<p>I am currently an electrical engineering major thinking about transferring into mechanical engineering. I took an introductory electrical engineering course last semester but did not always enjoy what was being covered, maybe due in part to the fact that so much of it was theoretical and sometimes abstract. Also, I can't always imagine myself working with circuitboards.</p>
<p>Something i think i've always enjoyed is mechanics - i enjoyed it in high school and I also took a mechanics physics course last semester, which I felt was interesting. I'll be taking thermodynamics next semester, as I am currently in E/M physics right now. </p>
<p>So I guess my question is: what kind of person would be interested in mechanical engineering? Also, what are the major kinds of things you learn as a mechanical engineer? What are the major areas of specialization/real-life applications? Are career opportunities more limited and blue-collar than other engineering disciplines, or should availability not even be a concern? In general, why would one choose to be a mechanical engineer?</p>
<p>Thanks yall.</p>
<p>I switched from CompSci to MechE because MechE deals with the physical world. I always wanted to know how things were designed and the courses in MechE have taught me how. In one of my courses I am learning how to design things like screws, springs, bolted/welded joints, and gears and those fundamental skills will be applied to my senior year design. Another critical course was stress analysis, which taught me how to analyze forces, stresses, and strains in objects. There are many step-by-step procedures to follow in design work but creativity is a major thing. In order to survive, companies have to design new products. </p>
<p>Personally, I prefer doing project work in manufacturing settings. For my internship last summer I was given projects that required good problem-solving skills, but necessarily mechanical skills. My internship for this upcoming summer will require more mechanical knowledge. The factory will be undergoing some major renovations and I'm going to be involved in some of the preparation for it. That will involve revising production procedures, altering equipment design, etc.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineers are needed everywhere. And since MechE is such a broad discipline, a mechanical engineer at company A could be doing a very different job from one at company B. For example, my internships have dealt with installing new equipment, troubleshooting machine failures, revising production processes, etc., while a student in my class only works with mechanical drawings. His job requires him to wear nice clothes and sit at a desk while my jobs have given me a hard hat, steel-toed boots, a desk, and entire factory floors. I ultimately want to do engineering that takes me outdoors (construction, mining, etc.).</p>
<p>Which field is broader: EE or ME?</p>
<p>Mech E is much broader, it's one of the baseboard majors upon which everything (including EE) was built</p>
<p>I think ME is a little bit broader, but EE is very broad as well. EE is a lot more than breadboards! EEs do tons of things from computers, controls, optics, micro-processors, motors, ICs, and tons of other things. Both ME and EE are the best majors for the most job opportunities.</p>