The path to a career as a mechanical engineer begins with mathematics and science. A high school student seeking to enter engineering school should have at least four years of mathematics and four years of science, all at the academic or college preparatory level. Math classes should include algebra, geometry, trigonometry, computer science and some calculus. Science classes should include earth science, chemistry, biology and physics.
In addition, because engineers need to be able to communicate their ideas effectively, engineering candidates should have four years of English, with particular emphasis on writing skills. Other courses, such as mechanical drawing and industrial arts, will also help.
In college, would-be mechanical engineers start with the basics: Calculus, statistics, physics and chemistry. In your first two years of college you will also tae English (writing and literature), graphics, computer science, history, one or more social sciences (sociology, psychology, economics, government, etc.), and perhaps a foreign language.
At most colleges, freshmen and sophomores enter a pre-engineering curriculum that also includes survey courses in several branches of engineering. By junior year, students usually focus on their engineering field. The first mechanical engineering classes are usually on statistics, the study of forces apart from motion. Then it is dynamics, the study of of parts that move. Other courses include mechanics of materials, kinematics (the study of parts in a moving system), computers, robotics, CAD-CAM, machine design, heat transfer and thermal dynamics, and materials science.
The college curriculum in engineering schools is usually designed to give young engineers a thorough understanding of basic engineering principles and the technical skills to be successful engineers. Many college students supplement this classroom training with internships and work-study programs with practicing engineers to gain valuable field experience.
Home
Search
Login
Register