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Cameron Barlow

Mr. Haslam

Language Arts 12

January 22, 2018

Mechanical Engineering

“Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and

the convenience of man.”, Thomas Tredgold. Mechanical engineering is a field of immense

diversity, ranging from designing and creating vehicles; to making a more advanced toaster. The

possibilities are truly endless in the world of engineering. The mechanical engineer world alone

has many fields, ranging from working home appliances to creating spacecraft (Career Profiles).

Almost every single thing you use on a regular basis was either designed or created by a

mechanical engineer. The schooling and experience required for such a career is quite

tremendous. That is just the tip of the iceberg though. There is so much to the career than meets

the eye. I am going to teach you about the history, requirements, and daily life of mechanical

engineer. Followed by a quick reflection of the job and it’s overall outlook.

In the United States mechanical engineering became relevant around 1825, the year

which is close the end of the Industrial Revolution of Europe. The most influential one of the

time was the creation of the reliable steam engine (Bright Hub Education). Such a time created

easy job opportunities for people seeking to create things that would help society and other jobs.

Mechanical engineering, however, dates back to 287 BC in Ancient Greece with the work of the

famous Archimedes (ASME). Throughout the history of the world there have been many events

that have led to the evolution of the career. The invention of the plane by the Wright brothers

create a field of mechanical engineering called aerospace engineering, which deals with planes
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and rockets. The two World Wars were so influential that they pretty much kicked off Industrial

Revolutions of their own with the mass production of better vehicles, airplanes, weapons, and

forms of communication. With every new invention there is always someone out there trying to

keep it running or trying to make it better. Jobs are opened up everyday to help support the

career and keep the work alive. Machines are a piece of humanity and they come in all shapes

and sizes. This is what makes mechanical engineering so diverse and constantly growing. Nikola

Tesla, arguably one of the most famous people to ever live was a mechanical engineer who is

credited with the creation of alternating current (AC), and helped further the transmission

industry (James Hone, What is Mechanical Engineering).

A career in mechanical engineering requires at least a bachelor’s degree (Deborah Harris,

Prospects). The programs you need to be proficient in include system components, computer

programing, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and hydraulics. You should also have good

communication skills and be a professional at math. If you’re going to go into mechanical

engineering make sure you have mastered calculus, basic algebra won’t cut it. A great local

college that offers the education necessary is Utah State University (Mechanical Engineering

Schools and Degrees). They have not only their own space and engineering lab, but they also

programs in almost every single field of mechanical engineering. The title for the best

mechanical engineering school in the United States goes to Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT), which goes without saying. The best way to get a job outside of going to

college for it is doing internships for companies and you gain the necessary experience for you to

receive the job. Some companies, like NASA for example, require both college and internships

in order to be qualified for a position. Interesting fact: most Nasa astronauts are mechanical

engineers who either work for them or have amazing experience and a deserved reputation. Be
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willing to sacrifice time and effort in order to become a successful mechanical engineer. You

will be pushed to the test and challenged on the daily.

Daily duties for a mechanical engineer can change quite frequently. Some days you could

be stuck in meetings all day, and others you could be travelling to your next job site. In general,

however, the most basic of duty for a mechanical engineer is for them to work on projects that

are either given to them by other companies or are brought up through their own. Using all sorts

of resources to help them in the field, some mechanical engineering projects can take months to

complete while others can be completed in just days. In this career you have a sense of agency

for hours you work depending on what you’re doing. If you are working on a simple project with

a relaxed deadline you can show up and leave work at any time as long as you get the work done.

That changes when you’re working on a major project or out in field somewhere. Most shifts are

about 8-10 hours long, yet mechanical engineers can be at work for up to 20 hours or more

depending on how busy they get. Mechanical engineers report to a variety of people. They can

report to either their senior engineer, the project manager, or the head of a company when talking

designs. As of 2015, the annual wage for mechanical engineers averaged around $107, 830

(Payscale). This statistic is quite skewed, however, due to major companies and bigger projects

creating big outliers in the data. A more realistic mean salary would be $83,580 annually. Being

in a full time position mechanical engineers receive your typical benefits of a full time career.

They do, however, receive full paid vacation and depending on who they work for can earn a

work vehicle.

Personally this career is what my future is currently planned out to become. The ultimate

challenge for this job would be time management; constantly being on the clock and pressed for

efficiency would create a work environment that if not handled well could be tough for even the
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most proficient of people. A nice perk in this career would be the amazing opportunities to travel

and work on unique projects, plus for most major engineering companies you receive full

benefits and quite decent salary. According to a local job listing site there are currently 212 job

openings for mechanical engineers in Salt Lake City, and a total of 349 jobs in Utah (Indeed).

The most recent economic downturn hit this job pretty hard with most companies having to lay

off workers in order to keep them in business. The company Tetra Tech in the Salt Lake valley,

had up to “100 engineers working for them at one point, but when the economy went for a nose

dive they downsized to 60” (Dane Hansen). Mechanical engineering does its part in society by

basically creating everything that people use. Your cell phone and your car are perfect examples

of things you use on a daily basis that mechanical engineers helped design and create. The most

influential career for society, this job shaped the world into what it is now.

In conclusion, mechanical engineering is one of the most important careers for society.

With how far humanity has evolved technologically it’s no surprise that the people who make

everything we use are a major impact on our world. They create things that you and I use on a

daily basis. Things that most people couldn’t go without if they tried. Now I’m not here to bash

on the habits on the human race all I’m saying is mechanical engineers are so influential that

they are some of the sole reasons people can even do certain things. Take living in your house

during the summer, without the amazing mind of Nikola Tesla, you would be sweating or having

a window open at all times instead of just turning on the AC. Most recently mechanical

engineers are looking for way to 3D print food, making a cheaper and more efficient way to feed

people. This career is a life goal for me. Ever since I heard of this job I’ve pretty much set my

life up to become one. Reasons being: I love a challenge in the workplace, the agency and range

of opportunities gifted to you, the annual salary, and overall the value mechanical engineering
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has. If I were to choose a field in mechanical engineering to go into I was go for aerospace. This

would give me opportunities to help lead humanity into the next frontier of space. Nuclear

engineering would also be a very interesting field, you’d just need to love chemistry. Which I’ve

despised ever since I took the class in high school. We as a society celebrate the works of

mechanical engineers by using the things they designed and created. Nobody should take them

for granted, for you never know when the project a mechanical engineer completes could be the

most important thing to ever come your way. The next major invention will come from a

mechanical engineer and we’re all going to be thanking whoever it is.

Work Cited

“Aerospace Engineers.” Career Profiles, 2018, www.careerprofiles.info/aerospace-engineer.html.

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“Mechanical Engineering Degrees.” Mechanical Engineering Schools and Degrees |

EducatingEngineers.com, 2017, educatingengineers.com/degrees/mechanical-engineering.

“History of Mechanical Engineering.” ASME.org, 2018, www.asme.org/engineering-topics/history-of-

mechanical-engineering.

“Mechanical Engineer Jobs in Salt Lake City, UT.” Jobs, www.indeed.com/q-Mechanical-Engineer-l-

Salt-Lake-City,-UT-jobs.html.

Hone, James. “What Is Mechanical Engineering?” Mechanical Engineering, 2012,

me.columbia.edu/what-mechanical-engineering.

Harris, Deborah. “Mechanical Engineering.” Prospects.ac.uk, www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-

can-i-do-with-my-degree/mechanical-engineering.

“Mechanical Engineer Salary.” Payscale,

www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mechanical_Engineer/Salary.

“Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution.” Bright Hub Education, 4 Apr. 2012,
www.brighthubeducation.com/history-homework-help/91805-important-inventions-of-the-industrial-
revolution/.