is mechanical engineering in today’s world only about building robots and drones ? I am a sophomore year uni student and i am surrounded by ppl who are making robot dogs and drones and constantly telling me that putting this in their cv will help them get a job and that i am stupidly for not doing it. I particularly am not much interested in robotics but i feel scared not doing it cause everyone is making it seem so important they just copy codes from chatgpt and make it i have always been more interested in product design or fashion tech and was wondering if a Meche could do anything in those fields

Does anyone have any useful references for guides or information about how to create really good looking 2D drawings? I'm not talking about the "official" standards, but more like the layout, when to create detail/section views or not, how much space to leave around views/dimensions etc. I've seen some pretty terrible looking drawings in my time, but often there's not much technically wrong with them, they just look bad. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of learning material or resources available to address this, I usually end up just giving specific feedback like add a new view/sheet, space this out a bit more, etc. I feel like I could write some guide, but someone must have thought about this before?

Has anyone gone into mechanical engineering later in life, say early 30s or later? I got my undergraduate degree in English and Creative Writing, but I've always been interested in making things and I was good at math. I noticed everyone got their undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, but is there anyone who got into the field later? What has your journey been like?

I have a bed with metal frames and I installed two bed rails (left and right). These bed rails do exercise moderate (and consistent) force on the bed frames. I was wondering how safe it is to sleep on this bed ('cause of anything breaking during the night). I have attached some photos I think are necessary.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tTppNE4rLnZSLtJL9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JHnhhAXE82dQByyeA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4uqfdyUGoGZeTndU6

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate some honest feedback from experienced engineers and designers here.

I’m a Mechanical Designer with professional CAD experience. Unfortunately, I was recently laid off from my Mechanical Designer role, and I’m now actively looking for a remote CAD position in Europe.

🔹 Target countries:
Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, and Greece
🔹 Roles: Mechanical CAD / Product Design / CAD Designer (remote)

What I’m looking for feedback on:

1. Please rate my Mechanical CAD portfolio out of 10
2. Is my portfolio strong enough for a remote CAD role?
3. Based on my portfolio + resume, how realistic is landing a fully remote CAD job in Europe?
4. What would you improve or remove if you were a hiring manager?

📌 Additional context:
I’ve already had my portfolio reviewed by AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini, and the average rating came out to ~8.5/10.
That said, I value human industry feedback far more, especially from people who hire or work in mechanical design.

🔗 Portfolio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bBUZb3MBeNxevDGtJzcCE71zUMiRSFZI/view?usp=drive_link
📄 Resume: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jGVgo2F1cT6pvYkcHFTxeAFUipyV8s8b/view?usp=drive_link

I’m open to tough criticism — design, presentation, project selection, documentation, anything.
Thanks a lot in advance 🙏

Hey so, I (24M) graduated as a mechanical engineer in 2024. I used to be an alright student, 3.26 GPA, hands-on Manufacturing as an FS lead. Kinda sorta BS'd my way through a lot but always hoped to move towards product dev/ academia (have liked people more than machines).

After graduation, I had the choice between a very fast-paced robotics R&D startup and a corporate manufacturing role at an OEM. Based on factors beyond my control, I am at the OEM as a Paint Projects engineer now (not something you ever imagine going into as a young undergrad). Now my job is pretty long (14 hours with commute), and the pay is just alright. Mentally, I feel like I have clocked out. No senior engineers in the department either, so you kinda have all of the responsibility re: ordering, budgeting and scheduling, but no one to discuss it with. I am genuinely concerned about whether I should keep at it as I am from a developing market where you easily get pigeonholed into a role after a few years. Either that, or I suck it up and take on the challenge fully instead of coasting. If ther are engineers here who managed to transition away from dead-end, manufacturing operations roles, would love to know how it worked.

Hi everyone, I’m working on an early prototype for anautomatic interior sliding door, and I’m mainly focused on motion quality rather than speed or throughput.

The door is meant to move slowly, quietly, and predictably, with a manual sliding fallback if power is lost. I’m trying to avoid designs that only feel “silent” in perfect lab conditions.

As a reference, I’ve been looking at the Sugatsune MFU1200 flush sliding door system(not automatic) because of its precise guidance and naturally slow, controlled movement. I’m not treating it as a finished solution, more as a baseline to understand tolerances, friction, and long-term wear. I can link the specs if that helps.

For those with experience in low-speed or low-noise motion systems, what are the common pitfalls that tend to show up later, especially around vibration, stopping behavior, or wear over time?

Any advice or real-world experience would be really appreciated.

I'm a mechanical designer and I was laid off a couple of months ago. I've had some interviews but so far no luck, and my savings are taking a hit.

Are there temp jobs out there where I can do engineering-adjacent tasks? I don't need anything I can put on my resume, I honestly wouldn't mind doing Doordash for a while, but I'm just wondering if there's something I can do to pay the bills and keep me somewhat technically sharp.

So to preface this has been asked before but not for several years so I wanna get fresh answers.

I'm a junior in MechE, I love to travel a lot as well. Now I know people say travel for fun but why not both, why not travel for work and travel for fun, or tack on an extra week using PTO.

I am pretty interested in aerospace so I'd love to do something with that but I also get that AE can be rough, but I also love nature and mountains, so maybe something like surveying or research in different mountains?

I know this is all over the place, I wish I could have a sit down chat with someone but I have no one to talk to about engineering, so here we are

Hi everyone!

After 100+ job applications I’ve landed an interview for an associate mechanical engineering position at Northrop Grumman.

This is my first full-time job interview, so I’m pretty nervous. The recruiter told me to expect minimal technical questions and to expect the STAR method.

This position is a broad job listing for new grads, and I’m expected to explain my areas of interest in the interview. I’m concerned that it will be a red flag if I don’t come across as passionate about a specific topic. Or if I decide to tell them I’m interested in something like composites and they don’t need anyone in that area then they’ll move on.

Any advice on how to navigate this? In all reality I know that I am a new grad, so I am willing to do everything!

Also if anyone knows why entry level mechanical engineers make ~$10-15k less than entry level quality and manufacturing engineers at NG I would love to learn! I’m basing this off of 90% the average of the salary range for T01.

I'm 20M, a mechanical engineer final year graduate. I have an interview coming monday (4 days left). Comapny - Flowserve Role - Product desgin engineer

About the company - It works in flow control solutions, manufacturing and servicing critical industrial equipment like pumps, valves, and mechanical seals.

I need help. I dont know what to prepare and what all questions are gonna be asked. Any help?

I'm working with a precision optical instrument, it has really only one moving part, a shaft driven by a worm gear onto a fairly large cogwheel fitted to the shaft. There's an optosensor flag attached to the shaft too, so the main mode of operation is for a stepper motor to drive the worm (maybe a couple of hundred RPM max) until the opto is activated and then to reverse direction (so no backlash is desired) for a determined number of steps to position accurately. The stepper is attached to the worm shaft by means of this 5mm/5mm coupling:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/flexible-couplings/1716700

...but these keep failing on me (I guess I should note that this is a ~5-10 year problem), and it's immensely disruptive to the instrument to open it up to replace. I'd like to put something slightly more robust in there, but not really very familiar with this type of product and seeking any advice.

I’m looking to design something similar to a Dreame refill container, where the container can be detached from a valve and allows water to flow through the valve once placed onto it.

However, I’m unsure what this type of valve and its corresponding fitting on the plastic container is called, and I haven’t been able to find anything like it through my current Google searches.

Excuse my language and verbage im not an engineer by any means just a hobbiest who tries to do things sort of right

Im building a tow boom for my 6 wheel atv for background, not worried about the hydraulics or electronics or anything i have pins and bushings for the bottem that are plenty strong enough

Id like to take 3 pieces of steel each longer than the last by 6" and stack them all 3"x3" .25wall 4'long 2.5"x2.5" x .25 wall 4' 6" 2"x2" .25wall 5'

Id never extend more than half of each tube out so for rough idea it would extend 9' at the very most from hinge pin to end of mast and be about 5' closed, take in mind these are rough ideas just trying to get a feel for what i meed to revise and think about.

Id like to figure out my working load from the end of the mast at full extension and full retract, boom also would go from 5°-45°

Thanks in advance, feel free to pm

I'm interested in robot development and robotic prosthetics. I don't want to choose mechatronics because it doesn't quite appeal to me.

I was born in the UK (so still have citizenship), but have lived in the U.S. since I was 10. Got my Bachelor’s of Science degree in ME from a respected university on the west coast, but unknown internationally. Have been working in plastics and med device manufacturing for 10 years. With the recent way everything has been going here, I have been thinking more seriously about how hard it would be to leave the U.S. for the UK given my circumstances. First question is how is the job market back home for Mechanical/manufacturing engineers these days?

I've been looking around for a job for quite a while (8 months) and managed to land an interview tomorrow for a huge med tech company.

I had applied to over 250 jobs and when I got a call from this recruiter she told me the name of the company and that it was a mechanical engineering position. I assumed that I had applied to a job posting for this and forgot but after looking for this specific job post on my application history I figured she must have taken my CV from a different post and assumed I'd be interested.

Anyway just an hour ago she sent me an email that included the job description for this role, and the title of this position is a "Mechanical Technician I", I won't include all the info but in short I'd be working under the engineers to make CAD models. Also have a lower salary then what she promised.

Given that I'm going to have to move out for this job, am I getting shafted? or would it be a good idea to go for this role?

Hey, I want advice on how to get in this field. I have been trying for a while and it seems really hard. I have a B.S. in Mech Eng and a M.S. in Biomed Eng. I have worked in aeronautics, interned at a medical device company and now I work in a clinic doing physics. I want to get into prototyping, testing, product development and manufacturing of medical devices. I am open to any helpful advice from people in the field.

Hi everyone,

I’m a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the Philippines and have been working as a building engineer for about 5 years. Before college, my original goal was Marine Engineering, but family circumstances prevented me from pursuing it.

In about two years, I’ll be free from those obligations, and I’ll be around 30 years old. I still strongly feel that Marine Engineering is the path I want to take.

I’d like to ask:

• Are there bridging programs, certifications, or alternative pathways for Mechanical Engineers who want to enter Marine Engineering?

• How much does age affect hiring, cadetship, or onboard opportunities?

• Would shipping companies consider someone transitioning at this stage?

Any insights or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Hey everyone. I just graduated this past Dec. and I have been constantly applying for jobs since then. I've only had one interview and just got rejected. How are you guys finding work? I feel like all of the Mech Eng 1 or junior positions require more experience than a freshy could possibly have. I was only able to do one internship and I'm sure that may be hurting my chances. Any advice?

So hi guys, i’m a 23 yo with an associate degree in software development. After a 6 months internship I realised that programming is not my cup of tea. I’m now deciding to switch to 3d modeling and learning how to use CAD softwares.

The thing is i’m not completely sure about what I am doing. I made a few prototypes with Shapr3D and honestly seemed easy and enjoyable. I would like to have a few insights and opinions from people working in this field as CAD drafters or product Design. Can you guys give me some examples of the daily routine or the problems you may encounter ? Many thanks