revise

 

Danah Darweesh

Richard Samuelson

English 1102

March 14, 16

Mechanical Engineering

While researching about my mechanical engineering major, one thing was clear;

mechanical engineering is a versatile course. The field offers wide range of job opportunities and

therefore, one should grasp the theoretical knowledge properly in class so that he/she may apply

in the field according to one my interviewee, who is currently working as mechanical engineer.

In this regard, description of what actually entails mechanical engineering will be discussed; the

place of work and examples of various jobs that are being done in my major. Excerpts of my

interview with various professional engineers will also be analyzed. The interview will purposely

to done to get their views about this course. In doing these, I will finally learn the various aspects

of my major and skills I currently possess that are worthwhile for me while studying this course.

Since I find this field being interesting; I will state my future plans with this course and the level

of education I am anticipating to reach. That said, my goal in this paper is to critically analyze

my mechanical engineering major; to understand what skills I should acquire, practice and

improve on so that I will be well prepared in being an astute mechanical engineer.

The work of mechanical engineers is to design and solve issues for all kinds of devices,

ranging from small toys to large machines. Mechanical engineers design many of the parts,

pieces and equipment used on a daily basis. According to the nature of their job, they constantly

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move from an office environment to the field to ensure their designs are constructed and working

accordingly.

Workplace

Mechanical engineer’s office buildings are usually very stylish and modernistic. The

building and the office have to be in such a way that they portray a good first impression since

this is where they meet with other professionals who are potential clients such as company

executives, marketing, sales and other types of engineers to gather the requirements for a design

project. This particular building is shaped like a dome with cascading stairs and escalators,

sliding doors and remote controlled window curtains and lighting. Most of the building is under

computer-aided security and other applications. It is a blend of computers and of machines and

men.

Their laboratory is a thing of futuristic beauty. Its appearance just elicits the aura of

science at its best as if you are in a science fiction movie. Since this is the place where many

mechanical engineers spend time to create and test prototypes they clearly designed and created

it to look the part is order to inspire them while they do their job. The floors and the walls are

milky white with piano finishing with cameras and thermal imaging, and sensor doors where

once you step near them they automatically open. To reduce noise or any disturbances, the lab is

located underground with several elevators leading up to the respective department offices. Since

this laboratory allows them to use machinery and equipment to ensure devices are working

properly or calibrated correctly, they had to pay very special attention to every minute detail. If

changes are required, they revise the design specifications and make the changes once they have

run tests using prototypes to ensure proper functionality. The people here are all busy but moving

 

very slowly. Everyone is silently consumed in their job and they are either pulling or pushing

some form of equipment or machine wearing all white laboratory uniforms overall.

Mechanical engineers have to work at the manufacturing plant where, after the prototype

is complete and functioning according to its specifications, mechanical engineers take it to the

manufacturing floor to ensure proper production of the device. The manufacturing plant is very

spacious and well-ventilated, with outside lighting. This is on ground and is usually open air with

numerous machines and hazardous equipment with warnings signs. The people here are in their

greasy mechanic overalls with big black boots handling heavy equipment in a noisy

environment. After the mechanical device is manufactured, mechanical engineers now go to the

site in the field, to ensure the device is functioning properly or installed accordingly. The field

can be anywhere depending on the type of machine that was being made.

Website

Simplicity is key in a good website and in this website simplicity is written everywhere.

The background is pitch black with the image of the home page being that of a robot carrying a

drill. The writings are small and very simple fonts, with the dominant colors being black and

white. There are very few graphics since lots of graphics can frustrate a reader with a slow

internet connection. The robotic animation, and black and white color can be said to be used

appropriately, portraying it to be sign of a mature website. How the pictures and the tabs overlay

when scrolling is simply artistically a thing of beauty. The picture and movements from tab to

tab are smooth and one enjoys being on this site. Its domain name is logo and its background

slideshows clearly convey the image of professionalism. Its pages are very simple which is why

it gets the message across the most quickly and effectively. These striking similarities between

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the buildings and the website are that they both portray futuristic artistic work and beauty. The

neatness and the quality of the website present good work.

Obaid Alajmi is a junior mechanical engineering student at this University. His

description of his major is basically about designing, construction, and efficiently using

machines. My main aim in learning this course in this institution is because it has a good

reputation in producing graduates who are highly valued by employers due to the exceptional

foundation in the knowledge and experience of the most fundamental of all engineering

disciplines. Here I will be well-prepared for a variety of careers in engineering, technology,

business and management. This course has differing classes, but fall under the three categories.

Obaid has attended Solid Modeling class, where he learned how to operate and wok with a

program that allows them to design their own “mechanical engineering” work.

Mechanical engineering has always motivated Obaid as it included all the aspects and

ambitions he has been looking for to progress in his personal and professional development. He

does not yet have a discrete decision regarding what, specifically, he would like to do as long as

he works somewhere where he can change and contribute to the world as a mechanical engineer.

His passion for mechanical engineering is because there is basically no limit to what an

individual can do. A mechanical engineering degree offers complex but flexible job

opportunities. This could range from working a simple job at a refinery or to working on the

most complex machines that lead the world. In this school they incorporate a variety of teaching

styles that reflect the diversity of topics covered in modern mechanical engineering, and the

range of skills and expertise required by a professional engineer.

This course involves a substantial research experience with lab placements, which

provides a platform for subsequent research as student’s progress. The course program provides

 

intensive training, placements and modules in the first year and, toward the end of the year, the

final project will need be chosen. We also had access to specialist facilities and laboratories. I

remember the hardest assignment that I worked on was a paper about a case in one of my English

classes. Our instructor made it very realistic, so the research involved a lot of paper work. The

whole scenario was set up to be as if it was a real official case, which was the hardest part, and

everything had to be perfected.

The most recent thing to learn in this major was how to I set objects to be in equilibrium

in the air by calculating the forces acting on them. It was very interesting to know and learn that

an object can stay in the air forever if we have proper calculations set. This lesson was in one of

the tough classes, but of the many tough engineering classes, one class that was tough on me was

Engineering Statics, but after really knowing what the class is about and why we need to know

what we need to know in this particular class, it became more interesting because it all sums up

toward wanting to be a successful mechanical engineer. This is the reason for taking tough

classes in engineering.

After completing my degree I am planning to further my studies and go for a Masters

and even receive a PhD degree in this major. The real reason behind this is to seek more and

more of this major because, despite the fact that it is a tough major if I proceed as a PhD student,

there are numerous opportunities waiting for me to grab, especially since I love a challenge. I

really like this major, and would advise anyone who is looking for limitless creativity and

challenges along the way to adopt it.

Also, I contacted several professional consultant engineers, most of whom are usually

busy. I had to book an appointment with one and pay him to speak with me. This consultant

engineer was the Chief Executive Officer of an engineering firm that specializes in industrial

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coating, and his name is Fared Alhudaib. He told me that in industrial coating, his firm uses

floropolymer with streamax to coat the gas tubers. The gas tubers are safeguarded in such a way

that they are prevented from corrosion.

This consultant engineer holds a masters degree in mechanical engineering, with a

specialty in heat transfer. He is an alumnus of the California State University in Los

Angeles. He has over 25 years experience as an employee in the gas and oil industry. He has

also worked as a gas and oil supplier during that 25 years. The company he is currently the CEO

of is Saudi and American owned. The US company line of specialty is chemical engineering.

He said that he decided to pursue mechanical engineering because of the wonderful

inventions and solutions that the field offered. He was particularly interested in how mechanical

engineers controlled the heat transfer in some of the industrial applications and processes. He has

a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), major having studied

thermodynamics, which is a branch of physics that deals with the work and energy in a given

system. If we bring two objects that are initially at different temperatures into physical contact,

they will eventually achieve thermal equilibrium. During the process of reaching thermal

equilibrium, heat is transferred between the objects. The amount of heat transferred is

proportional to the temperature difference between the objects and the heat capacity of the

objects.

He told me that, as the manager he is in constant communication with other partnering

companies and customers. He communicates with the relevant head of departments on what

wells to inspect. He also communicates with the government agency which periodically inspects

the plant of the firm. It ensures that all the safety procedures and controls are followed to the

letter to prevent avoidable accidents. The involvement of the government agency also makes the

 

government aware of the operations of the company, which helps them facilitate the renewal of

the licenses.

The CEO of the company is knowledgeable in coating operations, chemistry, finance, and

management. These four areas are critical, as they help him run the company efficiently. The

hardest writing he ever made was the resignation letter when he was working for an oil and gas

company. The oil company had given him an immense opportunity which he served with

diligence and made many professional friends. Leaving the company was not as simple as he had

earlier thought.

He further reiterated that education was paramount as a great equalizer. He explained that

having the theoretical knowledge of engineering was important as it helped him execute many

practical projects. He likened this experience to driving a car, whereby the learners are required

to read the relevant manual first. He asserted that education empowers the learners with the tools,

ideas, and knowledge that they require to execute different tasks.

Mechatronics is a branch of mechanical engineering that pertains to the thinking of a

synergistic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronic control and systems in

the design of products and its manufacturing processes. Mechatronics is related to the design of

systems, devices and products with the aim of achieving the required balance between basic

mechanical structure and its overall control. The purpose of this article is to provide rapid

information of topical matters featuring practical developments in mechatronics. It covers a wide

range of application areas such as consumer product design, instrumentation, methods of

manufacturing, the process in computer integration and device control, attracting a readership

from across the industrial and academic research readership.

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Particular importance has been attached to the aspect of innovation in mechatronics

design philosophy that is illustrating the benefits that can be obtained through a prior integration

of function embedded with microprocessor control. A major item discussed is the design of

machines, there are devices and systems that possess a degree of intelligence that is

computerized. The article seeks to address research progress in this field with particular

emphasis on the application rather than theory. It also serves the dual purpose of bringing greater

recognition to this important area of engineering. Mechatronics also publishes regular articles

that describe original research of high quality in this field, review articles of particularly

commissioned works, and technical notes that provide rapid publication of new contributions

that are transformational.

Robotics

The manufacturing world is rapidly changing along with its technological requirements.

Automotive flexibility has become a priority in plants globally, as engineering firms continue to

seek new and economical ways of responding to the dynamic requirements of customers.

Futuristic manufacturing factories are up and running today in local job shops and global

manufacturing giants. These smart, collaborative robots have taken a leading role to a more

productive tomorrow.

The robots are designed in such a way that they are smart and collaborative ,with the

capability to adapt to real-world variability. They are agile enough to change applications

quickly, and their artificial intelligence is high enough that they perform tasks just like people

do. These smart and collaborative robots are the perfect fit for many of the 90% of

manufacturing tasks today that can’t be practically automated today. There are so many rumors

regarding this growing collaborative robot industry that the designers and manufactures decided

 

to come together and create a resource center. This technology can best be applied in

industries and these smart, collaborative robots are being deployed into environments where

automation was once unfeasible. There is a lot of automation happening today and one can only

imagine the untapped possibilities in robotics. These groundbreaking technologies are providing

people with unprecedented access to robots ranging from manufacturing, production facilities to

classrooms and R&D labs. This is what makes these robotics products unlike anything else on

the market today.

The reason why collaborative robots will be a huge innovation and growth driver for the

robotics industry is because of their unique design and hence, their capability of working

alongside human workers, assisting them with a variety of tasks. Collaborative robots (co-bots)

are affordable, highly adaptable, and very easy to use almost like plug-and-play. They are small

and medium-sized enterprises are enthusiastic in their adaptation of this technology, and some

analysts expect this segment will see massive growth in the next few years. The humanoid

robot HUBO is a good example of robotics at its best. This robot created by Prof. Jun-Ho Oh,

has been created to do dirty and dangerous jobs.

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References

Keough, J. (2016). Where Is U.S. Manufacturing Headed? Industrial Distribution.

Dunbar, Brian. NASA. NASA, 25 July 2008. Web.12 Mar.2016.

Mok, K. (2016). Collaborative Robots Will Help Human Workers, Not Replace Them. The New

Stack.

Rigby, M. (2015). Future-Proofing Uk Manufacturing: Robotics & Automation. The

Manufacturer.

Viki, Nygaard. "Top Ten Features of a Good Web Site."Professional Web Design (2003).

John Bratton, Carolyn Forshaw, Militza Callinan, Peter Sawchuk, Martin Corbett. Work and

Organizational Behaviour 2nd Edition: Understanding the Workplace. 2010.