a strong national security
• Protect public safety.

5. Why study ME?
 Professional environment
• You will work in a professional environment in which you will be
treated with respect and have some freedom in choosing your work.
 Creative thinking
• We are in a time of rapid technological changes, therefore, the need
for engineers to think creatively is greater than ever before.
 Technological and scientific discovery
• Do you know why the Nano technology changing so fast?
• You have multiple problems to solve?
• An engineering education can help you understand many things in
the world Mechanical engineering.

6. Typical Subjects
 Statics: how are forces transmitted in a structure?
 Dynamics: velocities, accelerations, and forces for a system in
motion?
 Kinematics: how a mechanism behaves as it moves through its
range of motion?
 Strength of materials: is it strong enough? is it stiff enough?
 Material Science: which material has the optimum properties?
 Thermodynamics: how does energy get converted to useful
power? what are the losses?
 Fluid Mechanics: what is the pressure drop due to the fluid
flow? what are the drag forces?
 Heat Transfer: how to calculate heat transfer rates from
temperature data?
 Manufacturing: what manufacturing processes do you select?
 Machine Design: how do you synthesize all of the above?
 Vibrations: how do you predict and control vibrations?
 Engineering Economics: how do you estimate manufacturing
costs?

8. Steps in Career Planning

9. Different Roles, Different Names
 Research and Development (R&D): Engineers whose role is to do
research and then plan for new products, materials, process,
parts and components
 Design & Development: Professionals whose responsibility is to
design the system, components, or part of the system
 Production: Engineers who supervise the manufacturing of
electrical and electronic components and machines.
 Analysis and testing: Engineers who analyse and test different
types of machines and their parts to ensure that they function
flawlessly.
 Installation: Professionals who install electrical machines,
instruments and parts at the client location.
 Operation &Maintenance: Engineers whose primary role is to
ensure that machinery is working as per specifications.

10. Where to find job opportunities?
 Government departments, Railways
 Technical wings of Armed Forces
 Research organizations (ISRO, DRDO, DAE, CSIR, DST)
 Academic institutions (universities, engineering colleges)
 Public and private sector industries:
Aerospace, automobile, chemical, nuclear, steel & metals,
oil exploration & refining, power plants, manufacturing of
all kinds of machinery and equipment.
 Other opportunities:
Technical consultation, marketing and sales of engineering
products, engineering management, software development

11. Current Landscape: Holistic view
Aero
Engines
Aerospace
& Defence Energy Industrial O&G Transportation Healthcare
Electronic
equipment
Design/ CAD x x x x x x x x
Material Science x x x x x x x x
Engineering Software x x x x x x x x
CAE x x x x x x x x
Manufacturing x x x x x x x x
Prototyping & Testing x x x x x x x x
Field Engineering x x x x x x x x
Product services x x x x x x x x
Consulting x x x x x x x x
Business administration x x x x x x x x
Technical Writing x x x
►Sectors v/s Functions
• Advanced Technologies at a Glance
• Nanotechnology & MEMS – Micro/Nano devices, materials, processes,
mechanics, systems
• Robotics, Rapid Prototyping
• Biotechnology – Computational Bioengineering, Functional Tissue
Engineering

12. Major Players
•Pratt &
Whitney
•Rolls Royce
•GE
•HAL
•BELL
Helicopters
•Volvo Aero
•Snecma
•Honeywell
•Boeing
•Airbus
• Lockheed
Martin
• Boeing
• Airbus
• Goodrich
• All DRDO
Labs
• Bombardier
• Northrop
Grumman
• General
Dynamics
• GKN
•GE
•Siemens
•Alstom
•MHI
•Rolles Royce
•Toshiba
•Schnieder
Electric
•Suzlon
•Vestas
•Sun Power
•Ocean Power
•Shell
•GE
•Chevron
•Exxon Mobil
•BP
•Conoco
Phillips
•Haliburton
•Schlumberger
Aero
Engines
Aerospace &
Defence
Energy Industrial
Oil
&Gas
• Atlas Copco
• BEML
• Caterpillar
• Hitachi
• JCB
• Doosan
• Forbes
Marshial
• L&T
• Ingersoll
Rand
• Bosch
• Thermax

13. Major Players
Electronic
Equipment
Consulting
Engineering
SoftwareHealthcareTransportation
• GE Rail
• All Major
Auto
companies
• GE
• Siemens
• Philips
• Toshiba
• Applied
Materials
• Philips
• ABB
• Samsung
• Novelus
• ACME
• Siemens
• Hyperworks
• PTC
• TRIAD
• ANSYS
• Geometric
• GOODRICH
• TCS
• Infotech
• Rolls Royce
• Mckinsey
• BCG
• PWC
• Black &
Vetach
• KPMG

14. Non-engineering jobs
 Logistics
 Operations management
 Patent law and intellectual property
 Procurement, purchasing and buying
 Supply chain management
 Teaching, academia and lecturing
 Technical consulting
 Technical sales, marketing, business development
 Technical training

15. Pay Packet
 ME graduates fetch salaries from Rs 20,000 – 25,000 in the beginning.
 After gaining +2 years of work experience, you can get a salary of Rs
40000 - 60000.
 Candidates who get opportunities to work in overseas project get
numerous benefits and incentives which may even go to six figures.
 However, the salary depends upon some factors such as the state of the
industry, work experience, qualifications and ability of the candidate,
etc. amongst others.
 ME graduates who are in teaching can fetch a salary of >Rs 20000 plus
dearness allowances and other benefits.

16. Skills Map

17. Why focus on practical knowledge?
 There is a gap between engineering course content and the
requirements of the engineering services industry
 Engineering education system imparts knowledge on various
technical/non-technical areas, it often falls short of meeting the
expectations of the real world.
 One reason for this gap is a fundamental lacuna in the engineering
education framework. This is the only profession where an individual
goes from an academic programme directly into a job, with no prior on-
the-job training.
 “Getting fresh graduates ramped up quickly to productivity is a key
concern across the industry, graduates sometimes take six months to a
year to become productive.
 When fresh graduates enter the working environment, they have lots of
theoretical knowledge which is redundant, rather than the necessary
practical knowledge.”
 Most of our institutions and universities lag behind the rest of the world
in research output.”

18. Why Do an Internship?
 Gain Work Experience: First and foremost, internships and co-ops help you
gain experience. Classroom knowledge is important and makes you
competitive for internships, but practical knowledge in an industry is what
attracts employers.
 Create a Competitive Edge in the Job Market: This is probably the biggest
advantage. The experience you gain will give you a very competitive edge
when you start your job search. You will have concrete examples of work
experience to discuss during your interview. A guaranteed question during an
interview will be about your work history and internship experience.
 Networking Opportunities: One of the most popular ways of finding a job
is through networking. Doing an internship significantly increases your
networking opportunities by connecting you with professionals in your
chosen field. Networking also allows you to develop references who can
attest to your abilities.
 Job Transition: What better way is there for an employer to test a potential
employee than through an internship? This “try-before-you-buy” approach is
a significant advantage for the employer and can easily lead to a full-time job.
Successful interns are frequently offered permanent employment at their
internship site after graduation.

19. Why Do an Internship?
 Decide if a Field is Right for You: You can research the industry, but
there is no more effective way of finding out if you like something than
actually doing it. You also get all of your questions answered by industry
professionals while being immersed in the field.
 Apply Classroom Knowledge to the Real World: Preparing
academically for your career shows your intelligence and ability to learn,
but internships give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge to the
real world and develop your qualifications.
 Develop your Resume and Build Confidence: A robust application
(often a resume and cover letter) and a powerful interview are ultimately
what set successful candidates apart in the job search process. Internships
help you prepare both by giving you the experience and skills to build a
strong resume and the confidence to give an outstanding interview. When
you discuss your knowledge, skills and abilities, you will speak from
experience, not conjecture.

20. Scope for Higher Education
 Aerodynamics
 Aerospace Propulsion &
Aerospace Structure
 Computer aided designing
 Design Engineering
 Dynamics & Control
 Hydraulics
 IC engines
 Industrial Engineering
 Machine Design
 Manufacturing Engineering
 Mechanical Handling and
Automation
 Mechanical Systems Design
 Metallurgical Engineering
 Production Engineering
 Refrigeration and air
conditioning
 Thermal and Fluids
Engineering
 Master of Business Application
(MBA)
 M.Phil
 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

21. Final advise
 Many opportunities – plan your focused area
 Work on both mini and major projects
 Get the deep insight of the technology
 Write papers for reviewed journals, conferences
 Volunteer speaking on your specialized area
 Read, Read and Read
 Do not postpone the activity and try to finish on the defined
date.
 Work in the team for the project and share the ideas
 Be sincere, hard work and with good attitude
 Look for clarification if you have doubt.
 Get one or two internship projects with industry

22. All the best