Your Future on the Move: Mechanical Engineering
What is Mechanical Engineering?
Engineering affects every aspect of human activity – work, leisure, health and education. Engineers are involved in the design and manufacture of almost everything, from cars to computers, from web pages to wings, from microchips to motorways. Many recent medical advances have been made as a result of work done by engineers, ranging from brain scanners to the drug dispensers used by asthma sufferers.
Training as a mechanical engineer will lead you into one of the broadest areas of engineering. There are jobs for mechanical engineers in nearly every area of industry. As a mechanical engineer you could become involved in design, manufacture, research, development, management or marketing.
“Training as a mechanical engineer will lead you into one of the broadest areas of engineering. There are jobs for mechanical engineers in nearly every area of industry.”
Mechanical engineers are expected to constantly improve, re-design and invent equipment, not just maintain and process. There have been a multitude of mechanical engineering advancements that don’t make the headlines that are crucial to our everyday lives, making them easier, faster and more efficient. A recent, well-known project is the London Eye – the massive mechanical marvel by the River Thames. Mechanical engineering played a vital part in the design, manufacture and installation of the Eye, something that was originally believed to be impossible. Now it is both an extremely popular tourist attraction and an inspiration to future engineers. Other examples include medical engineering companies now developing surgical robotic systems for orthopaedic, spinal and dental surgery.
Environmental engineers in the UK are producing world-leading technology in emission control, while UK based mechanical engineers in the defence industry are creating an innovative protection system for the International Space Station, amongst other things. This is just a selection of the exciting, innovative and challenging projects that mechanical engineers are involved in.
There is a shortage of engineers the UK, therefore there are excellent job prospects for mechanical engineers, and currently 70% of graduates go into full-time careers associated with engineering.
Which Course?
There are many universities offering degrees in mechanical engineering and there is a wide variation in the types of courses and specialisms offered within these degrees, so it is a good idea to check the prospectuses carefully before applying. It is possible to do joint honours with a range of other subjects both sciences and arts including business and language courses. It is important that you ensure that your degree is an accredited course recognised by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. There are three-year courses, which are full time and usually lead to a BEng qualification. There are also four-year courses leading to a MEng qualification. In order to become chartered you need to have completed at least four years of academic study. If you take a BEng degree it is possible to add a further year of specialised study known as a Matching Section. There are also sandwich courses available that include a year spent in industry gaining practical work experience. In order to become a chartered mechanical engineer you need to spend a period of time gaining approved work experience after graduating known as Initial Professional Development (IPD). This usually lasts for at least four years, after which you can apply to become chartered.
For a list of UK Universities running Mechanical Engineering courses, log on to the UCAS website: www.ucas.co.uk
The Fast And The Furious
Formula Student is the biggest and best of its kind in Europe. Run by the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), in partnership with the Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) it promotes careers and excellence in engineering, by challenging university students to design, build, develop, market and compete as a team with a small single seater racing car.
It provides the students with a real-life exercise in design and manufacture and the business elements of automotive engineering. It teaches them all about team working, under pressure and to tight timescales. It demands total commitment, lots of late nights, and many frustrations and challenges along the way, but the net result is the development of highly talented young engineers.
Formula Student 2005 attracted entries from 66 different universities, from 19 different countries, from the UK, mainland Europe and from North America, Asia and Australia. For the universities, Formula Student represents a valuable project that blends academic work and learning with the development of practical engineering skills. They are increasingly using it to attract school leavers to their degree programmes, and to forge closer links with local industry.
The automotive and motorsport industries in particular, and many other high technology engineering companies, know just how important the continuing supply of high quality engineers is to their success. For them, involvement in Formula Student helps them maintain and develop that supply. At a time when many university engineering courses have difficulty filling their places, Formula Student uses the excitement and appeal of motorsport to open young minds to the world of possibilities that a career in engineering involves, and gives them a wealth of real experience to prepare them for success in that career.
For the purpose of the competition, the students are to assume that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation. The intended sales market is the non professional weekend autocross or sprint racer. Therefore, the car must have very high performance in terms of its acceleration, braking, and handling qualities. The car must be low in cost, easy to maintain, and reliable. In addition, the car’s marketability is enhanced by other factors such as aesthetics, comfort and use of common parts. The manufacturing firm is planning to produce 1000 cars per year at a cost below $25,000 (c. £16,000, €21,000) . The challenge to the team is to design and fabricate a prototype car that best meets these objectives. Each design is compared and judged with other competing designs to determine the best overall car.
Why get involved?
Young engineering students and graduates are exposed to marketing, time management, project management, team building, budgeting, presentation skills, and other management issues. Through Formula Student, they develop experience, skills and professionalism as “hands on” engineers, with a keen awareness of the often competing pressures of performance, cost, safety, reliability and regulatory compliance. The benefit to students is immense and is good experience for newly qualified engineers preparing to enter a career in motorsport, the automotive industry or many other areas of high performance engineering.
Companies involved with Formula Student through sponsorship get face to face access to these highly skilled young engineers, who could be viewed both as potential recruits and as potential future customers. Formula Student provides opportunities in brand awareness and sales, so whether you are an OEM, Tier 1 supplier, or SME, there are real business benefits to be gained!
For more information log onto: www.formulastudent.com
