WHAT DOES A MECHANICAL ENGINEER DO? FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES - TECHNOLOGY - 2025

The mechanical engineer is responsible for making use of the tools of physics, chemistry and mechanics for the design, commissioning, maintenance and improvement of all systems that have mechanical parts, from the design of a sewing needle to the design of a space ship.

Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest disciplines, however, it continues to be at the forefront in the development of new technologies. Previously large construction works were carried out by military engineers. This engineering included the trades of topography, location, design and construction of bridges, fortifications and docks.

From the 18th century on, it took the name of civil engineering for the construction of these buildings for non-military purposes. As a consequence of the industrial revolution, and given the increase in the design and use of machinery, mechanical engineering is separated from it as an independent career.

Mechanical engineering is the discipline that makes use of physics and chemistry for the design, use, construction, and maintenance and installation of mechanical systems. Like all engineers, mechanics must have extensive knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics, kinematics, fluid mechanics, and energy.

Nanotechnology, a discipline that attempts to apply microscopic particles to practical tasks, is an area of ​​interest for mechanical engineering. Also mechatronics, which combines electronic and mechanical engineering and software.

You may also be interested in: What does an industrial engineer do?

What are the functions of a mechanical engineer?

Among the activities carried out by a mechanical engineer are:

1. Design, manufacture, manufacture and operation of the components of the following areas

a) Heat exchangers: refrigerators, ventilation systems.

b) Manufacturing process that includes lasers, precision machinery and nanotechnology.

c) Biomedical systems.

d) Vehicles, airplanes and other transportation devices.

e) Robotics, mechatronics and electronic control of machinery.

f) Predictive maintenance

g) Modeling systems based on virtual reality.

2. Engine design

Mechanical engineers design and evaluate machines as well as motors and all kinds of mechanical systems.

In the home, all motors in washing machines, blenders, and other appliances have been designed in part by mechanical engineers under the principles of electrical engineering. Likewise, many toys have mechanical parts.

Clockwork mechanisms, compact disc ejection tray systems, and once magnetic reproduction systems that made use of cassettes, record players, among others, also use structures designed by these professionals.

3. Design of turbines and power generators

Steam and gas turbines, hydraulic turbines, internal combustion engines, and the electrical generators that they drive to produce the electricity that reaches our homes, factories, and institutions, are designed by mechanical engineers.

These same turbines make our airplanes fly, and also the compressors that carry gas to other facilities or for injection into the fields.

4. Design of industrial machinery

The food, computer and food industries are closely related to mechanical engineering.

The machinery that these industries have have parts and pieces designed by mechanical engineers.

5. Design of control elements

Mechanical engineers design and maintain instruments, controls, motors, thermal or hydraulic machines, and heat exchangers.

Maintenance plans are based on your knowledge of material fatigue and part wear and tear statistics.

6. Design of oil projects

In the oil industry, the mechanical engineer is a project leader, dimensioning valves, vessels, pipes for the passage of oil, gas and other products.

The oil and gas field behaves according to the laws of hydraulics, and this is an area of ​​knowledge of mechanical engineering.

Pipes, valves, pumping systems, and storage systems are also designed by mechanical engineers.

7. Tool design

Mechanical engineers design tools and equipment required for other disciplines.

For example: antenna structures for telecommunications; cranes for the construction and lifting of loads; articulated prostheses for disabled people, support structures for roofs etc.

8. Design of maintenance programs and systems

The equipment maintenance systems of an industrial plant are designed by mechanical engineers.

They are also usually in charge of maintenance departments, within which they are responsible for scheduling corrective and preventive maintenance activities for machinery.

9. Design of pneumatic equipment

The air systems that feed the pneumatic equipment, which include air compressors, purification plants, dehumidifiers and everything related, are designed and commissioned by mechanical engineers.

10. Design and operation of hydraulic systems

Water pumping equipment for domestic and general use is also operated and designed by mechanical engineers.

Additionally and in conjunction with the civil engineers, they design the dams, with their gates and movement systems, the water flows and the sizing of the pipes and valves.

Talking about sizing is not only referring to their size, but to their ability to handle the pressures and flows appropriate to the work.

Mechanical engineering is actually the sum of several disciplines that combine to provide the engineer with the necessary tools for their work.

Among them we have mechanics as such, kinematics that is responsible for the study of bodies and systems in motion, hydraulics that studies fluids. Naval engineering and aeronautical engineering are sister careers to mechanical engineering.

The mechanical engineer works in general in the following areas, among others:

• Automotive industry.
• Aviation Industry.
• Any process that involves machines - transformation industry.
• Transportation Industry in general.
• Construction Industry.
• Mining industry.

His work has been of great importance in the history of the modern world. Today, mechanical engineers rely heavily on computer technologies, which allow them to carry out their design activities in an increasingly practical and accurate way, simulating and testing the projects they create.

References

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