Subjects Offered in Mechanical Engineering

Which subjects and courses are taught to undergraduate mechanical engineering students? As a pre-requisite, mechanical engineering students are required to study basic physics and mathematics courses at school level. During four year undergraduate study program, mechanical engineering students are required to study various subjects of sciences, linguistics, humanities and management. Fundamental subjects of mechanical engineering can be classified into following categories:

1. Basic Engineering Courses (Core Subjects/ Optional Subjects)
2. Design and Manufacturing
3. Humanities/ Linguistics
4. Management
5. Labs and Workshops
6. Summer Internship

Science subjects can be divided into two categories i.e. core subjects and optional subjects. Following subjects are taught to mechanical engineers in this category:

Electronics/ Electrical Courses: To be a successful mechanical engineer, you must have basic knowledge of all aligned disciplines of engineering.

Engineering Mechanics (Statics, Dynamics): Mechanics is the study of forces and their effects on bodies in motion or bodies at rest.

Mechanics of Solids, Stress Analysis: This course introduces students to the fundamental principles and methods of structural mechanics.

Thermodynamics: This subject deals primarily with equilibrium properties of macroscopic systems, basic thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium of reactions in gas and solution phase, and rates of chemical reactions.

Fluid Mechanics: Study of fluids and their properties (force, viscosity, density etc) with respect to engineering application.

Theory of Machines: Theory of Machines deals with the study of relative motion between the various parts of machine, and forces which act on them.

Heat Transfer: Deals with complete study of heat transfer (including radiation, convection and conduction)

Engineering Design, Machine Design: The course in Machine Design help mechanical engineering students understand the fundamentals of designing the most commonly used parts, elements and units of machines and products.

Manufacturing Technology: Gives mechanical engineers introduction about manufacturing basics including manufacturing processes, equipment/control, systems, and design.

Mechanical Vibrations: This course deals with the study of vibration in mechanical systems which is concerned with the oscillatory motions of bodies and the forces associated with vibrations.

System Dynamics and Control: The course addresses dynamic systems, i.e., systems that evolve with time. Typically these systems have inputs and outputs.

CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/ Computer Aided Manufacturing): Mechanical engineers are trained to design and manufacture mechanical parts using computers.

Introduction to Automobile Engg: In this subject mechanical engineers are taught basics of automobiles including IC Engines, Vehicle Design, Air Dynamics etc)

Introduction to Finite Element: This course is an introduction to the finite element method as applicable to a range of problems in physics and engineering sciences.

Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics: Computational fluid dynamics is an important tool to investigate fluid flow problems in industry and academia.

Gas Dynamics: The course introduces compressible flow and its constitutive equations.

Refrigeration & Air-conditioning: Mechanical engineers studying this course get basic knowledge of air conditioning and refrigerants used.

Power Plants: This course offers detailed study about power generation including wind turbines, renewable energy resources, gas turbines, energy from water, coal powered power plants, nuclear power plants and solar energy etc)

I.C. Engines: Study of Engines, design of engines, study of working pressure and temperature inside engine’s cylinder.

Energy Management & Conservation: Energy conservation the most important thing than energy generation.

Robotics: The courses build towards a capstone in which you will learn how to program a robot to perform a variety of movements.

Design and manufacturing: These subjects help mechanical engineering students in understanding basic principle of drawing and design. This includes manual drawings as well as computer based drawings.

Humanities/ Linguistics courses: These courses are taught to improve technical writing and report writing skills.

Management Courses: Management courses are integral part of mechanical engineering degree. A good mechanical engineer ought to be a good manager as well. Without management skills, a mechanical engineer will completely fail in team work. These management subjects are taught to mechanical engineers in undergraduate degrees:

• Operation Management
• Industrial Safety
• Total Quality Management
• Maintenance Management
• Project Management

Topic wise knowledge of basic concepts of mechanical engineering gives more detailed information about mechanical engineering courses.