Mechanical Engineering may not be the most difficult of the engineering disciplines, but it is a very interesting one. It is, however, a very challenging field due to the sheer magnitude of the syllabus and hours expected of the student in order to succeed.

Work overload is where the student struggles the most. It is also one of the reasons for the high drop out rate or change in majors from engineering. If a student is struggling with their choice to become a mechanical engineer there are various online sites which may help students. For example, students can buy university essays at theunitutor on Mechanical engineering.

Some of the core engineering concepts a mechanical engineer needs to understand are:

• Electricity

As a mechanical engineer typical uses tools such as electric generators, elevators, robots, industrial refrigeration, and air-conditioning. Good knowledge of electricity and electric circuitry etc. is required.

• Structural analysis

As a mechanical engineer is involved in the design of various machines, they would need to use structural analysis to measure various effects of loads on certain structures including load bearing vehicles and other mechanical devices/machines.

• Kinematics

Falls under the “classical mechanics” branch which describes how a mechanism moves like a piece of a larger object. Without factoring in powers causing the motion kinematics defines the motion of objects/bodies, groups of bodies or points. Properties of motion such as velocity, position, and acceleration. Thus an engineer would be able to work out problems such as “motion with constant acceleration” for example.

• Mechanics

This is the area of the discipline that is concerned with the way in which physical bodies behave when subjected to various forces and the effects of these bodies have with their surrounding environment.

• Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics arose from the days of the early steam engine when engineers wanted to find ways to improve on the efficiency of them! It is a part of physics which applies to the “application of temperature and heat and their relation to work and energy”.

• Material science

This part deals with how well certain mechanical materials will perform under certain conditions. Their strength, durability, flexibility etc.

Learning the basics may require more than just one lecture

Getting a grasp on the basics of any discipline is the key to succeeding in the field. If a student feels they did not get the gist of the lecture the first time there are online courses, lectures and study groups that can help.

Here are some of the fundamentals of engineering:

Introduction to Mechanical Engineering
This is an interesting subject which introduces students to what mechanical engineering is all about, what they can expect and what a future as a mechanical engineer will entail. It is a prospectus video for Columbia SEAS/Columbia Engineering.

Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering
This shows one of the projects of mechanical robotics from the College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University.