Overview

“Diversity” is the key word when it comes to Mechanical Engineering. There are many fields in which Mechanical engineering plays a role: automated manufacturing, environmental control, transportation, biomedical fields, computer fields, fossil fuel and nuclear power…the list goes on and on. Mechanical Engineers are concerned with imagining and implementing programs and devices that improve our world and our movement in it. A Mechanical Engineering major’s designing endeavors are diverse, from tiny measuring instruments to huge aircraft carriers or power plants. They also are involved with testing, evaluating, distributing, and marketing the devices they and their colleagues create.


If the all of these challenges appeal to you, Mechanical Engineering might be a major to consider. As with other engineering programs, your course of study may include one or more semesters of a co-operative education program, in which you will be employed full-time with an appropriate company. A co-operative is a great way to put your knowledge to use, and often times your co-op job leads to post-graduation employment.

SAMPLE CURRICULUM

  • Electronic Devices

  • Engineering Graphics and Programming

  • Kinematics

  • Materials Science

  • Math courses such as Calculus and Analytic Geometry

  • Mechanical Design

  • Science courses such as Chemistry and Physics

  • Statics and Strength of Materials

  • Thermodynamics


HIGH SCHOOl PREPARATION

Science and math courses will be most helpful if you’re looking towards a Mechanical Engineering major. Try to take higher-level courses if they’re offered, like calculus and any AP classes. And no matter how much you get teased, go to science fairs and other scientific competitions. Be that geek whose entries always win. Nothing prepares you for a Mechanical Engineering major better than taking the things you learn in your chemistry and physics classes and putting them to practical use