I am a teenager and interested in mechanical engineering but I don't know where to start.?

Question

I am 16 and will be a junior next year. I want to study engineering in college and I want to at least learn some basics of mechanical engineering (I want to "invent" things, so I think mechanical engineering would be best way to go--if you think otherwise, let me know).

Where should I start to learn the basics and possibly start building things?--There are no classes at my school that would offer this kind of thing and getting a club started would be fairly difficult, I just want something that I can do on my own.

Thanks in advance for any advice given

Answer 1

First, make sure that you take challenging math classes and physics in high school. You will need these fundamental skills and knowledge in order to complete an ME program at any school. As far as getting something going locally, contact local mechanical engineers in your area, tell them your interests and ask their input. If you have major design and manufacturing business in your area, you might find some their, also, your municipal districts, if big enough, probably have some there, and don't forget to check the local universities and technical schools. Also, look for websites for ME associations and societies. There may be a local one in your area.

Answer 2

The basics of engineering start with a healthy dose of math and science, especially Physics. If you haven't taken a Physics class yet, >>highly<< recommend doing so. In the class you'll be exposed to different experiments that will hopefully allow you to see how the physical world works, and give you a taste of how to build things to get yourself started down the road of invention. Don't try and build a Perpetual Motion machine. You'll be laughed at.

Mechanical Engineering will give you a broad range of knowledge. You'll pick up a little bit of Electrical Engineering, Logic, Strength of Materials, some Civil Engineering topics, and depending on your focus, Manufacturing processes, Nuclear Engineering, and so on. If you want to invent, definitely focus on materials and manufacturing / design for manufacturability.

Ask science teachers about what types of competitions may be in your area, everything from Robotics to Bridge Building, and sign up for those. These tend to be team events though, so you may want to find other people that would be willing to go in with you on it. This will give you an idea of what you need to do in order to start the creative juices flowing. There may be a local business or laboratory that sponsors these things. Around here, there's a 'Rube Goldberg' competition held every year that has teams from the local grade and high schools competing, and it's sponsored by the national lab nearby.

Once in college, look for other competitions or even graduate projects that need help, and get involved with those. Keep the grades up, and you'll be a Mechanical Engineer (ME) in no time!

Answer 3

Mechanical engineering is the broadest field of engineering, in other words, you can do a great deal with such a degree.  Keep in mind that if it moves, then a mechanical engineer was involved in its design. Look around at things that move(cars, airplanes, robots, etc) and learn how  they work, eventually you'll find something you like. Also, if your school doesn't offer any engineering-related, frequent bookstores, pick up a few books and get a head start. However, if you want to invent things you may want to look at the more rapidly developing fields, such as computer engineering, electrical engineering, or nuclear engineering.

Answer 4

There are some great online periodicals devoted to all types of engineering. A few listed below, use a search engine to locate more.

Answer 5

A few things.  First of all, I would see about trying to talk to practicing mechanical engineers [I will abbreviate "MEs"].  Similarly, see about talking to professors at a college about what MEs do.  However, that is not necessarily the best option since many may not have ever left academia.  I think also you should read up about ME.  For example, check Wikipedia's article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_...

It is important to understand that ME [and all engineering disciplines] are very diverse fields.  There are many different opportunities available.  As a chemical engineer I can only speak from what I know, which is not ME.  But, as an example, within ChemE we have your "traditional" path - petrochemical plants.  However, ChemEs are doing everything from polymers to sales to business.  For example, where I work all of the executives are engineers of some form.  People from my graduating class are doing everything from petrochemicals to process engineering [in non-petrochemical] to sales in the concrete business to programming PLCs for chemical plants.  ME is no different in the diversity.

Spend some time researching the options and details.  I admit that I went into ChemE not knowing really what it was.  I figure there are a lot of people who do the same thing.  Make sure you're doing something you really want to do.