<p>My junior is a math/science kid who is interested in engineering, but not sure yet which area of engineering. Lately MechE seems high on his list. He is not one of those kids who has been working on engines or building things all his life, but this is a developing interest. </p>
<p>He is taking a general intro to engineering class in school and is getting involved in a couple of tech-y clubs. But I thought it might be good for him to have something to read that gives an overview of MechE, an idea of what a MechE student studies first year, or something like that. </p>
<p>So I am hoping for a recommendation from one (or more) of you helpful folks on this board. Any suggestions of reading that would not be too far over a 16-yr-old newbie's head? Thank you!</p>
<p>That is a very small subset of what mechanical engineers do. I did just fine having never taken apart or tinkered with an engine, never did any of that in school and never did any of that after getting my degree. It’s not generally the engineer who is doing the actual work on machinery anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t really know of any reading to answer your question, to be honest, but probably the best way to look at what an mechanical engineer studies is just to go to the website for various mechanical engineering programs and look at their degree plan. They generally have a list of required courses and a layout of what a typical four years would look like. Also, as with most other engineering disciplines, in the first year of studies there is typically very little mechanical engineering being studies as you first have to take the basic math and science courses that build up to the engineering courses.</p>
<p>Thanks boneh3ad – He has done some looking at websites but I will encourage him to do it in more depth. He will be reassured (as I was) to hear your statement that he does not need to be an accomplished mechanic to succeed in MechE. I appreciate the input.</p>
<p>We got a subscription to Popular Mechanics for my son when was young, and later Popular Science. By the time he was a junior he preferred Scientific American. There is also a robotics magazine.</p>
<p>Science and technology magazines are great reading materials for boys that are not into reading fiction
Depending on the kid’s age, you might want to rip out the advertisements in the back ;)</p>
<p>Other things…
US Dept. of Labor has very detailed info and employment projections for each job title:
[BLS</a> Search Results](<a href=“BLS Search Results”>BLS Search Results)</p>
<p>My son and friend are both college freshmen. Both in engineering. My son mentioned his friend selected his major, Mechanical engineering, because he enjoyed reading “how things work”. He realized he liked learning how a lawn mower worked. He is enjoying his studies so far. My son selected Civil engineering because he realized his early fascination with cars, trucks, roads and bridges has remained an interest as he grew up.</p>
<p>It’s really more relevant to EE. But as newbie MechE, I enjoyed it. The technology in this 1981 is outdated. But it’s still probably a good read on development process / refinement.</p>
