Types of mechanical engineering

Many students keep asking us about different types of mechanical engineering. They are not clear about different areas of mechanical engineering. Actually this question is a bit confusing in itself. We call it“sub disciplines” instead of “types”. So “Types of mechanical engineering” actually are “sub disciplines of mechanical engineering” in a true sense. All different types of mechanical engineering have something in common which is study and application of heat and motion. Here are some of the well known types of mechanical engineering (or sub disciplines in other words):

Manufacturing engineering:  Manufacturing engineering is a type of mechanical engineering which deals with study and analysis of different manufacturing practices. It deals with research and development of machines, machine tools, parts, products, equipment, processes and systems etc.

Thermal engineering: As the name suggests thermal engineering deal with cooling and heating of processes, closed environments or equipment etc. Mechanical engineers in this area of specialization are taught to keep any system at optimum temperature.

Automotive or Automobile engineering:  Automotive engineers design, build, maintain, and operate self - propelled vehicles for use on land or sea, in air or space. From manufacturing of car parts to assembly of car parts, all is covered under umbrella of automobile engineering. This is one of the most interesting and most demanding types of mechanical engineering.

Acoustical engineering:  Acoustical engineers manipulate and control vibrations and they work on reducing unwanted sounds in any system or process.

Aerospace engineering: In this branch of mechanical engineering, students are taught things like design, construction, operation and support of aircrafts, spacecrafts and other air vehicles. They are responsible for the research, design and production of spacecraft, aircraft, aerospace equipment, missiles and satellites.

Naval Engineering:  This is one of the types of mechanical engineering which deals with marine structures. Naval engineers are responsible for design, analysis, maintenance and manufacturing of marine vehicles and other related structures.

Biomedical engineering: Biomedical engineers study both the fundamentals of mechanical engineering and human anatomy and physiology.  They design and develop biomedical products and products which help people with different injuries like spinal injuries etc. This is one of the best types of mechanical engineering which is serving medical field in a very positive way. Many human disabilities can now be recovered due to the efforts of biomedical engineers.

Structural analysis: This is a branch of mechanical engineering as well as civil engineering. Students in this branch try to learn how and why structures fail and what possible measures are to e taken to save any structure from failing.

I hope after reading this article, you will be able to understand all basic types of mechanical engineering. These sub disciplines as mentioned above are very fundamental and basic areas of specialization for mechanical engineers. All these fields include study of basic mechanical engineering concepts and then at later stage students are encouraged to opt for their areas of interest.