Dr. Suresh Prasad, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, GNIOT, Greater Noida
Course contents of Mechanical Engineering can be broadly classified into four categories
- Design Engineering
- Manufacturing Engineering
- Industrial Engineering
- Thermal, Hydraulics and Power Plant Engineering
For the manufacturing of any products from small to bigger ones, the first requirement is to design the product. Designing means to decide the dimensions of various parts of the products and materials for making the products. For this purpose, engineering mechanics (i.e., statics and dynamics), the theory of machines (kinematics and dynamics of machines), machine design and computer-aided design, vibrations, etc. are taught in the discipline of mechanical engineering.
After designing, the products are manufactured in the workshop. For manufacturing, the processes required in the workshop are foundry, forging (i.e., blacksmithy), welding, machining, carpentry, fitting, sheet metal work, etc. For this purpose, manufacturing processes, material science, production technology, workshop, computer-aided manufacturing, etc. are taught in the branch of mechanical engineering. These subjects cover foundry technology, forging technology, welding (i.e., fabrication), sheet metal processes, machining processes (conventional as well as non-conventional), etc.
Industrial engineering is a subject which helps in managing the manufacturing process so that products can be produced at an economical rate. It helps in reducing waste and defective products. For this purpose, some subjects which may be taught in the branch of mechanical engineering are industrial engineering, total quality management, production and operation management, etc.
In addition to the above, some subjects covered in the branch of mechanical engineering are thermal, hydraulics and power plant engineering. For covering the thermal part the subjects taught in mechanical engineering are thermodynamics and heat & mass transfer. Hydraulics portions are covered in the subject’s fluid mechanics and fluid machines.
The above subject contents may vary from university to university. Subjects are compulsory or may be optional which may vary from university to university.