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THE PROFESSION
Mechanical engineering is a dynamic and continually evolving profession and the most diverse among all engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineers develop the physical systems and devices that modern society needs or wants, from automobiles to air conditioning, robots to power plants, people movers to artificial limbs and rocket engines to communications satellites. Mechanical engineering also has a long tradition of leadership in helping to develop the natural environment by breaking new ground in such areas as resource conservation, improved efficiency of energy-consuming devices, development of codes for a safer technological environment, new energy sources and the like. Undergraduate and graduate programs in mechanical engineering are designed primarily to develop talents in such areas as design of components, fluid and thermal systems, controls and robotic systems and computer-integrated mechanical and electromechanical systems. However, many graduating students eventually apply their training to the additional diversified fields of computer engineering, nanotechnology, software development, financial engineering, bioengineering, manufacturing, astronautics, systems engineering and corporate management and law. As students mature and realize their abilities, their professional lives may center on engineering research, government, business or education.
Mechanical, aerospace and manufacturing engineers design and build the modern products and processes that society needs. The wide range of dynamic and continually evolving areas where such engineers are the prime movers of innovation and change include bioengineering, energy systems, aircraft, aerospace, environmental engineering, controls for mechanical systems, mechanical-electrical devices, automobiles, materials engineering, automated manufacturing, structural engineering, robotic systems, fluidic systems and devices, production planning and control and combustion processes and systems.
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The Profession 
