Mission
Letter from the Chair
What is Mechanical
Engineering?
Mechanical Engineering at
Columbia
Privacy Policy
What is Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering is a diverse subject that
derives its breadth from the need to design and
manufacture everything from small individual parts
and devices (e.g., microscale sensors and inkjet
printer nozzles) to large systems (e.g., spacecraft
and machine tools). The role of a mechanical
engineer is to take a product from an idea to the
marketplace. In order to accomplish this, a broad
range of skills are needed. The mechanical
engineer needs to acquire particular skills and
knowledge. He/she needs to understand the forces
and the thermal environment that a product, its
parts, or its subsystems will encounter; to design
them for functionality, aesthetics, and the ability to
withstand the forces and the thermal environment
they will be subjected to; and to determine the
best way to manufacture them and ensure they will
operate without failure. Perhaps the one skill that
is the mechanical engineer’s exclusive domain is
the ability to analyze and design objects and
systems with motion.
Since these skills are required for virtually
everything that is made, mechanical engineering is
perhaps the broadest and most diverse of
engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineers play
a central role in such industries as automotive
(from the car chassis to its every subsystem—
engine, transmission, sensors); aerospace
(airplanes, aircraft engines, control systems for
airplanes and spacecraft); biotechnology (implants,
prosthetic devices, fluidic systems for
pharmaceutical industries); computers and
electronics (disk drives, printers, cooling systems,
semiconductor tools); microelectromechanical
systems, or MEMS (sensors, actuators, micropower
generation); energy conversion (gas turbines, wind
turbines, solar energy, fuel cells); environmental
control (HVAC, air-conditioning, refrigeration,
compressors); automation (robots, data and image
acquisition, recognition, control); manufacturing
(machining, machine tools, prototyping,
microfabrication).
To put it simply, mechanical engineering deals with
anything that moves, including the human body, a
very complex machine. Mechanical engineers learn
about materials, solid and fluid mechanics,
thermodynamics, heat transfer, control,
instrumentation, design, and manufacturing to
understand mechanical systems. Specialized
mechanical engineering subjects include
biomechanics, cartilage-tissue engineering, energy
conversion, laser-assisted materials processing,
combustion, MEMS, microfluidic devices, fracture
mechanics, nanomechanics, mechanisms,
micropower generation, tribology (friction and
wear), and vibrations. The American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) currently lists 36
technical divisions, from advanced energy systems
and aerospace engineering to solid-waste
engineering and textile engineering.
The breadth of the mechanical engineering
discipline allows students a variety of career
options beyond some of the industries listed
above. Regardless of the particular path they
envision for themselves after they graduate, their
education will have provided them with the
creative thinking that allows them to design an
exciting product or system, the analytical tools to
achieve their design goals, the ability to overcome
all constraints, and the teamwork needed to
design, market, and produce a system. These
valuable skills could also launch a career in
medicine, law, consulting, management, banking,
finance, and so on.
For those interested in applied scientific and
mathematical aspects of the discipline, graduate
study in mechanical engineering can lead to a
career of research and teaching.
Know more about Mechanical Engineering subjects...
