What Can You Do with a Mechanical Engineering Degree?
The broad nature of this field gives degree graduates many opportunities for careers
Mechanical engineering is a broad career field that gives many answers to the question “what can you do with a mechanical engineering degree?” Almost any machine that uses an engine was built or designed by a mechanical engineer, whether the machine is electrical, chemical, marine, or geotechnical in nature. These many and varied applications lend themselves to a long list of possible careers for mechanical engineering degree graduates.
Industry-Specific Mechanical Engineering Careers
The industry in which a mechanical engineer wants to work may determine the career path a graduate takes. Those who want to develop new devices that can be used by petroleum companies may end up as petroleum engineers that make sure an oil rig has the safest and best machines at its disposal. On the other hand, an aerospace engineer will develop new machines and systems for space travel, whether it’s a new type of rocket that can speed up space travel or a more efficient air filtering system to cut down on the ill effects of constant air recycling while crews are in orbit.
Other industries that need engineers include architecture, chemistry, agriculture, and the marine or naval industry, to name a few. Each of these industries needs mechanical engineers with different skills and abilities unique to that industry or specific role.
Automation is the Future
Building machines that can perform tasks once done by people is a huge part of today’s mechanical engineering landscape. Over the next several decades, the company with the best automation process will have great advantages over others, giving mechanical engineers with advanced automation skills great motivation to come up with that next best system.
Efficiency Drives Goals
Another major drive within mechanical engineering is to make machines more efficient, whether that means doing more while using less energy, using more efficient energy sources for fuel, or doing a task in a more efficient way. Many mechanical engineering careers are geared toward finding more efficient ways to power machines and building machines to be more efficient in the tasks they perform.
While some new machines are being built, most are just improvements on an original, and efficiency is one of those possible improvements. When machines have greater efficiency, businesses and individuals want to use them because they save money and are better for the environment. Mechanical engineers are often charged with improving efficiency.
Nanotechnology Provides New Opportunities
A relatively new area of mechanical engineering is nanotechnology, which is concentrated on tiny machines, sometimes working together to perform tasks and other times entering tiny spaces to accomplish tasks on the micro level. Jobs related to nanotechnology are expected to be some of the fastest-growing in mechanical engineering as more of the possibilities of this new technology are explored.
Florida Tech offers a mechanical engineering degree that allows students to choose an area of specialization in which to explore their interests. Learn more about a mechanical engineering degree from Florida Tech and how you can turn your degree into a meaningful career.
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