r/MechanicalEngineering

Since I started working as an HVAC engineer, I’ve often felt that the work can be a bit too easy and repetitive.

During my time at university, I was part of a rocketry team where I led the Aerodynamics Department and later the overall engineering team for nearly two years. That experience really strengthened my skills in R&D and troubleshooting (if you’ve ever worked with rockets, you know things rarely work the first time.

I applied to some rocket companies in Sweden, Germany, and France, but unfortunately was rejected by all of them. Since I’m not willing to relocate unless it’s for a role directly related to propulsion or aerodynamics, I decided to stay in my home country (which is still underdeveloped in this field), also due to family reasons.

That said, I want to work with something more "interesting" or make HVAC a bit more challeging as I kinda like it :)

So my question is: how can I make my current path more interesting while still moving towards something closer to what I ultimately want?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a university assignment and was wondering if anyone has access to or knows where I could find a CAD drawing or 3D model of the Harland & Wolff cranes in Belfast.

I’ve come across a few basic 3D models online, but I’m ideally looking for something a bit more detailed or accurate (even partial drawings, dimensions, or references would be really helpful). Happy to pay.

It’s purely for academic use, so any help, links, or guidance would be massively appreciated!

Thanks in advance 😊

I’m a fresh graduate mechanical engineer who feels he has lack of knowledge. My electives were in: (FEA, Materials science, advanced manufacturing tachneques, mechanical vibrations) so I feel strong and confident in simulations and analysis but other than that I feel very stupid. I’m currently doing my second internship with a big company that works in power generation and I feel lost since I didn’t take the turbo-machinery elective course in uni and I don’t feel like a proper mechanical engineer yet. Help:(

Hey everyone,

I could really use some advice. I was recently admitted to Virginia Tech’s Master’s in Data Science program (or Systems engineering in another collecge), but I’m also considering a full-time job offer from GE Aerospace (between 80 to 90k/year, production associate role).

My background is in Industrial & Systems Engineering, and I’m interested in data science / analytics long-term, but I’m also open to operations-type roles. That said, I don’t see myself wanting to stay in a plant/manufacturing environment long-term. Also, not a full time coder (these jobs are changing anyways)

My concern is that this GE role seems heavily manufacturing-focused, and I’m worried about getting stuck in that environment or being pigeonholed into plant roles.

On the other hand, the financial side is really appealing—especially being able to live at home and save.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or taken a role like this and successfully pivoted out later? Or would grad school be the better move here? other idea is to do Masters remote and move internally.

Supplier just told us our resin grade is being phased out and their 'equivalent' replacement has different processing characteristics. Now I'm going through revalidation of the new material which I'm not sure I have the full budget for. Is there a way to figure out if the replacement was actually equivalent without re-running your entire test program? Has this happened to anyone?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently looking for ideas for small research topics (Master’s level) related to pipeline inspection, and I’d really appreciate your input.

A few important constraints:

I don’t have access to a laboratory, so the topic should be purely analytical, numerical, and/or theoretical.

I do have access to some basic data, including ILI (In-Line Inspection) reports.

I also have access to industry standards and technical documentation.

I’m particularly interested in topics that involve data analysis, modeling, simulation, reliability assessment, defect evaluation, or integrity management.

If you have any suggestions for specific research questions, problem statements, or even general directions to explore, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks in advance for your help

I think I understand the basics of datums and the difference between it and datum features: datums are a perfectly flat plane derived from the real part (assuming CAD of this part is perfectly flat), while a datum feature is the actual surface is self- which won't be perfectly flat with the microscopic imperfections.

What I don't understand is

1. The difference between placing the "datum marker" directly on the surface or on a FCF. Take this image:

Are #2 and #6 the same thing? (Just looking at the symbol, they're obviously different datums in this image)

I think I know that the dashed vs solid lines denote which "side" the datum is on and that #5 is creating a theoretical center plane as the datum, but I'm not sure on the differences between the rest- if there is one.

Or this image as well:

Are #3 and #4 the same thing? (Again, just looking at the symbol)

2. What is the actual use of a datum feature?

Even in the 2nd image, the surface of C becomes the datum feature and the theoretical centerline/axis becomes the perfect datum? How is the datum feature any different than a normal surface here? A different book I own says that "Geometric tolerances" are always related to the perfect datum- which I assume to be talking about the theoretical datum and not the datum feature/real surface. This makes sense to me, because how would you dimension and measure a couple million spots with slightly different dimensions, right? Are there "tolerances" that are not considered a "geometric tolerance"? The book didn't do a good job at defining that.

I feel like I understood datum markers placed on a FCF to be denoting datum features, but then how are we referencing the datum feature on dimensions? Strange open loop that I can't wrap my head around.

Hi everyone, I’m currently studying Fluid Mechanics and looking for good resources to understand turbulent flow and compressible flow in a clear and intuitive way. Textbooks, lecture notes, YouTube lectures, or any online courses would be really helpful.

I’m comfortable with basic fluid mechanics (Reynolds number, boundary layer, Navier–Stokes basics), but I want to develop a deeper conceptual understanding of turbulence models, boundary layer in turbulent flow, shock waves, Mach number effects, etc.

If you have any recommended books, playlists, or notes that helped you, please share. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I am a second year chemical engineering student and my exams begin in around 6 weeks.

I’m curious if I could receive any advice in how to study for the examinations for modules such as thermodynamics, reactor engineering and process system controls.

I’m not sure if u should spend my time going through the lectures notes/ppt and then doing the tutorial questions or, do the tutorial questions alongside the lecture notes and not waste time rewriting.

After this, I plan to do the past exam paper content.

I hope this all makes sense, :)

I wanted some advice from some mechanical engineers, mainly from the US. I'm a high school senior graduating with an associate's degree, coursework including dynamics, diff q, calc-based physics 2, and I'm planning to take a summer course in linear algebra. Don't worry, I'm not wasting my final summer year. The course I'm planning on taking is unproctored. I want to ask some questions if you dont mind answering them, is mechanical engineering the right path to take, im struggling on calc-based physics 2 everyone said calc 2 was the hardest thing and first step into engineering but that first step for me was physics 1 or 2 i don't know if its because of the professor since i cant understand a word he says or the actual course material, no one on the internet talks about how hard calc-based physics 2 is. Hence, it should be easy. Hence, it's been very heartbreaking to pursue an actual engineering degree if I can't get an A+ in this course note. I've only ever gotten A's in all other classes, like statistics, physics 1, calc 1, 2, and 3. Still, Physics 2 might be my first-ever B or C, which I don't mind at all. That's my first question. My second question is: I'm planning to pursue a bachelor's in mechanical engineering with a minor in aerospace, and potentially a master's. I know the question I'm asking, I can do my own research, which I have, but I want to know my realistic salary. My only goal in engineering was to make over six figures, which is possible, but not at the same time. Engineering has never been my dream career; I chose it only for stability and to make my family proud. I want to hear mainly from the US because I know other countries don't pay engineers as much as the US does, but I would love your advice on the academic side.

Hey guys i’m gonna try to keep this as short as i can. Basically in my first semester, i was taking statics and it was going fine till the final. I couldn’t answer anything. The problems were on a whole other level. Statics managed to be the thing that completely screwed up my gpa so now i have to try and save it this semester.

I’m taking a dynamics course right now and i want to prepare as much as i can for future tests and the final especially. I was wondering if any of you guys can recommend stuff that’s gonna make me better at getting the grasp of concepts quickly and being able to solve new ideas by myself that type of thing.

Kinematics of Particle: Rectilinear Motion- Plane motion of a particle- Cartesian coordinates- Plane motion of a particle -

Intrinsic coordinates .

Kinetics of a particle: Newton's Laws (Force & Acceleration)-Principle of Work and Energy -Principle of Impulse and Linear momentum. Applications : Free Projectile Motion with military and civil applications-constrained motion - Impact and collision.

This is my course description^^

Also besides our uni’s book, we use the hibbeler 14th edition SI one.

I would really appreciate it if you guys could help and thank you for reading all of this.

Hello,

I’m looking for guidance on what I should be learning if I want to eventually design small engines and build a business around it.

Background:

* I’m a boilermaker (MIG welding / fabrication)

* No formal engineering degree

* Currently unemployed and trying to move toward working for myself long-term

* Based in Australia

* Strong interest in mechanical and aerospace engineering

Goal (long-term):

I’d like to design:

* Small diesel engines (2-stroke and 4-stroke)

* Small gas turbines / jet engines

* Small liquid rocket engines With Turbopump's (at an experimental / educational level)

I’m not trying to jump straight into building these — I want to understand the fundamentals properly first.

Tools / approach:

* I plan to use FOSS tools (LibreCAD, FreeCAD, Blender, Inkscape)

* For manufacturing, I’m considering outsourcing parts to machine shops (e.g. PCBWay or similar)

My main question:

If you were starting from scratch, what exact subjects would you focus on first?

Specifically:

* What level of maths is actually required? (algebra vs calculus vs beyond)

* Which physics topics matter the most for engines?

* What engineering knowledge is essential before attempting real designs?

* In what order should I learn all of this to avoid wasting time?

Constraints:

* Limited budget

* Learning independently (no university for now)

* Wanting a practical, step-by-step path rather than vague advice

I’m looking for a realistic roadmap — even if it’s “you’re underestimating how much you need to learn.”

Appreciate any guidance or reality checks.

If you’ve done similar self-taught pathways, I’d really like to hear how you approached it.

Thanks

I installed the Elite Software for Hydraulic Calculation, The Program Called Fire and when I clicked to open it the wef file error appears, in YouTube videos the links for downloading the wef programs its not working anymore, so help how to fix this problem?

Hey folks,

Context: I (2.5YoE) recently started a position this past November as a mechanical engineer at a startup. Since joining we’ve changed from planning phase to a heavy R&D phase.

Now that we are in the swing of things my time is stretched pretty thin. There’s a lot of cool stuff I wish I could do right now, but simply can’t.

We are considering hiring an intern but are worried we won’t have the bandwidth to manage them closely. I’m considering posting on LinkedIn and just seeing what students in my area have to offer - only hiring if the right student presents themselves.

Anyone been in this situation and have general advice? I would love to hear from folk that have interned or managed at startups/small companies, what went right, what went wrong, etc.

Some specifics: their scope would be purely limited to defining a build&design for a fancier POC than we would have time to produce, had we not acquired their help.

It’s simple in that the core architecture can be aluminum T-slot rectangular prism and plastic panels.

I’d like them to play around with post processing prints, learning how to get the right finish for our purposes, and how to seamlessly fill gaps between printed panels.

Is asking for a POC build process and DFA methodology too much to ask for from a ME undergrad?

Hoping to do 12 week with DFM/DFA learning modules, and some industry specific onboarding.

I plan to make a weekly play-by-play plan for deliverables.

Thanks for your thoughts in advance!

Do skippings of a toothed belt only depend on how much angle the belt wraps around the driving/driven pulley, or does the entry/exit angle matter?

In other words, when there's a toothed belt loop where the driven axle is arranged right above the driving axle, and the driving axle can rotate in either way, in order to get a symmetric skipping behavior, do you need to arrange two idlers in symmetry, or can you get away with a single idler?

I asked two LLMs, but being clankers they are with absolutely no spatial awareness, afaict (unless I'm having grave misunderstandings in the terminologies) they kept mixing up CW/CCW rotations and tight/slack enterings to each pulley :D And eventually, they did reach the same conclusion, but they were giving different reasons.

(Additional question: Suppose I made an exaggerated configuration and arranged the idlers on the right side on both spans, so that the spans looked like < <. Which way of the bottom driving axle's rotation would be more likely to cause skip, CW or CCW?

I'm getting confused again with this one, because ignoring the gravity and assuming the belt is only carrying the tension T, the pulleys are gonna simply experience the tension as if the other pulley is installed a bit leftwards?)

If it matters, the rotation is going to be very slow, ~5 RPM.

I have four shafts and sprockets I need to drive with a chain. The shafts are in a trapezoidal arrangement and the two sprockets on the short side would have only 45 degrees of wrap if the chain simply wraps around all four sprockets.

To get more wrap I could put an idler sprocket on the narrow side, pushing the chain down into the inside of the trapezoid.

The chain will be in an oil bath. Maximum chain speed would be around 2,000 feet per minute.

The thing is, I seem to remember from long ago that bending a roller chain "backwards" from its normal path will seriously increase wear and operating temperature will reducing its load factor. But I'm not finding anything about that online.

Am I imagining things, or is this a non-issue?