Skip to main content

What Is Mechanical Engineering?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
A Brief History of Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest disciplines of engineering, although it gained separate identity in the nineteenth century. The word engineer itself means the constructor of military engines, which falls in the scope of modern day mechanical engineers. Scope of mechanical engineering is quite wide. It finds applications in many fields. Mechanical engineers perform a variety of tasks starting from design to management of machines and equipment. They also perform supportive role in other engineering disciplines. Several engineering disciplines have undergone successful marriage with mechanical engineering. A number of disciplines have emerged as offspring of mechanical engineering, e.g., production engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, automobile engineering, aerospace engineering, and mechatronics. Mechanical engineering education has been continuously evolving with the changing level of technology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Uday Shanker Dixit .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dixit, U.S., Hazarika, M., Davim, J.P. (2017). What Is Mechanical Engineering?. In: A Brief History of Mechanical Engineering. Materials Forming, Machining and Tribology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42916-8_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42916-8_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42914-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42916-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics