Unit #1 – Professions

Presentor: Christian Roush

Presentation Script
(I.e. A SUMMARY of research arti cles, NOT verbati m. Provide a minimum of 6 sentences
so to meet the minimum ti me requirement.)

History of the Profession

Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest forms on engineering present today and has been around
ever since the first inventions from ancient Greece and China. The very first invention was the wheel.
But the first major application of mechanical engineering occurred when the first steam engine was
invented around 1802. The first true mechanical engineer was named Archimedes. He lived in Ancient
Greece around 250 BC. He developed multiple important theories about mechanical engineering
including mechanical advantage, Law of the Lever, and Archimedes’ Law. The first mechanical
engineering class was established in 1888 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia School of Technology.

Daily Professional Tasks

Mechanical engineers work a normal 40-hour week, 9-5 workday. They have a wide variety of jobs that
they can do. Some common tasks they would be assigned would be reading or interpreting certain
blueprints or schematics for a design, find and fix failures or a certain product, or even giving feedback
to other engineers for problems. There are many more jobs that they would perform during the day, but
most of it depends on the jobs specifically. Overall, mechanical engineers are going to recognize
problems in products, and try to redesign a solution to the problem. But once again, the type of daily job
really depends on which career you have and what company you work for.

Careers
There are five main careers that are available as a mechanical engineer. There’s product design,
research and development, manufacturing, systems management, and energy. Product design is the
development and creation of products and machines. They will 3D model parts or products and they’re
the ones creating stuff. Research and development is trying to find new solutions or ideas that help
make designs more efficient and expanding older ideas and theories. Manufacturing is the designing and
building of mass-producing-machines, which try to improve on efficiency and cost. Systems
management is just basically the management of operations in a large system, like a warehouse, making
everything is going smoothly and working properly. Lastly, energy is planning how the energy will be
made, where it will go, and how it moves through machines in the workplace, and how to use less
energy than before. There are other career paths that can be followed, but these are just a main
overview of the main ones.
Education Requirements
Going out of high school, you will need a strong basis of math, science, and even language arts. If you’re
looking for setting yourself up in college, make sure to take algebra, trigonometry and calculus classes
while in high school. For science, make sure to take biology, chemistry, and physics. Aside from this, be
sure to have strong communication skills, for you’re going to need to communicate and talk to other
mechanical engineers very often, and it will be the key to success. After high school, most mechanical
engineers stay to get their bachelor’s and take advanced math-based courses. Near the end of college,
most people try to get either a paid or unpaid internship, so students can get the knowledge and
experience of the real world.

Professional Requirements (licensures, etc.)

To become a mechanical engineer in any states, a Professional Engineer licensure is required. In order to
get the licensure, you must have a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution. Along with that, you
need to have experience under the supervision of an already-licensed engineer. Lastly, you need to pass
the Fundamentals of Engineering and Principles and Practice of Engineering tests. Once you have the
licensure, you can become a mechanical engineer, and you can apply and look for job openings. Once
you have the licensure, it needs to be renewed every two years.

Earnings (match to different ‘Careers’ above)

The earnings for the main types of mechanical engineering careers are pretty much the same, but they
do vary slightly. The base, starting salary of a product design engineer is around $68,000, and can go up
to $115,000 for a senior mechanical engineer. Research and development mechanical engineers can
typically range between $95,500 to $122,000 per year, with the average median salary being $108,000.
For a manufacturing engineer, there are some jobs that are paying anywhere between $60,000 to
$90,000, which is on the lower end of salaries, with the median annual pay being $71,000. Systems
management mechanical engineering is a higher-paying job, but it requires more experience. The pay
usually varies between $130,000 to $160,000, with the median annual salary being around $147,000.
Lastly, a mechanical energy engineer ranges between $80,000 to $100,000, which is normal for a
mechanical engineer. The earnings for mechanical engineers don’t vary by that much, but there is still
some variation.

Well Known Companies

Some popular companies that are considered ‘dream’ jobs would be to work at NASA. NASA is a huge
company and perfect for most kinds of engineers, especially mechanical engineers. NASA is one off the
most well-known companies in the country and being able to work there would be amazing.
Comparable to NASA would be SpaceX. SpaceX is pretty much the same as NASA, except it isn’t a
government jobs, and it is a private company. There are very similar jobs, and lots of spots for
mechanical engineers, since it is a technology-based company. A major engineering company is also GE
Aviation. This company designs and develops aircraft engines and requires lots of professional
mechanical engineers that are designing products. There are so many companies that require
mechanical engineers. Pretty much every company will need at least a couple, just to test the product.
Professional Organizations
There are tons of different professional organizations for mechanical engineering. One organization
would be the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, or also known as IMechE. This organization is an
independent organization that is in London, but there are representatives that are all around the world.
Another professional organization would be the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or the
ASME. The ASME is a non-profit organization that supports and encourages and enables communication,
development of engineering skills, and career enrichment, with a goal to help the engineers develop
solutions to modern day problems. It was founded in 1880, and there are more than 100,000 members
in more than 140 countries. There are many more organizations out there, but those are just some main
ones.

Well Know Projects

Everyone knows about the wheel. It is one of the most popular and famous pieces of technology.
Another mechanical engineering invention was the screw. It can transfer torque into linear force, and
screws are some of the most popular inventions still today. Gears and cogwheels are also extremely
important, because they can transmit torque, and are used in so many machines nowadays. A machine
that was created with mechanical engineering is the printing press, which was undoubtedly one of the
most important and innovative inventions for human history. Another invention was the locomotive, or
also known as the train. It has revolutionized transportation ever since and is one of the greatest
inventions ever made.

Current Job Openings

Some current job openings for mechanical engineers would be:

 A mechanical engineer at Selectek. It is a full-time job that can pay between $38-41/hour. There
must be 5-10 years of experience, have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and
preferably have some AutoCAD experience.
 Mechanical engineer at The Perillo Group. It is a full-time job, and you must have a bachelor’s
degree with five years of experience.
 CAIRE- It is recommended that you have 1-5 years of experience, but not needed.
 Larson Engineering- You do not need any experience for this job, and it is full-time.

Additional Information Slide #1

Did you know that the snowboard was invented by an engineer? What about the designs of shoes? The
“Traub? Is the rarest motorcycle in the world. It was founded in 1968, but claims to be made in 1916,
and it is still running to this day. In the Audi logo, the four rings are representatives of the four
companies that were a part of the Auto union. There are about 226,000 mechanical engineers in the US,
and the job growth rate is growing at a steady 5% and projected to grow 4% from 2018 to 2028.

Additional Information Slide #2

Bill Nye was a mechanical engineer! The word “engineer” is derived from the word “ingenium” which is
Latin for something like “cleverness” or “native talent”. According to engineers, the Ferris wheel is an
engineering marvel, and an engineering wonder of the world. A golf ball has dimples simply because it
reduces drag, causing it to fly farther than a smooth ball would.

Citations

https://www.engineeringcrossing.com/article/900042791/The-Historical-Background-of-Mechanical-
Engineering/

https://www.owlguru.com/career/mechanical-engineers/job-description/#:~:text=On%20a%20daily
%20basis%2C%20Mechanical,%2C%20technologists%2C%20or%20other%20engineers.

https://educatingengineers.com/careers/mechanical-engineer

https://study.com/mechanical_engineer.html

https://11academianetworks.com/advice/top-10-companies-for-mechanical-engineers-to-work-at-
890117

https://www.indeed.com/salaries/product-design-engineer-Salaries#:~:text=The%20average%20salary
%20for%20%22product,yearly%20for%20Senior%20Mechanical%20Engineer.

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/research-and-development-engineer-
salary#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20a%20Research,falls%20between%20%2495%2C567%20and
%20%24121%2C966.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/manufacturing-mechanical-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,33.htm

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/mechanical-engineering-manager-salary

https://www.indeed.com/salaries/mechanical-energy-engineer-Salaries

https://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=282890&p=1885058

https://www.asme.org/about-asme

https://interestingengineering.com/19-mechanical-engineering-innovations-that-helped-define-
mechanics-today