As an old machinist working with young engineers here’s some advice. Get a physical copy of the McMaster and MSC catalogue and look thru them in your spare time to familiarize yourself with the available hardware. Off the shelf is always cheaper. Learn how to design and spec sheet metal parts. They are super cheap and fast from places like send cut sent. Stop over tolerancing parts. +/- 0.005" is a hell of a lot faster and easier to hit than .0005". Stop making sharp or tight interior corners on parts. Especially if the part is deep. A 24mm deep pocket with a 1mm corner radius is gonna cost you a lot of time and money. Finally, be nice to the machinist. We can really jam you up if you’re not nice and piss us off.
@@ezraclark1793 the standard length of smaller end mills usually is like 3x diameter, so a 1mm end mill will have a 3mm depth of cut. Beyond that you start having to buy extended lengths and the deflection really becomes an issue. Even with standard large end mills , deflection becomes an issue on deep pockets. It’s a good practice to consider the assembly as a whole. A good example is a part recently where a pcb was being housed in a deep pocket. The engineer designed the pocket with a very tight corner radius to accommodate the pcb, where a better solution was to modify the pcb with some quick file work. I’m lucky that I have a good working relationship with the engineers and they respect and listen to my advice. That’s not always the case. Over the years I’ve seen some really toxic relationships between machinists and engineers. As a result you get situations where a bad design gets submitted and the machinist builds a bad part to spec, knowing it won’t work , taking a lot of time and resources and when it’s accountability time they dump the whole thing on the engineer.
DFMA is great but also consider Repair. Engineers also think their designs will never require repair which is why so many products end up in the garbage.
25 year ME here. Creativity, Communication, and Design for Manufacturing are hugely important. I 100% agree that these are the skills that will make you stand out and have the most fun. This is when people who are actually interested in engineering start to stand out from those that got the degree because it was on a list of good careers. It definitely takes time to build these skills so don't expect them to appear overnight. Just soak up as much info as you can about every process you come in contact with. Be humble and learn from everyone you interact with. Other engineers, vendors, and especially assembly techs and machinists. For the first 5-10 years you can do good work but I feel like your biggest goal should be to gather tools and understanding.
When in doubt, go out to the shop and ask the machinist how he wants to do it. He will be floored that someone from the office took an interest in his lot in life. He will give you perfect advice and will always treat your projects with extra care. I used to do this and know what I am talking about.
Regarding designing for mfg/assy, having skills in the repair world has been a game changer. When I was 19, I started a powersport business, grew it for seven years, then cashed out, bought house, truck, then went to college for ME. The skills I gained throughout that timeframe was invaluable. Taking those skills into the design world of "how do I build this realistically", has been unmatched by my peers. The mindset I have walking into projects is entirely different, and it shows. The moral here is work on/build/repair/retrofit/etc and you're ability to turn ideas into real designs will payout. It drastically helps with this idea of "design for mfg".
Best thing you can do as an engineer is throw your ego in the trash along with your degree and listen to those around you who have more experience than you. Befriend machinists and listen to their advice because they know the physical limitations that you need to understand to design a part that can be manufactured in a practical way. Even if someone knows less than you about a particular subject doesn’t mean they won’t have valuable knowledge to share with you about what they are doing. Listen, be humble and learn to work with a team because no matter how smart you are as an individual you will never compare to a team of minds working together to accomplish a task. Sorry if this across as blunt but if you try it you will see. Cheers
So a lot of companies like to talk up how much they value creativity, but day to day it's all about consistent execution, communication, and evolution. Also, the best source of creativity is everyone else. I.e. once you've identified a problem go look for how everyone else is solving similar problems and borrow the best combination of ideas. I'm glad you mentioned 3D printing. I've found it to be super valuable as a communication tool. I.e. it's FAR easier to explain technical details to co-workers if they have a physical object to examine and play with. TLDR, get a good consumer grade 3D printer for the office.
I 100% back this. While I was in school I made friends with a machinist who was getting his degree. I ended up getting into the machine shop allot with him and learned a ton about how things are made. It helped to be able to design parts that could be easily made. I recommend taking some machining classes while getting you're ME, it will help sooooo much.
I graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 1998 and we studied DFMA in school. It really depends on the job because many companies are quite limited on manufacturing options. I did not find it very relevant during my time in automotive, but I worked at the OEM level where not much real engineering design happened. I agree that creativity is important, especially if you work for a service type company like I do.
the last few words hit real hard. I got quite depressed some time ago beacouse I was already getting some nice clients myself running a furniture business but met some people who's take at it was closer to my ideal market than what I had locally. Much less particle boards and mostly plywood and wood suited my skills and interest as much as the belief in better materials to make stuff with. Unfortunately the motivation for the goal to make the best designs and organising work for the workshop in different country than all clients houses (24h drive away) for a whole year including some installations done by myself like stairs, kitchens, wardrobes, wall paneling etc etc. + the toxic people paying me really dragged me down. Next up winter with little income, another company in the same country run by people from my own, similar story but made much more money doing way less, all work from home. Literally dream job for some. But the people and the structure was so fucking off I didn't really feel it right from almost the very beginning. So another 12 months wasted and now I'm recovering almost from that depression and after almost half a year with no pension and some debts it's DAYS to finish my own CNC, bought a 3D printer which i love and want to build much faster one already (never would have thought it's so nice to have). People! Learn some good shit, I literally read manufacturers catalogues of accessories and construction profiles etc., get some knowledge/experience ratio or ask the guys who process the materials like mentioned. And trust your gut. btw. Im not a real engineer but who cares. Not even going to start explaining myself because as an adhd person I learn all I want when I need it.
I’m 17 working as an engineer for a livestock company and it’s so cool hearing everything from you matching up with my experience even tho most of our products aren’t insanely complicated so much goes into small things and it just makes me appreciate mechanical and electrical things a lot more
I just finished my first-ever mechanical engineering internship. Tbh, I was miserable. My mental health dwindled like never before. I was tasked with things like laser cutting, cad designing and document management but the problem was my boss. He was strict and brutal. I would burst into tears as soon as I clocked off and left the office, hellhole. I don't know if this particular job was bad or if engineering in general is bad. I have no healthy expectations from my next job either.
I'm finishing up my first mechanical engineering internship (8 months long) end of this month and I loved it. Think you just got one of those sucky "mechanical designer" jobs which is one of the worst things u can do as a mechanical engineer.
my first job after graduating was like that, I was made to do everything, from project management to calling contractors, talking to several stakeholders, documenting, emailing.. but most importantly it was miserable as my managers all made fun of me, i made mistakes that werent detrimental but it would echo through the entire engineering department. The thing that made it really unbearable was that i had to move to the middle of no where, away from all my family and friends to live near the factory site. I felt like a non-unversity grad could do my job. (didnt use any theoretical knowledge.. case might be different if you worked for cutting edge engineering companies) I was getting paid absolute trash. The work life balance was rubbish. The work place was very toxic (managers were very traditional as theyve all worked their way up from the very bottom). No diversity in the company (all white men) I transitioned to technology and work as a data engineer... best decision of my life. I regret not taking up comp sci for my masters. I did an Integrated masters in mechanical engineering (MEng). My work life balance is amazing. I can work from home. My salary is 2x starting compared to Mech Eng. My potential is not tied down to budget. In Mech Eng, being innovative has high costs, in Data Engineering, carrying out ideas and innovating is cheaper. This goes back to feeling very rewarding. My Team is full of open minded and knowledge sharing people.
@@darrenemmanuel7221originally I wanted to be a data analyst, I had about 6 months experience as a junior data analyst before I got head hunted for DE roles. Naturally, like everyone, I stayed away from DE because I felt it was intimidating… but rather it wasn’t that different since most big companies are going through the phase of migrating data from legacy systems to a more modern cloud based tech stack. SQL was the primary skill required, however, technology evolves very fast, and the demand for DE has evolved since(2022). I would presume you need a little more than SQL now, Python, basic knowledge of data modelling, some basic knowledge of data orchestration and integration, data warehousing, and so on. Your best bet is to look at all the data engineering boot camps, take the syllabus and go off and build a small project where you take data from a source, do some basic automation, to apply ETL concepts end show case that to employers. Obviously, with GenAI (chatGPT) surfacing as a great tool, programming skill itself is not as big as an emphasis, just foundational knowledge on how data moves from A to B… how fast data travels, the density and how the type of storage needed based on its form, the type of tools change as well. Just like fluids and thermodynamics from mechanical engineering, treat data like water or oil. I will say this time and time again, what makes a great engineer is not the tool but the way you tackle problems and think critically, that’s one thing AI can never steal from you. Hope that helps :)
I am only a master automotive technician but well understand the machinist advice. Here’s an axiom I used to help bring understanding to a manager. Here are your chooses, good, fast and cheap, but you can get only two. You want fast and cheap? Well it won’t been any good. Remember you can have only two at a time.
Thanks for the great video that helps me realise that as a mechanical engineer that has 2 years of working in oil & gas industry, I still have very little knowledge of the manufacturing methods. As a design engineer working in a conservative industry (and company), the creativity is hindered by the bulky design process and innovative products, while the roles are well separated but the communication between the teams are rather poor, so the job of design engineer is challenged by the lack of involvement in the full design process (from concept to production & operation). But one thing I've realised, as you said soft skills - communication, though I'd call it interpersonal skill - is very important for a design engineer. I realised that I like it more when I use these skill at work, than the pure technical skills, so I'm directing my career to the product development aspect, rather than just part design. But who knows, if I can find a job that lets me go through the entire mechanical product design process, then I may have different ideas :D
The part about optical engineers freaking out - they should have given their specifications clearly. And DFMA principles applies to all of the engineers working in the industry R&D field, not only mechanical.
I love to listen to your videos. I love it my son he’s going to start mechanical engineering this fall 2024 He say he want to work with engines I don’t know anything about mechanic engineering but my son. He’s been listened to your videos too. He’s been learning a lot from you, your videos are amazing. 👌💯👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
As a teenager I wanted to be a ME. About 10 years ago I looked into it again. For me, It would have taken me about 30+ years to break even again after paying for school, accounting for lost wages, etc.. That’s a lot for a piece of paper. I do love engineering. The career I have now doesn’t make much less than a ME.
Might have been looking at an expensive college, my semester tuitions were ~5,000 so I had that locked down with a part time job throughout…. I’m working right alongside those who went to bigger colleges and there’s no difference in education.
Great content! I just want to point out, at around 5:30 you said injection moulding can only be used for plastics. There are various types of injection moulding, including metal injection moulding and even ceramic injection moulding.
And this is exactly why i'm having internships in workshops, not in design bureaus. You can learn a lot from being on the ground and having to deal with the mistakes of the mechanical engineers that drew what you have to make. Having that experience is something that will shift your perspective early on, so you can understand better what you are asking people to make.
Noted. Success keyword for mechanical Engineer dfma, cummunication, & creativity. Love to hear this three because right now i am working so hard in this path. I am in the right way. Let’s go to myself
Learn sheet metal design, the cnc cut and bend tech is great these days and you can build really complex structures for for incredibly cheap if you know how to make really creative designs using dfma principles. I recently converted 3 large aluminum castings into sheet metal assemblies that reduced cost by 30% with a massive improvement in manufacturability and assembly
I taught design, mechanics of materials, strength of materials, and computer aided design at a major university in mechanical engineering a decade ago. I feel great because I tried to teach the principals you recommended. We do use these daily in our practice. Thanks
Join Formula Student if you can. Its like an internship with great room for error and creativity. Making you own parts in the uni workshop teaches tonnes of manufacturing skills.
I'm so glad my 3 year bachelor in Switzerland only costs me 5'000 CHF and is closer to the real life industry/daily work. What are other areas you wished you have been more sensitized/taught during university?
Good advice. I am going for a design engineering roll - for custom manufacturing facilities like a machine shop with an engineering dept. I really liked how you showed and discussed what employers value in your field
In my university they do teach us about design for manufacturing and assembly, as well as things like six sigma, systems reliability, quality systems and operations management. I think it probably depends on the university and country; I live in Ireland, where the curriculum might be different. Even still, there isn’t enough time to teach everything there is to know and the best they can hope for is that we learn more about these important skills through the projects and work placements.
Hey as a machinist that is trying to go back to school for an ME degree this video makes me feel good about it. Maximum tolerances please and thank you.
I was a field service tech for Cummins Allison 852 Feehanville Drive Mount Prospect, IL 60056 they make money counting equipment (not the diesel people) but same scenario, half assed parts and to top it of they told me not to do the preventative maintenance anymore at customer sites just run the vacuum a little bit and wipe down the machines. I was like "But that is gonna make the service call numbers go up and is >theft of service< WHY ? Well they wanted to keep selling new equipment every 3 years or so see ? With At Will I was fired,SAD HUH ? Country is in TROUBLE...
It is wild to me that other countries engineering educations does not include this from the beginning. For me everything mentioned is drilled into you head from the beginning. DFM DFA DFE everything is tought and worked with extensivly.
This just proves that it doesn't matter where you went to school or how much you paid for it. It's what you know and can you prove it. Collage is a money grab scam...!!!
Best advice: get your hands dirty. Real engineer is not an office worker. It is (should be) between white/blue collar. Be friendly to technicians and machinists. You're not above them. As for plastics. Random example is texturing. Do not over-specify parameters. If you just want mat surface, let it be done by sandblasting or fine glass-beading. Not chemical texturing (which must be outsourced every time they repair, maintain the mold).
There really needs to be an "I" added to DFMA, standing for "installation." I've lost count of the number of times I've installed products with impossible to reach mounting hardware, inaccessible grub screws, fragile cover plates, overly delicate coatings, etc. A poorly designed product can suck up hours of installation time, at enormous cost to the customer. Engineers never think about this.
Worked my way up out of enginering and into project management, then program management, then engineering management, then operations management, then general management My assessment... all corporate jobs suck. I enjoyed just being an engineer most, but it paid the least. General management paid the most, but was soul draining. Remember when engineering was a high paying profession you could retire well from? Yeah... me either... that was our grandparents generation
just being able to model and design something isnt worth much. Designing in a way that it can be reasonably manufactured makes all the difference. Also making decent prints is very important. You can do all the fancy CAD design and FEM analysis, but when the print is unreadable the manufacturer is not going to able to make any good parts.
Coming from a UK uni we have mutiple modules soley focussing on DFA and DFM. I coudlnt imagine my degree without it and im shocked its not in US curriculum
Great video, I’m a mechanical engineer although my current job doesn’t involve any design and manufacturing. I’d probably be looking into a mechanical design job at some point. Is there a way to learn DFM online or any resources other than getting a job? I’d like to make myself more marketable for if I look for another position
I’d talk to a machinist. Live on their forums and read what they complain about. I had a lot of down time at my last job and sometimes I spent an hour reading the injection molding Wikipedia page. Definitely increases your knowledge.
I am a student, currently in grade 12....I am passionate about Mech. Engineering... Very informative video.....Just a doubt....Will we get hybrid courses in the future such as AI + ME as automation is inevitable....?
most likely.. i think to stay ahead of the crowd you shouldnt wait till universities enroll these hybrid courses. There are plentfiul of resources online on AI/ML, and take that from someone who has a masters in MEng and isnt a ME anymore, i work in data/tech, and im a data engineer. Im self taught, to use most mainstream AI/Data tools, such as DBT, Airflow, SQL, Python, Cloud services, etc etc. The realm of Data/AI is another monster of its own, so the best way to narrow it down is to find tools that will help you finish your project/portfolio.
The closest thing would be mechatronics or computer engineering. A mechanical engineer does not need to know advanced artificial intelligence, leave it to the people who get a masters in Ai or comp sci.
@@Betweoxwitegan I disagree with this, as much as it is a nice to have a degree in those fields. At the end of the day, AI/ML can be broken down to very simple concepts that WE Mech engineers are familiar with. Theres no reason to train something with difficult models if it doesn't make sense to you... thats a trend I see with AI/ML is that people are coming out with these degrees/certificates and just slapping any template models on top of a dataset. Thats the incorrect way to approach any AI/ML problem... the same people that do this will be replaced by ChatGPT very easily. The one thing ChatGPT cannot replace is the critical thinking you have. Behind any engineer, the common thing we have is problem solving skills... and if i knew how to do AI back in 2015-2017, i could have explored my diesel injector simulations with AI instead of traditional simulation software ran by ANSYS. As I mentioned before, find a use case, understand the underlying problem, approach with simplicity and then explore the tools.. everything else will follow.
One ability can be added . It is art sense For some one it can be starting point the rest is subordinate in following of central target And for them it can be united force for details of knowledge . Knowledge it for target Not target for knowledge . It can be more easy for brain box.
Is there a good learning source for DFMA that you would recommend? Preferably one where there would be examples and even small DIY projects to get the concepts applied and learned?? I searched amazon and saw that there are books available with DFMA as their actual names, but books just might not be enough, unless the authors worried about praxis like I've said (which is almost never the case, books tend to be very theoretical).
Imagine you pay 300k $ to a school that does not teach these things.... Dear reader, if you want to get a degree consider working at a place where you can get hands-on experience first before you pursue a degree. If you chose the right place/s those years won't be wasted. Looking back I should have started that way. Good look and god speed!
Hello everyone, fresh mechanical engineer here, can anyone please tell me where I can find detailed information on Plastic injection, sheet metal, CNC, etc ?
Reduced part count isn't always easy and having worked on a lot of cars alot more parts are over engineered to make them cheaper than you would think. Ie the left and right heads on most dual bank engines or the camshafts being the same with a different key in the camshaft etc. parts count isn't always possible.
If you get tired of the corporate life, you could follow xyla foxlin, a mech engineer who make stuff on YT. Or “Queen of Shitty robots”. Or Peter Stripol who build RC airplanes and real airplanes on YT…and rebuild boats.
Can you make a video about how to implememt computer science engineering in the field of mechanical engineering in the most effective way possible ? Either as a mechanicak engineer or for a mechanical engineering business
Forget about promotions, I think you mean cost of living increase. If you don't see a proportional one in 2-3 years then it's time to leave. Don't work in some hole for nearly a decade hoping to earn a promotion if they don't even value your continuing work. This is especially true if you are successful and finding fulfillment in your work - don't get stuck in a successful hole.
Get a 3d printer, buy dave gingerys sand casting books. Build your lathe and mill. Actually make stuff and recognize how difficult it is. Make it easier. Most important, take notes on all of the above that the dumbest kid in class will understand (because you will be that kid much of the time)
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As an old machinist working with young engineers here’s some advice. Get a physical copy of the McMaster and MSC catalogue and look thru them in your spare time to familiarize yourself with the available hardware. Off the shelf is always cheaper. Learn how to design and spec sheet metal parts. They are super cheap and fast from places like send cut sent. Stop over tolerancing parts. +/- 0.005" is a hell of a lot faster and easier to hit than .0005". Stop making sharp or tight interior corners on parts. Especially if the part is deep. A 24mm deep pocket with a 1mm corner radius is gonna cost you a lot of time and money. Finally, be nice to the machinist. We can really jam you up if you’re not nice and piss us off.
Is there an ideal pocket depth to interior radius ratio? Like 10:1 or 8:1?
@@ezraclark1793 the standard length of smaller end mills usually is like 3x diameter, so a 1mm end mill will have a 3mm depth of cut. Beyond that you start having to buy extended lengths and the deflection really becomes an issue. Even with standard large end mills , deflection becomes an issue on deep pockets. It’s a good practice to consider the assembly as a whole. A good example is a part recently where a pcb was being housed in a deep pocket. The engineer designed the pocket with a very tight corner radius to accommodate the pcb, where a better solution was to modify the pcb with some quick file work. I’m lucky that I have a good working relationship with the engineers and they respect and listen to my advice. That’s not always the case. Over the years I’ve seen some really toxic relationships between machinists and engineers. As a result you get situations where a bad design gets submitted and the machinist builds a bad part to spec, knowing it won’t work , taking a lot of time and resources and when it’s accountability time they dump the whole thing on the engineer.
well everything needed has been said .its a regulation between wilde imagination and reality.
Thanks!
DFMA is great but also consider Repair. Engineers also think their designs will never require repair which is why so many products end up in the garbage.
25 year ME here. Creativity, Communication, and Design for Manufacturing are hugely important. I 100% agree that these are the skills that will make you stand out and have the most fun. This is when people who are actually interested in engineering start to stand out from those that got the degree because it was on a list of good careers. It definitely takes time to build these skills so don't expect them to appear overnight. Just soak up as much info as you can about every process you come in contact with. Be humble and learn from everyone you interact with. Other engineers, vendors, and especially assembly techs and machinists. For the first 5-10 years you can do good work but I feel like your biggest goal should be to gather tools and understanding.
Very well said and totally agree👏
I wasn’t sure what to expect from hearing the intro. You did a very good job at explaining this.
When in doubt, go out to the shop and ask the machinist how he wants to do it. He will be floored that someone from the office took an interest in his lot in life. He will give you perfect advice and will always treat your projects with extra care. I used to do this and know what I am talking about.
“Never value your work above your life” Subbed
As an Software engineer I can't agree more.
Regarding designing for mfg/assy, having skills in the repair world has been a game changer. When I was 19, I started a powersport business, grew it for seven years, then cashed out, bought house, truck, then went to college for ME. The skills I gained throughout that timeframe was invaluable. Taking those skills into the design world of "how do I build this realistically", has been unmatched by my peers. The mindset I have walking into projects is entirely different, and it shows. The moral here is work on/build/repair/retrofit/etc and you're ability to turn ideas into real designs will payout. It drastically helps with this idea of "design for mfg".
Best thing you can do as an engineer is throw your ego in the trash along with your degree and listen to those around you who have more experience than you. Befriend machinists and listen to their advice because they know the physical limitations that you need to understand to design a part that can be manufactured in a practical way. Even if someone knows less than you about a particular subject doesn’t mean they won’t have valuable knowledge to share with you about what they are doing. Listen, be humble and learn to work with a team because no matter how smart you are as an individual you will never compare to a team of minds working together to accomplish a task. Sorry if this across as blunt but if you try it you will see. Cheers
I think you gave me the map, a key to an old door.
So a lot of companies like to talk up how much they value creativity, but day to day it's all about consistent execution, communication, and evolution. Also, the best source of creativity is everyone else. I.e. once you've identified a problem go look for how everyone else is solving similar problems and borrow the best combination of ideas.
I'm glad you mentioned 3D printing. I've found it to be super valuable as a communication tool. I.e. it's FAR easier to explain technical details to co-workers if they have a physical object to examine and play with. TLDR, get a good consumer grade 3D printer for the office.
I 100% back this. While I was in school I made friends with a machinist who was getting his degree. I ended up getting into the machine shop allot with him and learned a ton about how things are made. It helped to be able to design parts that could be easily made. I recommend taking some machining classes while getting you're ME, it will help sooooo much.
Excellent advice! This biggest oversight of engineering curriculums is practical application.
i gained a lot of insight from this video, thank you!
I graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 1998 and we studied DFMA in school. It really depends on the job because many companies are quite limited on manufacturing options. I did not find it very relevant during my time in automotive, but I worked at the OEM level where not much real engineering design happened. I agree that creativity is important, especially if you work for a service type company like I do.
the last few words hit real hard. I got quite depressed some time ago beacouse I was already getting some nice clients myself running a furniture business but met some people who's take at it was closer to my ideal market than what I had locally. Much less particle boards and mostly plywood and wood suited my skills and interest as much as the belief in better materials to make stuff with. Unfortunately the motivation for the goal to make the best designs and organising work for the workshop in different country than all clients houses (24h drive away) for a whole year including some installations done by myself like stairs, kitchens, wardrobes, wall paneling etc etc. + the toxic people paying me really dragged me down. Next up winter with little income, another company in the same country run by people from my own, similar story but made much more money doing way less, all work from home. Literally dream job for some. But the people and the structure was so fucking off I didn't really feel it right from almost the very beginning. So another 12 months wasted and now I'm recovering almost from that depression and after almost half a year with no pension and some debts it's DAYS to finish my own CNC, bought a 3D printer which i love and want to build much faster one already (never would have thought it's so nice to have).
People!
Learn some good shit, I literally read manufacturers catalogues of accessories and construction profiles etc., get some knowledge/experience ratio or ask the guys who process the materials like mentioned. And trust your gut.
btw. Im not a real engineer but who cares. Not even going to start explaining myself because as an adhd person I learn all I want when I need it.
I’m 17 working as an engineer for a livestock company and it’s so cool hearing everything from you matching up with my experience even tho most of our products aren’t insanely complicated so much goes into small things and it just makes me appreciate mechanical and electrical things a lot more
Thanks for sharing these invaluable insights! Keep on making helpful and fruitful content! You're the role model I look up to!
I just finished my first-ever mechanical engineering internship. Tbh, I was miserable. My mental health dwindled like never before. I was tasked with things like laser cutting, cad designing and document management but the problem was my boss. He was strict and brutal. I would burst into tears as soon as I clocked off and left the office, hellhole. I don't know if this particular job was bad or if engineering in general is bad. I have no healthy expectations from my next job either.
I'm finishing up my first mechanical engineering internship (8 months long) end of this month and I loved it. Think you just got one of those sucky "mechanical designer" jobs which is one of the worst things u can do as a mechanical engineer.
my first job after graduating was like that, I was made to do everything, from project management to calling contractors, talking to several stakeholders, documenting, emailing.. but most importantly it was miserable as my managers all made fun of me, i made mistakes that werent detrimental but it would echo through the entire engineering department.
The thing that made it really unbearable was that i had to move to the middle of no where, away from all my family and friends to live near the factory site.
I felt like a non-unversity grad could do my job. (didnt use any theoretical knowledge.. case might be different if you worked for cutting edge engineering companies)
I was getting paid absolute trash.
The work life balance was rubbish.
The work place was very toxic (managers were very traditional as theyve all worked their way up from the very bottom).
No diversity in the company (all white men)
I transitioned to technology and work as a data engineer... best decision of my life. I regret not taking up comp sci for my masters. I did an Integrated masters in mechanical engineering (MEng).
My work life balance is amazing.
I can work from home.
My salary is 2x starting compared to Mech Eng.
My potential is not tied down to budget. In Mech Eng, being innovative has high costs, in Data Engineering, carrying out ideas and innovating is cheaper.
This goes back to feeling very rewarding.
My Team is full of open minded and knowledge sharing people.
@@kypham6809 may i know how do you switch to a data engineer career? do you immediately land a job as a data engineer?
@@darrenemmanuel7221originally I wanted to be a data analyst, I had about 6 months experience as a junior data analyst before I got head hunted for DE roles. Naturally, like everyone, I stayed away from DE because I felt it was intimidating… but rather it wasn’t that different since most big companies are going through the phase of migrating data from legacy systems to a more modern cloud based tech stack. SQL was the primary skill required, however, technology evolves very fast, and the demand for DE has evolved since(2022). I would presume you need a little more than SQL now, Python, basic knowledge of data modelling, some basic knowledge of data orchestration and integration, data warehousing, and so on.
Your best bet is to look at all the data engineering boot camps, take the syllabus and go off and build a small project where you take data from a source, do some basic automation, to apply ETL concepts end show case that to employers.
Obviously, with GenAI (chatGPT) surfacing as a great tool, programming skill itself is not as big as an emphasis, just foundational knowledge on how data moves from A to B… how fast data travels, the density and how the type of storage needed based on its form, the type of tools change as well. Just like fluids and thermodynamics from mechanical engineering, treat data like water or oil. I will say this time and time again, what makes a great engineer is not the tool but the way you tackle problems and think critically, that’s one thing AI can never steal from you.
Hope that helps :)
@@kypham6809i do wanna know to how do u have switched ur carrer
100% agree with DFM as a crucial skill that isn't really taught at uni - especially since 3D printing became such an accessible prototyping tool.
I am only a master automotive technician but well understand the machinist advice. Here’s an axiom I used to help bring understanding to a manager. Here are your chooses, good, fast and cheap, but you can get only two. You want fast and cheap? Well it won’t been any good. Remember you can have only two at a time.
Thanks for the great video that helps me realise that as a mechanical engineer that has 2 years of working in oil & gas industry, I still have very little knowledge of the manufacturing methods. As a design engineer working in a conservative industry (and company), the creativity is hindered by the bulky design process and innovative products, while the roles are well separated but the communication between the teams are rather poor, so the job of design engineer is challenged by the lack of involvement in the full design process (from concept to production & operation).
But one thing I've realised, as you said soft skills - communication, though I'd call it interpersonal skill - is very important for a design engineer.
I realised that I like it more when I use these skill at work, than the pure technical skills, so I'm directing my career to the product development aspect, rather than just part design. But who knows, if I can find a job that lets me go through the entire mechanical product design process, then I may have different ideas :D
The part about optical engineers freaking out - they should have given their specifications clearly. And DFMA principles applies to all of the engineers working in the industry R&D field, not only mechanical.
I love to listen to your videos. I love it my son he’s going to start mechanical engineering this fall 2024 He say he want to work with engines I don’t know anything about mechanic engineering but my son. He’s been listened to your videos too. He’s been learning a lot from you, your videos are amazing. 👌💯👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
As a teenager I wanted to be a ME. About 10 years ago I looked into it again. For me, It would have taken me about 30+ years to break even again after paying for school, accounting for lost wages, etc.. That’s a lot for a piece of paper. I do love engineering. The career I have now doesn’t make much less than a ME.
Might have been looking at an expensive college, my semester tuitions were ~5,000 so I had that locked down with a part time job throughout…. I’m working right alongside those who went to bigger colleges and there’s no difference in education.
Great content! I just want to point out, at around 5:30 you said injection moulding can only be used for plastics. There are various types of injection moulding, including metal injection moulding and even ceramic injection moulding.
And this is exactly why i'm having internships in workshops, not in design bureaus. You can learn a lot from being on the ground and having to deal with the mistakes of the mechanical engineers that drew what you have to make.
Having that experience is something that will shift your perspective early on, so you can understand better what you are asking people to make.
Noted. Success keyword for mechanical Engineer dfma, cummunication, & creativity. Love to hear this three because right now i am working so hard in this path. I am in the right way. Let’s go to myself
Learn sheet metal design, the cnc cut and bend tech is great these days and you can build really complex structures for for incredibly cheap if you know how to make really creative designs using dfma principles. I recently converted 3 large aluminum castings into sheet metal assemblies that reduced cost by 30% with a massive improvement in manufacturability and assembly
This video needs to be mandatory for people trying to decide their careers in the engineer world
Great video. I am an industrial designer and this applies 100 percent to us. Many of your example images are well known industrial designs.
Was just about to say…so become an industrial designer?😂
I taught design, mechanics of materials, strength of materials, and computer aided design at a major university in mechanical engineering a decade ago. I feel great because I tried to teach the principals you recommended. We do use these daily in our practice. Thanks
Join Formula Student if you can. Its like an internship with great room for error and creativity. Making you own parts in the uni workshop teaches tonnes of manufacturing skills.
this video and the comments are pure gold!
Thankyou everyone!!!
I'm so glad my 3 year bachelor in Switzerland only costs me 5'000 CHF and is closer to the real life industry/daily work. What are other areas you wished you have been more sensitized/taught during university?
14:00 thats the golden part
Good advice. I am going for a design engineering roll - for custom manufacturing facilities like a machine shop with an engineering dept.
I really liked how you showed and discussed what employers value in your field
He gives the best advice at the end.
20 year ME here, great video, well said! Especially what you said at the end. Truth.
I’m not an electrical engineer, but excellent advise! Thank you.
In my university they do teach us about design for manufacturing and assembly, as well as things like six sigma, systems reliability, quality systems and operations management. I think it probably depends on the university and country; I live in Ireland, where the curriculum might be different. Even still, there isn’t enough time to teach everything there is to know and the best they can hope for is that we learn more about these important skills through the projects and work placements.
Hey as a machinist that is trying to go back to school for an ME degree this video makes me feel good about it. Maximum tolerances please and thank you.
só mandou pedrada! excelente vídeo.
Wow 10/10 here. There is a lot of wisdom is this video. Thank you!
I was a field service tech for Cummins Allison 852 Feehanville Drive Mount Prospect, IL 60056 they make money counting equipment (not the diesel people) but same scenario, half assed parts and to top it of they told me not to do the preventative maintenance anymore at customer sites just run the vacuum a little bit and wipe down the machines. I was like "But that is gonna make the service call numbers go up and is >theft of service< WHY ? Well they wanted to keep selling new equipment every 3 years or so see ? With At Will I was fired,SAD HUH ? Country is in TROUBLE...
And this is why people who get a college degree in mechanical engineering tech before uni have a leg up on people who go straight to uni.
Thank you!
It is wild to me that other countries engineering educations does not include this from the beginning. For me everything mentioned is drilled into you head from the beginning. DFM DFA DFE everything is tought and worked with extensivly.
Where are you from?
Graduated from a top 5 ME school, hated my internships so I went into CS after graduating and now make 3x than what I would have as an ME
I'd believe it.
I'm joint ME/CS. I love programming, but I can't tell you how many Engineers I meet who hate it/can't understand it.
This just proves that it doesn't matter where you went to school or how much you paid for it. It's what you know and can you prove it. Collage is a money grab scam...!!!
Great and helpful video!!🎉
These are great tips! You’ve definitely inspired me to learn some more manufacturing skills!
Best advice: get your hands dirty. Real engineer is not an office worker. It is (should be) between white/blue collar.
Be friendly to technicians and machinists. You're not above them.
As for plastics. Random example is texturing. Do not over-specify parameters. If you just want mat surface, let it be done by sandblasting or fine glass-beading. Not chemical texturing (which must be outsourced every time they repair, maintain the mold).
"You can have it done right, fast or cheap. Nobody gets all 3"
Damn!! This channel is great
There really needs to be an "I" added to DFMA, standing for "installation." I've lost count of the number of times I've installed products with impossible to reach mounting hardware, inaccessible grub screws, fragile cover plates, overly delicate coatings, etc. A poorly designed product can suck up hours of installation time, at enormous cost to the customer. Engineers never think about this.
Worked my way up out of enginering and into project management, then program management, then engineering management, then operations management, then general management
My assessment... all corporate jobs suck. I enjoyed just being an engineer most, but it paid the least. General management paid the most, but was soul draining.
Remember when engineering was a high paying profession you could retire well from? Yeah... me either... that was our grandparents generation
just being able to model and design something isnt worth much. Designing in a way that it can be reasonably manufactured makes all the difference. Also making decent prints is very important. You can do all the fancy CAD design and FEM analysis, but when the print is unreadable the manufacturer is not going to able to make any good parts.
This is a very good video
Thank you; good man!
I have been through these mistakes 😂 Thanks Bro...amazing knowledge sharing...thanks👍
thank you for your content, could you also make a video about good laptops for engineering students? out of your personal experience
otha vera lvl info thanks bro
Great video
Coming from a UK uni we have mutiple modules soley focussing on DFA and DFM. I coudlnt imagine my degree without it and im shocked its not in US curriculum
Great video, I’m a mechanical engineer although my current job doesn’t involve any design and manufacturing. I’d probably be looking into a mechanical design job at some point. Is there a way to learn DFM online or any resources other than getting a job? I’d like to make myself more marketable for if I look for another position
I’d talk to a machinist. Live on their forums and read what they complain about. I had a lot of down time at my last job and sometimes I spent an hour reading the injection molding Wikipedia page. Definitely increases your knowledge.
I am a student, currently in grade 12....I am passionate about Mech. Engineering... Very informative video.....Just a doubt....Will we get hybrid courses in the future such as AI + ME as automation is inevitable....?
most likely.. i think to stay ahead of the crowd you shouldnt wait till universities enroll these hybrid courses. There are plentfiul of resources online on AI/ML, and take that from someone who has a masters in MEng and isnt a ME anymore, i work in data/tech, and im a data engineer. Im self taught, to use most mainstream AI/Data tools, such as DBT, Airflow, SQL, Python, Cloud services, etc etc.
The realm of Data/AI is another monster of its own, so the best way to narrow it down is to find tools that will help you finish your project/portfolio.
The closest thing would be mechatronics or computer engineering. A mechanical engineer does not need to know advanced artificial intelligence, leave it to the people who get a masters in Ai or comp sci.
@@Betweoxwitegan I disagree with this, as much as it is a nice to have a degree in those fields. At the end of the day, AI/ML can be broken down to very simple concepts that WE Mech engineers are familiar with.
Theres no reason to train something with difficult models if it doesn't make sense to you... thats a trend I see with AI/ML is that people are coming out with these degrees/certificates and just slapping any template models on top of a dataset. Thats the incorrect way to approach any AI/ML problem... the same people that do this will be replaced by ChatGPT very easily. The one thing ChatGPT cannot replace is the critical thinking you have.
Behind any engineer, the common thing we have is problem solving skills... and if i knew how to do AI back in 2015-2017, i could have explored my diesel injector simulations with AI instead of traditional simulation software ran by ANSYS.
As I mentioned before, find a use case, understand the underlying problem, approach with simplicity and then explore the tools.. everything else will follow.
What is best skills for me being a mechanical engineer if i don't have the option to join a physical job but would like to work from home.
One ability can be added . It is art sense For some one it can be starting point the rest is subordinate in following of
central target And for them it can be united force for details of knowledge . Knowledge it for target Not target for knowledge . It can be more easy for brain box.
Written communication is important for engineers
Not speaking broken English is important for engineers as well.
Hi! Where can I find that graphic shown at 3:04? I'd like to post it in my classroom (High school product development class). thanks!
Is there a good learning source for DFMA that you would recommend? Preferably one where there would be examples and even small DIY projects to get the concepts applied and learned?? I searched amazon and saw that there are books available with DFMA as their actual names, but books just might not be enough, unless the authors worried about praxis like I've said (which is almost never the case, books tend to be very theoretical).
8:41 the way you said this so casually😂. Im sorry
imagine a car, where, when a headlight goes out, you have to disassemble the front bumper... yeah, engineers sometimes suck
design for manufacture and assembly comes naturally if you make your own stuff lol
Imagine you pay 300k $ to a school that does not teach these things....
Dear reader,
if you want to get a degree consider working at a place where you can get hands-on experience first before you pursue a degree. If you chose the right place/s those years won't be wasted. Looking back I should have started that way. Good look and god speed!
Basically ''make your workshop guy's life easier'
Hello everyone, fresh mechanical engineer here, can anyone please tell me where I can find detailed information on Plastic injection, sheet metal, CNC, etc ?
3:20 What is the project management software is it？ Doesn't looks like MS project
where can i learn DFMA? Please send some references.
success without fulfillment is simply failure.
$300,000 for an underrated degree???? I thought you’re supposed to be smart
What is the timeline planner app shown at 3:20? I've been looking for something like that for ages, alway did it in excel and looks way better
Did you find it?
@@mysterious3994 I haven't sadly, if you find it please post it! :)
Reduced part count isn't always easy and having worked on a lot of cars alot more parts are over engineered to make them cheaper than you would think. Ie the left and right heads on most dual bank engines or the camshafts being the same with a different key in the camshaft etc. parts count isn't always possible.
If you get tired of the corporate life, you could follow xyla foxlin, a mech engineer who make stuff on YT. Or “Queen of Shitty robots”. Or Peter Stripol who build RC airplanes and real airplanes on YT…and rebuild boats.
Can you make a video about how to implememt computer science engineering in the field of mechanical engineering in the most effective way possible ? Either as a mechanicak engineer or for a mechanical engineering business
Forget about promotions, I think you mean cost of living increase. If you don't see a proportional one in 2-3 years then it's time to leave. Don't work in some hole for nearly a decade hoping to earn a promotion if they don't even value your continuing work. This is especially true if you are successful and finding fulfillment in your work - don't get stuck in a successful hole.
in 3 seconds just do something insted of just studing at schools etc.Get practice and you will be good ;)
Get a 3d printer, buy dave gingerys sand casting books. Build your lathe and mill. Actually make stuff and recognize how difficult it is. Make it easier. Most important, take notes on all of the above that the dumbest kid in class will understand (because you will be that kid much of the time)
DMFA principal is the old “I wish the designers spent a month in a garage fixing these cars before they get hired to Disney cars!!!” Complaints 😭😭😭
They don’t tell you about companies treating you like a dog never give you a promotion nothing but lies I lost my job be poor management
Thank you
Well said 14:04 - 14:36 👍🏻
Where do you recomend moving to get a job as ME? , I'm in 4th year and I thinkin bout it a lot
was this an ad?
Great video! Just a reminder that RUclips and the FTC require sponsorships to be disclosed. If this does not apply, please delete this comment
FMA is failure mode analysis?
I am also electromechanical engineering student.how l learn the course to get skill.
Bro Could make a video on Mastercam programmng ? for CNC machine
Please do he should
GibbsCam here. Sorry
300k?!! Wtf??
I was Mech E from BU also. What year are you?
2016! You?
I went to BYU and we had a whole class on this and had to go to the machine shop and practice machining. Is this not part of y’all’s curriculum?