Career options for aspiring mechanical engineers

Practically every company that designs and produces a product employs a mechanical engineer. But mechanical engineers can also be found in research labs, the military, government, and in other professions such as management, finance.

Diverse Job Profiles of our Graduates

Most mechanical engineering jobs require design experience. A second major area of employment for mechanical engineers is manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs cover nearly everything involved in developing a product, from selecting the appropriate materials to choosing the correct machinery to manufacture the product. Most mechanical engineers in this industry work for equipment manufacturers, aerospace companies, utilities, material processing plants, transportation companies, and petroleum companies.
Specific assignments might involve research and development, design of equipment or systems, supervision of production, plant engineering, administration, sales engineering, the testing and evaluation of machines and entire plants. Mechanical Engineers are needed in automobile, biomedical, cement, chemical, mining and metallurgy, nuclear, power plant, robotics, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industries.
Mechanical engineers can find employment at virtually any institute where innovation takes place. They commonly work in the government, research, industry, military, teaching, management or consulting sectors. With a degree in mechanical engineering, diversity is the key. You can wind up working in a laboratory or an outdoor construction site. Remember, nearly every mechanical device was created by a mechanical engineer so the possibilities for employment are virtually endless!

We have an excellent student placement statistics.

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Undergraduate research has grown to levels of sophistication today. Virtually, every university that is active in research has grown to understand the importance of research to be inculcated from the early days. In Mechanical Engineering department, besides teaching our experienced faculty members actively participate in undergraduate research program. Undergraduate research is a pedagogical tool that helps channelize the energy and enthusiasm of students into conceptual-based education, thereby igniting their minds to explore with curiosity the world around them. It can help students to

1. Abridge the gap between class-room education and real world challenges, and learning the relevance of the curriculum that they undergo at the Institute, and
2. Internalize and take ownership of the process of learning and education.

Thus, undergraduate research is seen as a vehicle to bring about a change in the approach of addressing the holistic development of undergraduate students at this Institute. It offers valuable experiences and benefits to all sections of the academic environment - students, mentors as well as the Institute.

SURGE Program

Under the Summer Undergraduate Research Grant for Excellence (SURGE) program, undergraduate students from IITK and other participating institutions undertake short duration, but focused research projects and push their intellectual abilities beyond those driven by the classroom.

A quantitative deliverable at the end of the 10 week program is the technical paper written by the student in association with the mentor(s). The acceptance of this paper by a refereed journal is one measure of the success of the undergraduate research. More valuable outcome, but difficult to quantify, is the personal and professional development of student. They also develop specific laboratory skills and research methodology. The impact of participation in undergraduate research will become obvious at a subsequent occasion, e.g., when the student chooses to go for graduate studies. Students will find themselves better prepared and equipped to make conscious career choices, because self-discovery during undergraduate research helps students realize one's strengths and choices.

SURGE overseas program for IITK students:

In this program, IITK students are given a unique opportunity to spend eight weeks of the summer at a prestigious overseas university. Interested students need to complete an online application form. In addition, two letters of recommendation are needed. For more details, follow the url:  www.iitk.ac.in/surge

SURGE program for IITK students at IIT Kanpur:

In this program, IITK students are given an opportunity to work with a chosen mentor at IITK. In order to complete the application, it is necessary for the student to identify a professor who agrees to be his/her mentor during the summer period, and a suitable project to pursue for the eight weeks in summer.

The undergraduate programs have two components. The first component is the core program common to all students and is carefully planned to give the students a solid foundation of general education in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering Sciences, Technical Arts, and Humanities and Social Sciences. Besides these courses, students also undertake courses in Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics of Solids, Nature and Properties of Materials, Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics in the first four semesters of the B.Tech program. Some of these courses are complemented by laboratory and project work. The course structure in the core curriculum provides for large lecture classes with tutorial discussion hours and laboratory sessions in smaller groups.

The second component of the undergraduate program includes professional courses and a project in the chosen branch of specialization. In the last four semesters, students undertake some core mechanical engineering courses in Design of Machine Elements, Dynamics and Vibration of Machinery, Manufacturing Technology, Heat and Mass Transfer, Energy Systems, etc. An important feature of our undergraduate program is the availability of large number of elective courses which provides the students considerable freedom to develop academically according to their individual tastes. These courses are often designed to advance the fundamental understanding, introduce new concepts and technologies pertinent to the industries and academia.

Summer Internship

Students also undergo compulsory summer training during the B.Tech program, which helps them to visit and learn from the leading Indian and foreign industries/academia.

Students Projects

In the final two semesters of the program, students undertake an advanced design project, which involves the application of modern analysis and design techniques. Often the student projects translate in a development of new product and technology, leading to patent or other type of publications.

Undergraduate Term Projects

Assessment

Assessment can vary from course to course and can include a combination of class work, tutorials, assignments, laboratory work, quizzes, project work and exams.

Complete Undergraduate Curriculum of Mechanical Engineering is available here.

Teaching Laboratory

ME 361A: Manufacturing Technology

Overview:

Objective of this course is to give a broad understanding of conventional and non-conventional machining processes with an emphasis on the characterization techniques. This course also familiarizes students with the scientific principles governing various machining processes. 

Equipments

• On Lathe- Lab VIEW Software, Three-component piezo-crystal type dynamometer make Kistler, NI DAQ Card, Microbalance, Dinolite USB Microscope, Vernier Calliper e.t.c.
• On Grinding- Lab VIEW Software, Three-component piezo-crystal type dynamometer make Kistler, NI DAQ Card, Microbalance, Dinolite USB Microscope, Portable Surface Roughness Measuring Instrument etc.
• On EDM – Electronica ZNC EDM Machine, Microbalance, Shadowgraph/ USB Microscope, Micrometer, Stopwatch, etc.
• On Hydraulic Press- USB Microscope, Load Cell, Lab VIEW Software, NI DAQ Card, Vernier Calliper, Proving Ring etc.
• On Microchannels fabrication- Microbalance, USB Microscope, Dessicator, vacuum pump, Furnace temperature upto 400 degree centigrade etc.
• On Milling- Multi-component dynamometer make Kistler, Labview software, NI DAQ Card, Dinolite USB Microscope, Vernier Calliper, Microbalance etc.

Experiments:

• To measure the cutting force, tool temperature and shear angle during orthogonal cutting (on Lathe).
• To study the effects of grinding variables on grinding forces, specific energy and surface finish.
• To study the EDM machine and determine material removal rate and tool wear rate during machining of EN8 steel.
• To draw a cup by cup drawing process and measure the drawing force on hydraulic press.
• To fabricate micro channels through micro Replication double inversion technique.
• Investigation of wear and cutting processes (Fx, Fy, Fz and Mz) near the tool age during milling and drilling by Rotating 4-Component Dynamometer (RCD) on EMCO Mill concept 250.
• To obtain the measurement of a given component using coordinate measuring machine (CMM).
• To fabricate micro channel through epilog laser fiber mark fusion engraving machine.
• To measure the axial force, with tool speed for different diameters, if the feed is constant on HMT Radial Drill Machine.
• To obtain the measurement of roundness of a given component using Out of roundness measuring machine (Mitutoyo, Japan)
• To measure the cutting force, shear angle during orthogonal cutting, cnc programming (Absolute/Incremental) and operations on flat bed Simple Turn5075 ACE Designer CNC Lathe Machine.
• To study the various features of surface roughness measuring instrument also measure the parameters of the specimen.
• To study the integrated multi process (µ-milling, µ-turning, µ -drilling, µ-EDM, µ-ECM, µ-wire cut, µ-EDG) on micromachining machine DT-110.

Relevant Information (if any):
Faculty: Dr. J. Ramkumar (Lab Coordinator)
Staff: Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Verma,
Mr. Atul Kumar Gangwar
Contact Person: Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Verma
Location: NL-1-115A Manufacturing Science Lab., ME, IIT Kanpur
Phone: 0512-259-7923
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.