Mechanical Engineering

From The Unofficial Guide to Engineering

Table of contents

1 What is Mechanical Engineering?

2 What careers are available in Mechanical Engineering?

3 Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley

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What is Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical engineering is the art and science of the design and synthesis of mechanical components and systems. The activity of mechanical engineers extends from the manufacture and evaluation of products to the investigation of physical phenomena governing the behavior of our surroundings and technical and societal processes.

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What careers are available in Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical engineers work in many industries with many functions. Some specialize in energy systems, applied mechanics, automotive design, manufacturing, materials, plant engineering and maintenance, pressure vessels and piping, and heating, refrigeration, and air-conditioning systems. Operating in one of the broadest engineering disciplines, mechanical engineers may work in production operations in manufacturing or agriculture, maintenance, or technical sales; many still are administrators or managers. Mechanical engineers held about 215,000 jobs in 2002. More than half of the jobs were in manufacturing—mostly in machinery, transportation equipment, computer and electronic products, and fabricated metal products manufacturing industries. Architectural, engineering and related services, and the Federal Government provided many of the remaining jobs.¹

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Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley

Currently, U.S. News&World Report ranks both graduate and undergraduate programs fourth in the nation. Classes in Mechanical Engineering are relatively small, allowing students to become easily acquainted with faculty and each other. This exciting environment provides numerous opportunities for cultural enrichment, personal development, and recreation for the hard-working engineering student.

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The Program

During the first two years, coursework emphasizes mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing, materials, statics and graphics -- much of this in common with the other engineering curricula.

In the last two years, the emphasis is on mechanics of solids and fluids, thermodynamics, heat transfer manufacturing, design and controls; instrumentation, experimentation and system synthesis. The requisite laboratory course in the senior year is the cornerstone of the curriculum. Students may also participate in group design projects or research projects as part of their program. Specialization may be pursued through a wide selection of technical elective courses, double major programs and programs jointly offered by other departments.

Technical elective courses allow specialization in the following fields: applied mechanics, automatic controls, electro-mechanical systems, energy conversion, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, manufacturing systems and materials processing, mechanical design, cryogenics, thermodynamics, robotics and automation, biomedical and environmental engineering, ocean engineering, and nuclear engineering.

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Student Comment

“Mechanical engineering is one of broadest topics on campus. One of the things I like most about it is you get a little taste of everything. Then if you want to focus, you can do so in your technical electives. It includes everything from thermodynamics to fluid mechanics, materials to bio-engineering. Some of the classes are like extensions of Physics 7a and 7b. Some use lots of math and programming. Some look at the manufacturing. While I believe the diversity is the majors biggest plus, it can also be one of its biggest downfalls. There were so many classes I wanted to take in the major, and yet I couldn't fit them all in my schedule without taking way too many classes a semester. Secretly, that's why I stuck around for grad school: so I could take more classes.” - Trent Russi (Class of 2004)

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Works Cited

1. “Mechanical engineers,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition, Nuclear Engineers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos036.htm (visited October 25, 2004).

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