Mechanically yours

Mechanical engineering is the ‘mother branch’ that leads to wide-ranging careers. Rahat Bano reports.

The invention of the wheel is said to be a work of mechanical engineering. About 5,500 years later, qualified mechanical engineers are adding to or improvising products that make civilisation run. Look around — from something as large as a lift system to something as small as a wristwatch, every piece of machinery has the touch of a mechanical engineer.

Sudipto Mukherjee, Mehra Chair professor, department of mechanical engineering, IIT Delhi, reiterates the point, “The wooden board of this door (in his room) is made by compressing the wood. Everything, except buildings — the work of civil engineers — is the work of mechanical engineering. A car used to be the result of about 90 per cent mechanical engineering. Now, it’s about 30 per cent electrical and 70 per cent mechanical engineering.”

Mechanical engineers are involved in the design, analysis or testing, manufacture and maintenance of anything that has moveable components. It can be a tough job. “They are required to work in adverse conditions —where temperatures or noise levels can be high,” says M Anwar, India entry adviser, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) India. “They also deal with financial and management professionals while designing new products, analysing their marketability and financial viability. They are responsible for seeing that a plant runs smoothly and that the machines are maintained well.”

Given the broad applications it has, this ‘mother’ branch is described as an “all-weather” and “all-purpose” field that allows practitioners to enter a variety of sectors, from the automobile and electrical industries to bio-medical equipment manufacturers and energy companies. “This is a perennial branch. Eighty per cent of the technology has been there for the past 150 years,” says Mukherjee.

Anwar adds, “Today’s mechanical engineers are involved in the management of people and resources as well as the development and use of new materials and technologies, especially computer-aided engineering.”

They also contribute to processes such as carbon dioxide trapping to mitigate climate change. “They are in demand in well-paid segments like automobile manufacturing, space centres, aerospace etc,” says Anwar.

According to Sagar Maji, professor of mechanical engineering, Delhi Technological University (DTU), this branch of engineering is the third most sought-after in India. “In highly rated Indian institutes, mechanical is first choice for about 10 per cent of the students,” says Maji, who is also the former head of the nodal centre for National Technical Manpower Information Systems at the Delhi College of Engineering (now DTU). “This is because of lack of awareness about opportunities,” he adds.

During IIT Delhi admissions, seats in computer science and electrical engineering are filled first, but in other institutes, “in the past few years, mechanical engineering has become number one”, Mukherjee says.

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What's it about?
One of the oldest branches of engineering, mechanical engineering is about the design, analysis, manufacture and maintenance of anything that has moveable components. Its sub-divisions are: a) production — these engineers make objects; b) design of mechanical equipment — professionals in this line work on, say, failure prevention and performance design; c) thermal and fluid sciences — those in this area design (air-conditioners, fans, turbines, steam boilers and power plants) for performance. The best paying industries for this field include aviation and space, and management consultancy

Clock Work
The average day of a mechanical engineer working in the R&D division of an automobile company:
7.30 am: Leave for office
8 am: Breakfast at office canteen
8.15 am: Look at the day’s activities in the week plan
8.45 pm: Departmental meeting with section head to discuss problems, progress, field complaints or testing issues
9.15 am: Tea break
9.25 am to 1.15 pm: Talk to design and testing teams about the points discussed in the morning meeting. Check drawings of parts under development, made by CAD (computer-aided design) engineers. Go through the simulation and analysis report prepared by design engineers (who are mostly mechanical engineers and some auto engineers)
1.15 pm: Lunch
1.45 pm: Visit testing lab. Monitor progress of products (e.g. steering, chassis under
development
6.30 pm: Leave for the day

Skills
. Affinity for machinery
. Problem-solving attitude
. Analytical skills
. Innovative approach
. Team spirit
. Physical stamina

How do i get there?
After Plus Two in science (physics-chemistry-maths), do a four-year degree course in a college or a three-year (four-year part-time) diploma course at a polytechnic. Another option is the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ technician engineers and the associate membership (sections A and B) examinations. Clearing this will give you a qualification equivalent to a diploma from a state polytechnic or a degree from an Indian university. The Institution of Engineering (India), too, conducts such an examination. Getting the best jobs depends on the level and ‘market value’ of a mechanical engineer’s credentials. M Anwar, India entry adviser, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) India, says that for engineering research or design positions, it is “necessary” to earn a PG degree from a major institution, such as an IIT. For consultancy or management, a degree from an institute like an IIM is “desirable”

Institutes & urls
. Indian Institutes of Technology, Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur,
Madras, Roorkee, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Mandi, Patnam
Punjab, Rajasthan
http://jee.iitd.ac.in/
. Banaras Hindu University
www.itbhu.ac.in
. ISM (Indian School of Mines) University, Dhanbad
www.ismdhanbad.ac.in
. Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
www.bits-pilani.ac.in
. Delhi Technological University
www.dce.edu
. National Institutes of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, Warangal and Surathkal
www.nitt.edu, www.nitw.ac.in, www.nitk.ac.in

Pros & Cons
. Job options in many different industries
. Your work may contribute to human development/comfort as well as environment
degradation
. Could face high temperature or noise levels at work

Not hit by recession

An expert on the scope in the field

What is the range of work mechanical engineers do today?
Mechanical engineers work in areas ranging from very low temperature cryogenics to high temperature plasma welding, from automobiles on roads and trains on tracks to extremely sophisticated satellite launch vehicles and aerospace systems.

It covers a wide spectrum of knowledge domain. In its analytical side, it goes from a simple estimate of flow of fluids through pipes to complex CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis of multiphase flows. I think mechanical engineering has got a role everywhere.

What are the career prospects?
They can get into highly rated jobs in almost every field of industrial growth. Graduate engineers are getting jobs on par with postgraduates in management.

How is it a ‘gateway’ to other fields of engineering?
Mechanical engineering is the mother of all branches of engineering. It forms the base for design, production and assembly of any component used in any industry, not necessarily those producing mechanical goods.

A mechanical engineer can have a significant impact on the growth of intelligent manufacturing, bio-mechanical engineering, online quality and productivity management, energy farming, green power engineering, molecular manufacturing, etc.

How were job options during recent economic slowdown?
The slowdown may have affected a few branches, but the scenario is still very good for mechanical engineering. The average (placement) salary in DTU is about Rs 5.5 lakh a year. The highest package was Rs 40 lakh a year in 2007 and Rs 11 lakh in 2008.

Sagar Maji, head, department of mechanical engineering, Delhi Technological University Interviewed by Rahat Bano