Manufacturing > Design

[LXR]

Maybe more of a retarded rambling but most mechanical engineers always want to go into design. You see this in every field, turbomachinery, aircrafts, rockets, vehicles etc. But the truth is that any competent mechanical engineering degree will teach you design and how to apply the principles practically. Design software is cheaper than manufacturing equipment like CNC mills and lathes. Manual machining course are shit in most colleges. CNC is even shittier. What happens is that most mechanical engineers graduate with a functioning idea of design and access to software so they feel ready for industry/grad school. But most of them will never be competent at manufacturing shit.

The big problem with this is that if you dont understand machining, casting, forging and welding you'll never design stuff that is manufacturable. Its like cooking up a rocket that is impossible to fly.

TLDR :- its easy to come up with designs but to make them people need apprenticeships in reputed machine shops/foundries to understand how things are actually made

 

[LXR]

Another problem is that manufacturing is degraded as low class profession in almost every country, but manufacturing is not restricted to making bolts and fasteners. Even the chips in your phones have to be manufactured and the equipment for manufacturing that shit is just as complicated as the chips themselves if not more. Those equipment need micron level tolerances which is why iterations in design are so slow

 

[LXR]

Bump

 

[diarrhetic]

Maybe more of a retarded rambling but most mechanical engineers always want to go into design. You see this in every field, turbomachinery, aircrafts, rockets, vehicles etc. But the truth is that any competent mechanical engineering degree will teach you design and how to apply the principles practically. Design software is cheaper than manufacturing equipment like CNC mills and lathes. Manual machining course are shit in most colleges. CNC is even shittier. What happens is that most mechanical engineers graduate with a functioning idea of design and access to software so they feel ready for industry/grad school. But most of them will never be competent at manufacturing shit.

The big problem with this is that if you dont understand machining, casting, forging and welding you'll never design stuff that is manufacturable. Its like cooking up a rocket that is impossible to fly.

TLDR :- its easy to come up with designs but to make them people need apprenticeships in reputed machine shops/foundries to understand how things are actually made

Have you studied engineering because you seem pretty knowledgeable

 

[LXR]

Have you studied engineering because you seem pretty knowledgeable

Yes mechanical engineering

 

[diarrhetic]

Yes mechanical engineering

Would you recommend it or do you think there are better engineering majors?

 

[LXR]

Would you recommend it or do you think there are better engineering majors?

Depends heavily on where you live. If you are confident of getting a job locally you should go for it. If you are interested in research then you need to get to know what is the process for getting tenure track at unis in your country.

Generally, automotive companies, electronic appliances, FAANG, building services, infrastructure companies etc hire college students from mechanical engineering. Also mechanical engineering is broad so you need to choose what subfield you want to learn in depth. Casting, Welding, Mechanical Design has its subfields, CFD, Power Plants, Automotive subfields, Machining, Control etc

But again depends on where you live. You can also go into trade adjacent jobs like HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical etc

 

[LXR]

Would you recommend it or do you think there are better engineering majors?

In terms of other engineering majors, Electrical engineering is the least location restricted since every country on this planet has electrical services related jobs. Also the closer you are to computers the cheaper it is to learn hands on.

For eg. Computer Science has the least cost barrier of learning hands on since all you need in most cases is a laptop and free code editors. But not every country has a good IT and software services sector, so it is location dependent. ECE and EEE come next because breadboards, sensors, microcontrollers and actuators are a bit more expensive but still feadible. You can build a generator on your own if you have enough money, its not that expensive

Then comes mechanical/civil/aerospace. These are the most cost prohibitive. Even design software costs a lot but the biggest barrier is the practical equipment required to make projects. Thats why most hands on learning is done in internships, Formula Student teams, Amatuer Rocketry teams etc.

Chem engg is very lucrative if you can get into oil and gas but that is heavily location dependent

 

[supershocked123]

Im thinking of going into civil, mechanical or powergrid engineering (most tempted). Any advice?

 

[LXR]

Im thinking of going into civil, mechanical or powergrid engineering (most tempted). Any advice?

Power grid if you can get apprenticeship/internship with a renewable company or in an energy firm.

Civil is mainly for infrastructure. This can range from urban planning to individual buildings. You can also get jobs in construction companies but its dependent on your region.

Mechanical as I said above.

If you are intetrested in power grid, I'd suggest getting Electrical Engineering degree or if you are more into trades then you should contact someone in your region in that field specifically since they can help you much more