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Iām a mechanical engineer at Revolve Magnetic Bearings,
where my key responsibilities are to do mechanical design of rotating equipment as well as project-manage several projects.
I was motivated to choose mechanical engineering when I got into university.
I realized the more I went through engineering, the more I had opportunities
in anywhere from management to staying in the hard-core technology area.
A basic day at my job starts with a project meeting where we meet with all of the groups in the company.
We interface very closely with software engineers and electrical engineers, as well as production team members.
It's a way to really organize the week.
After that, I usually go downstairs and interface with the machine shop and the people working on putting together the designs and the projects.
Then I usually proceed back upstairs to my office where I continue working on the designs that I'm presently working on.
I would use a solid modeling package to do the design and drafting of my project. The software package that I use is Pro Engineer.
And, what it does is it uses a 3-D solid modeling environment to physically realize the design and put things together and build it up,
very similar to the way you would do it in real life ā where you would machine the parts and assemble it up ā then assemble that up.
Ultimately, I can use the same package to create 2-D paper drawings
which I then give to production and the machinists so these parts can be physically built.
Or I could go to my computer and work on the project management part of my job.
The two things I am given at the beginning of the project are how much I have to make it for and how long I have till I have to ship it to the customer.
So, I'm responsible to laying out the project so that I ultimately deliver something that the customer ordered,
at the cost that the company wants me to build it, so that they can sell it at a fixed price to the customer and make a profit.
Another part of my day is demonstrating the products that I have to other people in the company
or, if customers come in, I give presentations and demos on how to use the software,
and ou, interface with customers, guiding them through how to use our equipment, the things that I've designed.
The biggest challenge that I've found in this career is identifying where my strengths and weaknesses lie. Just stay true to your own interests and goals.
Don't let someone lead you down your own career path. You chose your own career path.
The education that's required to be a mechanical engineer is typically four years at a bachelor level at a university.
It is possible to go on to a masters or even a Ph.D. You can start out at a mid style of living almost immediately.
And then, as you get later in your career, you'd be in a pretty good standard of living.
It all depends on how hard you want to work. Because in engineering they let you work as hard as you want.
The type of personality that would enjoy engineering is someone who is a problem solver, someone who can multitask, that has got a scientific and a math interest of sorts,
but likes to fix things that are broken. And likes to solve challenging problems and doesn't find that a stressful thing.
Creativity in problem solving is very much sought after in engineering.
I think if you're interested in mechanical engineering, if you're interested in the technical side of it,
then you might be more suited for a technology institution where you are a mechanical technician.
If you want to deal with the technical aspects of things and the problem solving as assembly of parts, then technology is a good place to start.
What do I love about a good day of work? I love seeing my designs come together and work.
I love hearing about my customers using my technology and designs and have them work for them,
and hear that they're actually achieving something that they couldn't achieve before by using my designs.
I love working with the people here and I love computer design.
I love the drafting and seeing my projects come together on the screen and knowing that one day this is going to be built and put into use by a customer.
That's about all I do around here, and they pay me to do all this fun stuff. It's great!