Design Engineer-Careers in Mechanical Engineering

Hello friends

This is my second article of the series. I m writing this on the basis of my experience as Design Engineer for 18 months.

The profile of Design Engineer is of true mechanical engineer. I think, this is the profile which a prospective mechanical engineer has in his dreams, while joining mechanical engineering.

The role of the Design Engineer is to manage the R&D project from conceptualisation to implementation. And its really interesting, as it touches all the aspects of the Mechanical Engineering.

It starts with Conceptualisation of the idea. For example the company decides to make a new type of steering, which is of lesser cost and requires lesser effort in manuevering the automobile. Now the first phase will be, idea generation. And after lot of brainstorming along with the project team members Design Engineer freezes few conceptual designs.

Then next phase is modelling. Now the design engineer works more closely to the concept and gives it better shape like rough dimensions. And the concept is converted to a CAD model both in 3-D and 2-D. This requires a good amount of knowledge of CAD modelling.

Then next phase is simulation. Here all the static and dynamic forces are applied on the model and tested in various situations. Like in the case of engine, lot of CAE and CFD simulations will be involved. This requires decent amount of knowledge of CAE and CFD softwares like Star CD.

Now, when the concept has been verified and approved from simulation phase, the next phase comes deals with actual prototyping. The point is, till date the technology is not sophisticated enough that can be 100% relied on. So, all the products are prototyped and tested physically. So, the dealing comes now with making a prototype. And this prototype can be made in number of ways. For example if we want to make a prototype of cylinder block of engine, then it can be made of sand casting, machining, and rapid prototyping techniques. So, here lot of knowledge of products functionality and finally deliverables are required. Also, here when the prototype is made then its verified with actual 2-D drawing. Many a times, due to constraints one has to take lot of deviations in order to make prototype. Here, while checking the prototype the engineer has to deal with QA deptt for CMM readings and other parameters.

Then next phase comes of is physical testing of the prototype. Every product has its testing parameters as defined by companies like Toyota, Suzuki........... and regulatory bodies like BIS, JIS and then the international standards. So, here the engineer needs a sound knowledge of these standards and the methodologies to conduct the test. In the case of designing altogether a new product, one has to take help of national and international Test Laboratories in order to set up the aparatus for testing and simulating the conditions for the same.

Once, the results of the physical testing are approved, the next phase comes is implementation. In this phase, design engineer has to take buy in from Machines Department, Production Department and other related departments. And once the buy in has been taken, all the departments together comes out with a implementation plan, which is normally again lead by the Design Engineer.

So this is the brief about Design Engineer Profile. I hope you will find the article interesting and useful.

Careers in Civil Engineering!!!

We all know that construction sector is booming like anything and there is lot of careers for civil engineers in this. As civil engineer I want to tell all those people who want to make their careers in construction industry.

Some of the Careers are mentioned below:

·Design Engineer: A person after passing from engineering college can join any construction industry in their design department as a design engineer. The work profile of a person is Design the structural design of any structures like Dams, Buildings, Roads, cooling towers etc depends upon the company a person joins.

·Site Engineer; In this a person send to actual construction project of a company as site engineer where a person have to manage lot of things like labors, materials etc and by seeing the drawing sent by design department make the structure.

·Quality control Engineer: In this person looking towards the quality aspects of site which includes material testing like concrete, sand, cement and aggregates etc and also looking the site activities whether everything is going on as per required quality of customers/clients. Also, person gets responsibility of making a bill, which he has to get pass from clients every month.

·Safety officer: In this person involved in looking after the safety aspects of site like safety of labors, electrical equipments related safety etc.

The Dilemma of a Computer or IT engineer.

When I say this, it comes with experience. Computer Engineering and IT engineering are the most sought after fields in engineering today. The highest cut offs are in these fields. The biggest rush is towards these fields. The core engineering fields - Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical etc have lost their charm. Most students go there as an after thought or because they cant get into telecom or computer or IT or electronics.

Lets come to the basic question. Why do you choose a field? Because of the opportunities? Because others influence you? Because of your personal inclination?

Most at the age of 18 dont decide for themselves. Its their parents decisions. But here's the problem. Very few follow their heart. Very few think what can I get out of this course. And today when engineers in India are a dime a dozen, its time to start thinking of your field and get the correct reasons to join one.

For example Computers and IT . The attraction level for these fields is at a big high. This is because of the attractive pay packages and the Indian IT companies that are making waves in the industry. But here is the dilemma. Does this degree help you in securing jobs into the IT companies? The answer is NO. the companies want engineers, be it mechanical or electronics or IT. This is because they are looking for aptitude and not computer/programming etc knowledge. All have a training course which helps you grasp various concepts and then you are put into the projects where you learn along the way. You are as good as your performance and nothign else. So whats the value of your degree when even a mechanical engineer can do your job? Wheres the job security? Where are your options? Can you do the job of a mechanical engineer? The answer is No. This is the cruel reality of these courses. Even though its attractive , its not value adding.

So what do you do? the best way is not to lock ur self by specialising. And frankly IT and computer engineering lock you to a domain. The bigger the base u have , the larger the number of domains you can capture. This does not mean that you do a basic engineering field, but this way you have more options for your future. But then again there is a question of personal liking. You wud be miserable doing what others say. So if your heart says Computers - do it, but do have a clear future in mind. Find various options available and differentate yourself from other engineers. Find your niche. and thats the way to plan a career.

Careers in Mechanical Engineering

Hello friends
This is my first article on the series. The series will be dedicated to the career options for engineers in the field of Mechanical Engineering.

Profile No. 1

Production Engineer

Well I am writing this on the basis of my experience as Production Engineer in Subros Ltd and Philips Electronics India Ltd

The role is of handling Production lines anywhere like in the field of Automobiles one handles assembly lines, machining lines, heat treatment lines, sheet metal lines, tube bending lines, etc.

The career path is normally a fresher is hired ( campus or off campus) as GET( Graduate Engineer Trainee). And the first few months goes to get accustomed to machinery. Especially in Japanese companies, it is ensured that engineers are trained to handle machines themselves. Then the Engineer comes into role of coordination. This includes, to delegate and monitor tasks of operators as per the scheducle given by PPC ( Production Planning & Control). Then to coordinate with Maintenance Deptt, Quality Deptt, Stores Deptt, Purchase Deptt, HR deptt and virtually every department.

This is most critical profile in production based companies, because here is the actual operations are conducted, others are support functions.

The issues one has to deal with are :

1. Material Shortages
2. Machine Failure
3. Bad Quality
4. Audits
5. Thefts
6. Absentism
7. Union Problems
8. Accidents
9. Production Targets Failure
10. Overtime

But, as the pressure is high so are the rewards. Production Engineers gets maximum increments and faster growth. Normally these are the people, who become Plant Heads, Operations Head and finally CEO's

The package starts in SME's is around 1.8 lac/annum and grows to 5 in next 3 years. After that it depends on the person's performance and the career path he has created for himself. Apart from money, this is the field for leaders, who have dominant and assertive personalities. They work like generals of army in the field.

My suggestion to everyone who wants to build career in Mechanical Engineering is spend at least 6 months in Production Department. The learning will be actual operations, around which the whole company revolves. So, once a person has been through this experience, he can work in any department keeping the actual situations in mind.

It will be good, if you read this article then comment on it. It will motivate me to write more in the series.