Five Easy Questions to Ask Your Mechanical Engineer

You don't want an amateur on the job when you're in the market for good mechanical engineering services. This isn't a game; you need a mechanical engineer who knows not just the basics, but the tricks of the trade.

But the basics of mechanical engineering are nothing to sneeze at. You need a mechanical engineer who won't look baffled when he needs to make unit conversions, or when you talk about the conservation of momentum.

So, with that in mind, here are five questions to spring on a mechanical engineer during an initial interview.

How would you go about determining the mass of this apple? When asking this question, make sure you have an apple handy. If you only have an orange, make sure you change the wording of your question. You don't want your mechanical engineer thinking you're a weirdo. But even if he does, telling you how to determine mass shouldn't be too hard. Simply place the apple to oscillate between a pair of springs in a weightless environment, and measure the resulting oscillation of the springs. Of course, if you don't have a properly calibrated set of mass-measuring springs, or a weightless environment, you could place the object in a scale designed for measuring mass.

Is acceleration a scalar quantity or a vector quantity? A good mechanical engineer knows his scalars and vectors. He also knows that acceleration (a change in the velocity of an object) is a vector quantity. That means it has two independent variables: Direction and magnitude. Their quantities muse be depicted on a graph. Scalars only have one dimension, and their quantities can be depicted on a line.

Which variables would you multiply to determine the momentum of a moving object? Momentum is a vector like acceleration, so it comprises two independent variables. Determining momentum means multiplying an object's mass by its speed. So a 1974 Chevy Impala moving at 120 kilometers per hour would have more momentum than a cocker spaniel skidding across a linoleum floor.

What's the standard unit of measurement for energy? Or power? Or planar angular measurement? Good mechanical engineering services require a comprehensive knowledge of units of measurement. Energy is measured in joules. Power, in watts. And planar angular measurement is expressed in radians.

What term would you use to describe the quantitative expression of the average kinetic energy an item contains? The answer is temperature. The higher the temperature of an object, the faster its atoms and molecules are moving around.

Five sub-disciplines of mechanical engineering

Offers engineering design, engineering, construction and maintenance of machinery. It is not surprising that a wide spectrum of disciplines, and a talented engineer mechanics can choose from many career options when he or she starts for the first time.

Here are five fascinating sub-disciplines that fall under the aegis of the machine:

Marine Engineering. You Sea Legs? This branch would be best for you. Through the use of ship-building, most likely a job on a boat. You can make your heating and cooling, lighting, power and more (including wastewater disposal) will be charged. A marine engineer can also be a boat builder to work as part of a team, the development of complex systems to keep the ship afloat.

Robotics. Robotics has become increasingly common in recent decades, but was never boring. More recently, advances in the field gave us a quick hand shadow, a robotic hand with 24 joints and 40 muscles, "" You can perform the delicate operations such as picking up a light bulb.

Acoustics. Acoustic engineers have to do with production or not stupid. Think of it as one of the artistic sub-disciplines in engineering: A sound engineer can do, Concert Hall of the situation intensified, so the sound recording studio or evidence.

Nanotechnology. You can from this area of science-fiction movies have heard, but not about the swarms of robots mass murderers who take care of everything in their path devour. Most often the design of computer chips and nanotechnologies polymers and nanotechnology advances in the most mundane places such as cosmetics and sunscreens is seen.

Biomechatronics. Biomechatronics experts refers to the relationship between the mechanical and the human body. This is the area most closely associated with ventricular assist devices and artificial hearts, and an expert in Biomechatronics can work with an expert in robotics, where the agile hand shadows can never replace a real hand.

D. Michael Kirby is a freelance writer living in California. He writes about travel, technology, home improvement, and a host of other topics. One of his clients, Enerdyne Engineering is the leading provider of engineering services, plumbing - and a host of other engineering consulting services - in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware.

Engineering Jobs - Mechanical Engineer

The basic definition of the work an engineer is to apply the principles of science and mathematics to develop economical solutions to technical problems. Since the array of work possibly done by engineer is quiet large, engineers have to specialize in one of several fields. Mechanical engineers are specialized in the research, development, design, manufacturing, and testing of electrical tools, engines, machines, and other mechanical devices. Mechanical engineers will work mainly on power-producing machines including electric generators, internal combustion engines, and steam and gas turbines. But they can also work on other power-using machines including refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, machine tools, material handling systems, elevators and escalators, industrial production equipment, and robots used in manufacturing.

As a mechanical engineers, you can also be in charge of the design of tools which will be used by other engineers in their work. Among all the engineering specialization, mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines. Indeed mechanical engineers are not restrained to one particular position in companies or to any sector possibly working in production operations in manufacturing or agriculture, maintenance, or technical sales. Many mechanical engineers even work as administrators or managers.

How to become a mechanical engineer? For most entry-level engineering worker, you will be required to have obtained at least a bachelor's degree in engineering. Those who graduate from college graduates in a physical science or mathematics may also qualify for some engineering jobs, especially in specialties in high demand. But most potential candidates must have graduate from faculties such as electrical, electronics, mechanical, or civil engineering. Studying mechanical engineering is quiet easy in the country counting over 360 colleges and universities offering bachelor's degree programs in engineering which are even accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), Inc., and 230 colleges, or so, offering also accredited programs in engineering technology.

In the U.S., the job prospects for mechanical engineers will be good with an overall rate of employment growing at an average rate through 2014. However many changes are expected to overhaul the sector with a massive decline of the employment of mechanical engineers in manufacturing industries. However civil engineering and jobs in high-growth technologies including biotechnology, materials science, and nanotechnology will likely compensate this decline for mechanical engineers.