What is Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering is a far-reaching field of study that incorporates the fundamentals of engineering to conceive and construct mechanical devices and components. Chuan Teik Ying encompasses a vast range of specialist areas. As technology is central to the endeavours of a mechanical engineer, it is a field that sees constant evolution, rendering it an appealing career choice for those still deciding on which engineering curriculum to study.
What are the areas of specialisation?
Acoustical Engineering
This concerns the control over sound and vibration to curtail undesirable noise across an extensive variety of different settings, including industrial, manufacturing, transportation, the media industry and more. It is the role of acoustical engineers to improve the work environments for individuals in a given area, while reducing the noise impact on those around them.
The specific tasks of acoustical engineers include the elimination or reduction of noise nuisances including:
Vibrations caused by machinery transferring to surrounding rooms and areas
Vibrations generated by motor vehicles
Thuds and other impact-related sounds heard at gymnasiums
Vibrations that compromise personal health and well-being
Vibrations that are generated by the operation of power tools or machines
Thermal Engineering
This area of specialisation concerns the activity involved in thermal energy and transfer. As energy is able to be converted into different types of energy, an engineer that specialises in thermal engineering is required to possess an acute understanding of thermodynamics and the procedures that are responsible for transferring energy from a source of heat supply into mechanical energy.
Computational Engineering
This branch of mechanical engineering involves the use of computer technology to conduct advanced analysis and develop solutions to engineering problems. Computational engineers utilise their mathematical skills and computational science expertise to define state-of-the-art processes and create computer programs that provide simulations of specific events, enabling them to make accurate forecasts. Computational engineers are in high demand and are employed in a vast number of different sectors, such as spacecraft design, heavy industries, weather forecasting and more.
Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace engineering concerns the design and construction of machinery that is capable of flight. It’s one of the most recent fields of mechanical engineering, having first originated in the 1800s. As a result of technological advancement, two specialist areas of aerospace engineering have come into existence; aeronautical and astronautical. Aeronautical involves the design of commercial or recreational aircraft such as gliders, jets and choppers, while astronautical exclusively concerned with the spaceship design.
Multi-Scale Engineering
There are many areas of mechanical engineering that call for an understanding and implementation of objects and ideas that cover a variety of distance and time scales. An example of this can be demonstrated with the unstable movement within an engine, where swirling activity of varying degrees, combine with fluid molecules that trigger chemical reactions which result in controlled fire columns. In recent years, there has been an abundance of new phenomena identified at a nanoscopic level, and these have been used to improve numerous operations. Multi-scale engineering involves the analysis of scientific events, the design of engineering procedures and the creation of devices that traverse a multitude of different scales.