Hi everyone!

Recently graduated in May of 2026 with a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering. Finally landed my first offer for a very great position around 100k that includes sign-on and relocation assistance. As for the location, it is in a rural area about 1hr 20min from deep in Chicago, around 45 miles west of Joliet. I’ve always wanted to live on the west coast but that is likely not the case. Any new grad engineers or people that have been out in the field for a while enjoy working far away from the big city? I just wish to be surrounded by youth and activities to do when i’m not so bored outside of work. I get Chicago is about an hour drive so very close, but I still want to hear your opinions.

Edit:

Also working at a Nuclear Power Plant and my title is "Mechanical Engineer", maybe if the plant is down, could be 12 hour shifts, but benefits are competitive.

They exist. This is not a test. Mcmaster cards are live at fabtech

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in bioengineering 3 years ago and have been working as a field engineer for an OEM doing install, maintenance, and qualification/validation for the pharma industry.

As a lot of people who get BioE degrees I thought it would be more... mechanical. Right now I am considering going back to get my MS in mechanical engineering to get a mechanical design role at an OEM of scientific instrumentation and pharma equipment.

What are my chances of getting into MS programs? Would mechanical design roles take my degree combo?

What can I expect my field engineering experience to count for if anything?

I am not rolling in it but I make decent money plus a bit of overtime and sales lead incentives. I would be fine with a lateral move in compensation and an entry level job title but it if its too far of a setback I'll probably consider other options.

Any input is really appreciated.

I’m a junior in mechanical engineering. I’ve had two internships so far in construction and I’m looking for a third. I’ve taken a lot of credit hours this semester and I have admittedly fallen behind on my classes and I think my overall gpa after this semester will be just above a 2.5. Are my career prospects in things outside of construction shot? Like realistically how hard is life going to be post grad.

this is a RANT, please read only if you are interested. i have a bachelors in MechE and a recent grad. I am genuinely disturbed/maybe even disgusted? about how some engineers treat techs.

Did a technician role at a manufacturing place and full time tech at an industrial automation place currently. Both places same situation, any process improvement suggestions or DFM feedback instantly gets put down and ignored. I have witnessed this and also have personally experienced these situations multiple times. To me most of these suggestions were more than valid and would not come at any additional effort/expense while yielding much better outcomes.

Above all else, it’s just the whole demeanor most engineers have towards techs is what i dislike. In this short time in experience I have already seen so much oversight from these experienced engineers on design choices, poor planning and execution.

Constantly up-revving to make their designs work and impress others. While the first ones to blame always comes down to production where the techs have to suffer even though 90% of the time the causes are design flaws.

unfortunately this is a bit steep but I don’t like engineers anymore, most of them that I have encountered are way too full of themselves.

Good technicians are the backbone of the entire manufacturing operation and more companies should realize that if not already.

I personally am doing tech roles because i like hands on work and being on the shop floor. Also as a new grad with no internships I can’t get no engineer roles which I will absolutely admit. But gaining exposure in technician roles has made me a lot more aware of what to do and not to do when on the other side.

Feel free to downvote and if you read till the end, thank you for reading this blabber post

Hi everyone! As part of my Master's thesis in Industrial Engineering, I noticed a major gap in the engineering software landscape: while there are great open-source tools for wind turbines (like QBlade) and propellers, finding free, open-source software for preliminary design in hydraulic turbomachinery (especially for reversible pump-turbines like the Deriaz turbine) is surprisingly difficult.

To solve this, I built KaplanDeriaz3D, a fully open-source Python and MATLAB application designed to parameterize, compute, and model the 3D geometry of Kaplan and Deriaz turbine blades from fundamental fluid mechanics and Euler’s turbine equation.

Key features:

Hydrofoil Generation: Custom options including standard NACA profiles, anti-cavitating profiles, and reversible hydrofoils for pump-turbine operation.

3D Parametric Export: You can adjust rotational speed, net head, volumetric flow, and mesh resolution, then instantly export the full solid runner geometry as an STL file. (Fun fact: I 3D printed a working physical scale model of the Deriaz runner with rolling bearings, it acts almost like a functional fidget spinner!)

Fully Documented: Includes my complete 100-page master's thesis explaining all mathematical models and equations.

If you are into fluid dynamics, clean energy systems, or want to check out the source code, everything is available on GitHub. I also recorded a full video walkthrough explaining the theory, the UI, and how to export STLs for prototyping:

🔗 Video Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/9rINCHj3ucU

💻 GitHub Repository: https://github.com/KaplanDeriaz3D/kaplanderiaz3d-python

I'm actively looking for contributors, feedback from fellow engineers, and help with roadmap items (like adding CFD validation or Francis turbine support). I'd love to hear your thoughts or answer any technical questions!

Hey guys, I already have a few years of experience with 2D CAD and 3D modeling in Autocad and Solidworks.

But for the past 5 years I've been out of the technical field and I want to get back into it, and transition into the automotive field as my previous experience was with mining.

I'm looking for stuff that goes more into advanced parts design/modeling and drawings, "industry level" stuff, if that makes sense.

Most of what I'm finding goes more into the software tools itself (where commands and tools are and what they do), and it doesn't seem to have more complex parts design/assemblies and industry level parts design and production.

Even though my reading comprehension of 2D mechanical drawings and ability of making 3D models after them is still ok, but my ability of designing something and then making it 2D for example for actual production level, making detailed specifications etc., is what have gotten quite poor.

So I'm looking for more professional parts design 2D and 3D also for production, especially on the automotive engineering industry.

Thanks guys!

My dream would be to work for titleist callaway taylormade or any of the other golf brands designing and testing clubs. How should I focus my school? I already have a bachelors in chemistry with 10 years manufacturing/analytical/process improvement experience so I hope those help my case.

In my heart, I think MechE is the better fit. But I know how hard it can be to get into mechanical. I initially went down the civil path since my college doesn’t offer some of the major required courses for MechE, but the new Fall 2027 required courses align better with me.

I still need to take the applied programming (required course), which would be completed spring 2027. I could also bang out a couple of the desired courses for MechE. But would that be too risky or decrease my chances since I’m taking the classes after I submit my application?

Would it be safer for me to apply as civil engineering? I am applying as mechanical engineering for every other college I’m applying to.

Did you also ever reach a point in your career where you almost gave up on engineering? If so what happened? Where are you today?

Hey everyone,

Quick design question for the piping / pressure vessel engineers here working with ASME B31.3.

When doing quick sanity checks on required pipe wall thickness (t_{req}) for high-pressure lines, I’ve noticed a lot of variation in how different engineering teams handle c (corrosion/erosion allowance) and T_{mill} (mill tolerance, usually 12.5%) during early design stages.

Specifically:

1. Do you usually factor in the 12.5% mill undertolerance directly into the nominal thickness selection right away, or do you run the exact calculated t_m value through a standardized lookup routine first?
2. For temperature-dependent S (allowable stress) values, how often do you rely on quick digital lookup sheets vs manually cross-referencing Table A-1 in the code book when double-checking vendor design packages?

I've been scripting a lightweight internal lookup utility to automate these repetitive B31.3 / B16.5 checks for field/site reviews, but I want to make sure the calculation flow and output breakdown reflect standard industry practices.

Curious to hear how your teams streamline these code verification routines or if there are specific edge cases that usually cause headache in field checks.

(Happy to share the test script/tool privately via DM if anyone wants to look at the math logic, but mainly looking for design workflow thoughts here.)

Thanks!

I'm a mechanical engineer and recently went through 41 iterations on a small print-in-place mechanism: a free-spinning drum with a button brake. Part of it was learning print tolerances, but I also spent weeks on a feature (printed bearings) that I ended up cutting.

For those of you in product development, how do you decide when to stop iterating on a feature versus cutting it?

I'm an incoming Mechanical Engineering student working on a rocket flight simulation and telemetry system. The software side uses MATLAB to simulate rocket flight, and I'm planning to build the hardware side using an Arduino, sensors and an SD card for data logging.

I eventually want to showcase the project on GitHub and in my engineering portfolio for internship applications.

What's the usual process after completing a project? What should I upload to GitHub, document in a test report, and include as screenshots, graphs and hardware photos? How do I make the whole thing portfolio-ready?

Would appreciate advice from anyone who's done this before!

I thought it might help you in projects. I have created a free web tool to measure small parts with just a phone camera.

1. Place the part beside a reference ( for example: a scale ruler). Click a photo.
2. Select 2 points to specify a reference line. Input the length of the reference line into the "Reference Length Line".
3. Zoom in/out for accuracy. Move around. Select points on the part to measure Length, Radius or Angles.

It works on desktop and phone. Please let me know your user experience, I will improve it. Or you can improve it yourself on Github.

I’m a senior in mechanical engineering graduating in May and I recently received an offer for a Spring 2027 mechanical engineering internship at a launch provider on a team working on satellites. Taking it would delay my graduation until at least Fall 2027. I’ve already completed two internships, one in manufacturing engineering and another in product development at an automotive supplier, and I have significant structural design and FEA experience through my university’s rocketry team. My goal is to work in aerospace mechanical design, ideally on structures, mechanisms, or flight hardware, but I don’t have any professional aerospace experience yet. I honestly don’t care much about delaying graduation, my main concern is whether taking this internship would meaningfully improve my chances of landing the kind of full-time engineering role I want, or whether I’d be better off graduating on time and applying with my current experience. Has anyone been in a similar position, and was delaying graduation worth it?

Heavier oil or grease might be more suitable in many applications but this is just a silly thing to say

I am in my 2nd year of university and my university requires us to get a work placement in 2nd, 3rd or 4th year and I wanted to ask about intresting feilds that pay well and don't feel like slavery (am located in the middle east)

I can picture myself writing the code of a mechatronics/robotics system or working with the modern predictive maintenance protocols. What are job titles I should aim for and what is a good advice for someone in my position.

Hey everyone. Just wanted to ask this to everyone here. Is it still possible to find high-brow jobs such as Lockheed Martin even after graduating without anything but a degree? I was doomscrolling on LinkedIn (and also on here), and all I see is people accepting these roles at great companies such as Boeing and so on. I’ve never been at their level of success and it does make me sad but realistically is it still possible to achieve something great like them? I dont mean immediately, but perhaps in the span of 1-10 years of working less competitive jobs. I have an immense amount of ambition to do great things and would like to work one of those jobs one day

I got my chemistry degree back in 2018 and the outlook for it is just not looking great. Engineering is definitely the best path forward to get to do what I want and I’m heading back. Any advice?

Recently, I joined as an entry level Engineer in a big power equipment manufacturing company. Work is related to fuel systems design for boilers which includes designing/modelling piping drawings in boiler floor for fuel oil and gas, procuring fuel systems components includes but not limited to strainers, butterfly valves, oil pumps, ignitors etc. No one is there to guide me properly but expecting me to work. I don't know what to do because I'm just new and everything is confusing to me like what to check and what are the key things i should consider before procuring or making specification for components, what things to consider for piping, forecast etc. I'm having ADHD and it makes my learning worse because i can't concentrate on a single thing and trying to learn more standards or docs simultaneously which leads to nowhere. Give some doable tips to work thiough this. I don't want any chatgpt answers and I want some from the people who had worked or have been working in similar roles.

Hi Everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right group for this but I'll give it a shot!

I'm wanting to build something really cool and need advice on how to proceed. For context, I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I have 10 years of experience working on cars, washing machines, dryers, soldiering, and cell phones, so I'm not terrible with my hands.

I want to make a legit retractable shield, more or less for the aesthetic, but also would love for it to be technically functional. Essentially from the God of War games... yes, I'm that guy.

I've researched a few different types of metals and see what can work best to keep it lightweight, whether it be minimal usage or switching out for lighter materials like carbon fiber (without losing rigidity).

I anticipate something like this to cost me about 4 years to build, but I'm happy to put the time in as long as its well thought out and deliberate. I am trying to figure out what's the best first step though, so I'd love some suggestions. Designs and dimensions are up first, after that I'm needing to narrow down materials before collecting and assembling (I have a few manufacturers contacts who can do the parts, as long as they have the raw materials).

This isn't the safest thing to build, especially with all the mechanisms involved but if anyone has suggestions on how to go about it, I'd greatly appreciate it and any advice in general going forward. Also happy to give more info if there's questions.