What do I do as a Mechanical Engineer?
Summary
TLDRThe video script offers an insightful look into the daily life of a mechanical engineer, debunking the myth that engineers are akin to superheroes capable of single-handedly designing and building entire machines. It outlines the complex process of product development, which involves collaboration across various teams and can span years. The script details the stages of a product's life cycle, from introduction to decline, and the six key steps in the development process, including conceptual design, prototype design, detailed design, validation, optimization, and production. It also highlights the importance of understanding manufacturing processes, selecting materials, and the iterative nature of design. Additionally, the video emphasizes the non-technical aspects of an engineer's role, such as meetings, communication, and administrative tasks, painting a realistic picture of the engineering profession.
Takeaways
- 🔍 **Misconceptions Cleared**: The video aims to dispel common myths about engineers, emphasizing that they work collaboratively over long periods不像电影中那样夸张和简化工程师的能力。
- 🚀 **Product Lifecycle**: Products go through stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, with engineers responsible for the entire development lifecycle. 产品有自己的生命周期,工程师负责整个产品开发生命周期。
- 🛠️ **Development Process**: The product development process generally includes six key steps: conceptual design, prototype design, detail design, validation, optimization, and production. 产品开发过程通常包括六个关键步骤:概念设计、原型设计、详细设计、验证、优化和生产。
- 🤝 **Collaboration**: Mechanical engineers work with teams including electrical, manufacturing, optical, and software engineers, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the work. 机械工程师与包括电气、制造、光学和软件工程师在内的团队合作,突显工作的跨学科性质。
- 📈 **Design Iteration**: The design evolves through stages, from concept to mass production, with constant refinement based on feedback and testing results. 设计从概念到大规模生产不断演变,根据反馈和测试结果不断改进。
- 📊 **Material Selection**: Engineers use systematic methods like Ashby charts to select optimal materials based on functional and technical specifications. 工程师使用系统方法,如Ashby图表,根据功能和技术规范选择最佳材料。
- 📐 **Detailed Design**: In the detailed design phase, engineers incorporate all mechanical features, consider manufacturability, and create production drawings. 在详细设计阶段,工程师整合所有机械特性,考虑可制造性,并创建生产图纸。
- 📝 **Documentation**: Engineers create bills of materials, quality tests, and manufacturing plans, ensuring thorough documentation for production and assembly. 工程师创建材料清单、质量测试和制造计划,确保生产和组装的详细文档。
- 🔬 **Validation Testing**: Rigorous testing, including environmental and battery testing, is conducted to validate the product before mass production. 在大规模生产之前,进行包括环境和电池测试在内的严格测试,以验证产品。
- 🔧 **Optimization Stage**: The final stage before production involves identifying and addressing any weak points in design or manufacturing. 生产前的最后一步涉及识别和解决设计或制造中的任何弱点。
- ⏭️ **Production Phase**: Mechanical engineers are often less involved in production, focusing instead on new projects or supporting minor issues as they arise. 机械工程师通常较少参与生产,而是专注于新项目或解决出现的次要问题。
- ⏰ **Time Allocation**: A mechanical engineer's time is divided among meetings, designing/testing, and administrative tasks, with meetings often taking up a significant portion. 机械工程师的时间分配在会议、设计/测试和行政任务之间,会议通常占据了很大一部分时间。
Q & A
What is the common misconception about engineers in movies and shows according to the script?
-The script highlights that movies and shows often exaggerate and oversimplify the abilities of engineers, portraying them as individuals like Tony Stark who can design, build, and test complex machines almost instantly, whereas in reality, engineering is a collaborative and time-consuming process.
What are the key stages of product life cycles mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions four key stages of product life cycles: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
How many steps are in the product development process described in the script, and what are they?
-The product development process described in the script consists of six key steps: conceptual design, prototype design, detailed design, validation, optimization, and production.
What role do product managers play in the product development process?
-Product managers define the product vision, feasibility, and pricing. They specify the product's features, dimensions, and requirements like color options and resistance qualities, which guide the engineering teams.
How does the use of CAD software benefit mechanical engineers during the prototype design phase?
-CAD software allows mechanical engineers to create high-level preliminary 3D models and corresponding technical drawings, which facilitate the visualization and fabrication of each component, aiding in proof of concept development.
Why might the manufacturing processes differ between the proof of concept and the final product?
-During the proof of concept, manufacturing processes like 3D printing are used for speed and flexibility to test ideas. For the final product, more cost-effective and efficient methods like CNC machining or casting are used for mass production.
What is an FMEA, and how is it used in the product development process?
-FMEA stands for Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. It is a method used to identify potential failures in the design, their causes, and effects, helping engineers preemptively address issues before the product is manufactured and sold.
What is the significance of the validation stage in product development?
-The validation stage focuses on ensuring that the product meets all functional requirements through rigorous testing, including regulatory and environmental tests, thereby verifying the product's readiness for mass production.
What is an Engineering Change Notice (ECN), and when is it required?
-An Engineering Change Notice (ECN) documents any changes made to the design after the design has been finalized. It is required whenever a design change needs to be made to address issues or improvements, ensuring all modifications are tracked and justified.
How does the engineer's role evolve from the beginning to the end of a product development cycle?
-Initially, engineers are deeply involved in designing and testing the product. As the cycle progresses to production, their role becomes more supervisory and less hands-on, with a focus on addressing any minor issues that arise as they start new projects.
Outlines
🔍 The Reality of Engineering: Beyond Hollywood Stereotypes
This paragraph discusses the common misconceptions about engineers perpetuated by movies and television shows, which often exaggerate and oversimplify their abilities. The speaker, a mechanical engineer, aims to clarify these misconceptions by sharing the day-to-day responsibilities of their role. The video outlines the life cycle of products, which includes stages such as introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, and emphasizes that engineers work collaboratively over long periods to develop products. The speaker also introduces the product development process, which consists of six key steps: conceptual design, prototype design, detail design, validation, optimization, and production. Each step is crucial for transforming a product from an idea to a market-ready item.
📐 The Product Development Process: From Concept to Consumer
The second paragraph delves into the intricacies of the product development process. It begins with the conceptual design phase, where product vision, feasibility, and pricing are determined primarily by marketing and product managers. Industrial designers create a digital surface model based on these requirements, which mechanical engineers import into CAD software to understand spatial constraints. The prototype design phase involves collaboration with various engineering disciplines to create a proof of concept, using CAD software to develop 3D models and technical drawings. This phase focuses on material selection, component feasibility, and the evolution of the design to fit manufacturing processes. The paragraph also highlights the importance of considering manufacturing factors, such as the differences between prototyping and mass production techniques, and the need for design iteration and refinement throughout the development process.
🛠️ Detailed Design to Production: The Mechanical Engineer's Role
The third paragraph covers the detailed design phase, where mechanical features are incorporated into the 3D CAD model, and critical questions about manufacturability and assembly are addressed. Production drawings are created and released, detailing dimensions, tolerances, and material specifications. The bill of materials is compiled, and quality and manufacturing plans are developed. The paragraph also discusses the collaboration with electrical and optical engineers to finalize designs and conduct a tolerance stack-up analysis. Technical design reviews and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) are used to identify potential issues. The validation stage involves rigorous testing of the product, followed by the optimization stage, where weak points are addressed before mass production. The design is frozen, and any changes require an engineering change notice (ECN). Finally, the production phase is mentioned, where mechanical engineers may handle minor issues and often move on to new projects. The paragraph concludes by acknowledging the significant portion of non-technical and administrative tasks that are part of a mechanical engineer's job.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Engineers
💡Product Development Process
💡CAD Software
💡Prototype Design
💡Detail Design
💡Validation
💡Optimization
💡Engineering Change Notice (ECN)
💡Tolerance Stack Up Analysis
💡Non-Technical Duties
💡Mechanical Engineering
Highlights
Engineers often work in large teams, collaborating with hundreds or thousands of people to bring a product from idea to mass production, which can take a year or even a decade.
Products have a life cycle consisting of four key stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
The job of a mechanical engineer is to design, build, analyze, test, and optimize the hardware components that make up a functional product.
The product development process consists of six key steps: conceptual design, prototype design, detail design, validation, optimization, and production.
In the conceptual design stage, product managers define the product vision, feasibility, pricing, and key features based on marketing input.
Industrial/product designers create a digital surface model of the product based on requirements, which mechanical engineers import into CAD software.
In prototype design, engineers from various disciplines collaborate to create a proof of concept demonstrating the product's basic features and feasibility.
CAD software is used to create preliminary 3D models and technical drawings of each component for the proof of concept.
Manufacturing processes for the proof of concept, such as 3D printing, may differ from those used for the final product, like CNC machining or casting.
During detailed design, all mechanical features are incorporated into the 3D CAD model, and production drawings are created and released.
Suppliers provide valuable manufacturing feedback and quotes based on the production drawings.
A bill of materials (BOM) is created, listing all parts, sub-assemblies, their part numbers, and quantities needed for the final product.
Quality and manufacturing engineers help create quality tests and manufacturing plans to control product quality and define assembly processes.
Electrical and optical engineers provide finalized PCB layouts and optical designs so the mechanical design can be finalized and checked for interference.
Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is used to identify potential failures and their causes and effects before manufacturing.
In the validation stage, 50-200 units are rigorously tested for regulatory compliance, such as burn, drop, environmental, and battery testing.
Smaller companies may design fixtures for product testing and assembly, while larger companies partner with contract manufacturers.
The optimization stage focuses on refining the product design and manufacturing processes to address any weak points found during testing.
Once the design is frozen, any subsequent engineering changes require completing an engineering change notice (ECN) to document the change.
In the production stage, mechanical engineers are usually hands-off, with the project manager assigning them to new projects.
Mechanical engineering roles also involve non-technical and administrative tasks, such as meetings, emails, and ordering parts.
Transcripts
movies and shows often and accurately
portray Engineers they tend to
exaggerate and oversimplify our
abilities this is what I mean I said you
were done making weapons it is
a flight stabilizer it's completely
as much as I wish Engineers were like
Tony Stark who can single-handedly
design build and test entire machines in
a blink of an eye the reality is we work
and collaborate with hundreds if not
thousands of people to bring a product
from an idea to mass production which
may take a year or even a decade so I
decided to make a video to clear up some
common misconceptions and share what I
do day to day as a mechanical engineer
just like humans products have their own
life cycles and go through four key
stages introduction growth maturity and
decline the job of a mechanical engineer
is to design build analyze test and
optimize the hardware components
sub-assemblies and assemblies that make
up a functional product we are
responsible for a product throughout the
entire development stage of the product
life cycle in the development stage we
closely followed a product development
process which is used to take a product
from initial concept to store shelves
this process can vary slightly from
company to company but in general it
consists of six key steps conceptual
design prototype design detail design
validation optimization and production
it's very important for mechanical
engineers to be familiar with this
process so I'll explain the work I do
and the people I work with in each of
these six steps the first step consists
of deciding on a product concept that
has the greatest potential for success
and that customers will love as
Engineers we don't have to worry about
this problem as much and it's primarily
marketing's job to define a product
Vision feasibility of the product and
pricing product managers will tell us
how many colors will be offered the
overall product dimensions and what type
of features the phone must offer such as
Dynamic Island and how many lenses the
camera has to have they'll also tell us
that it must be Splash dust and water
resistant to start out industrial or
product designers will create a digital
surface model that details what the
product will look and feel like based on
the requirements provided by marketing
they will then send us this digital
surface model as a step file so that we
can import it into our computer-aided
design or CAD software such as inventor
SolidWorks Creo NX or Katia this way we
know precisely how much space we have to
work with and how big or small to make
internal components next is the Second
Step prototype design here we will work
with other mechanical engineers in the
same team as well as electrical
manufacturing Optical and software
Engineers create a proof of concept that
demonstrates the product's basic
features and feasibility in this stage
we'll use CAD software say SolidWorks to
create high level preliminary 3D models
of each component and corresponding to
the technical drawings so that each part
can be made later on however keep in
mind that the manufacture factoring
processes used to make the parts of the
proof of concept will ultimately differ
from the processes used to make the
parts of the final product for example
let's say we're designing a phone we
would use 3D printing to create multiple
iterations of the phone's chassis for
the proof of concept and in the next
stage we refine the part design so that
it can be mass produced using CNC
Machining or casting and a
cost-effective and efficient way we will
also begin to gather initial information
from electrical and Optical Engineers to
see how big the Apprentice circuit
boards sensors battery camera lenses and
wiring need to be and how everything
will fit together be mounted and sealed
obviously the design will constantly
evolve and change as we move through the
product development process and all
aspects of the design is fine-tuned for
example in the final product the
internal electrical components will be
secured via mounting features such as
screw bosses using a combination of
screws and special adhesive but for the
proof of concept these mounting features
would not be included and double-sided
tape will be used instead many features
and components like buttons and side
switches will be replaced by dummy
components in the proof of concept in
this stage we will also begin selecting
materials for each component based on
functional and technical specifications
of the product for example if the
phone's chassis needs to be corrosion
resistant dissipate heat quickly
lightweight impact resistant weldable
and easily machinable then we will need
to use a systematic method to choose the
optimal material such as an Ashby chart
moving on to the third step we have
detailed design this is a very critical
step where we design and incorporate all
of the mechanical features of the actual
product into the 3D CAD model for each
component and sub-assembly you need to
ask questions like can this undercut be
produced if yes will it drive a park
cost can these parts be assembled and
disassembled easily should I use snap
features or screws to mount this part
does this part require a loose or tight
tolerance do these two parts require a
clearance transition or interference fit
once the design is pretty much nailed
down we create and release the
production drawings which look like this
these drawings show different views of
the component and call out critical
dimensions tolerances and specify
information about the component's
material surface finish and revision
number we then send these drawings to
different suppliers who give us valuable
manufacturing feedback as well as a
quote which details the total cost
needed to make assemble and ship these
parts we will also create a bill of
materials or bomb which is just a list
containing all of the parts
sub-assemblies their part numbers and
quantities of each needed to make the
final product we will also work with
quality and Manufacturing Engineers to
create the quality test and
Manufacturing plans explaining how the
quality of the product will be
controlled how the product will be
tested and what processes equipment and
how much labor will be required to
assemble the final product in this stage
electrical and Optical Engineers also
need to provide us with the finalized
printed circuit board layouts and
Optical designs containing important
information Nation such as sensor
location so that we can begin to
finalize the cad model and perform a
tolerance Stack Up analysis to make sure
that everything fits together and that
there are no interference issues the
entire engineering team will have
several technical design reviews to
identify weaknesses in the design
potential failures that might occur such
as battery leakage and the effects of
these failures before the products is
actually manufactured assembled and sold
a common approach used in industry for
identifying failures causes and effects
is fairer modes and effects analysis or
FMEA which most schools don't teach
finally the last thing we do is Source
parts to build 20 to 50 units using the
intended materials and Manufacturing
processes for engineering design
validation testing or EVT to ensure all
functional product requirements are met
if say a design flaw is discovered
during testing we will go back to the
drawing board improve the design by
adding structural ribs and and then run
a finite element analysis study to
validate the performance of the design
change we then move into the validation
stage this stage focuses on testing the
out of the product typically we
send 50 to 200 units for rigorous
regulatory testing such as burning drop
testing Ingress Protection testing
environmental testing and extensive
battery testing take an iPhone 14 for
instance Apple advertises that it has an
ip68 rating under IEC standard
60529 which just means that this phone
is water resistant up to a depth of 6
meters for 30 minutes in order to
receive this rating Apple probably had a
certified test lab perform the Ingress
Protection test for smaller companies
you might also be responsible for
Designing fixtures used to test a
product or fixtures and jigs used to
hold components in place during assembly
of the final product larger companies
like apple will partner with contract
manufacturers like Foxconn who does
everything for them after putting the
product through so much testing we move
into the optimization or refinement
stage in this stage is very likely
you'll find some weak points in the
product whether it's design quality or
manufacturing related this is the last
opportunity for you to figure things out
and get things right before the product
is mass produced and sold we'll also
work with manufacturers to ensure that
manufacturing processes such as tooling
are fine-tuned quality assurance and
control procedures are finalized so that
high quality parts are coming off the
line and any outstanding issues like
packaging is addressed the design
becomes Frozen at this stage which
simply means that any subsequent
engineering change that needs to be made
will require us to First Complete an
engineering change notice or ecn whose
purpose is to document the design change
and the reason for the change so for
example sample if I were to leave the
company and two years later a new
engineer was working on the same product
he or she could see all the design
changes that were made and when exactly
they were made finally the last stage is
production and at this point mechanical
engineers are usually completely hands
off some minor issues that require your
support might come up from time to time
but it's very likely you already be
assigned to a new project by your
engineering manager all of the things I
mentioned so far are engineering related
but keep in mind that almost every
engineering job will come with a lot of
non-technical and administrative duties
which I like to call busy work if I had
to break down a time I spend doing all
the different types of work as a
mechanical engineer I'd say 40 of my
time is spent in meetings which includes
design reviews one-on-one meetings
department meetings and meetings with
suppliers 40 is spent designing
analyzing or testing products finally
the remaining 20 is spent talking to
people replying to emails writing
reports ordering parts or raw materials
and completing engineering change
notices obviously every mechanical
engineering role will be slightly
different because mechanical engineering
itself is a very broad discipline if
your job is product design oriented it's
very likely the work will be very
similar to mine and if it's process
design oriented you'll more likely work
on designing and optimizing the
manufacturing processes used to create
products anyway that's it for today guys
as always thank you so much for watching
and if you found this video helpful
don't forget to like subscribe and
comment and I'll see you in the next one
peace
[Music]
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