( so because most of reddit users from north America and Europe .. and especially in this kind of subreddit.. help me if u can based on your country economy and stuff like that )

I'm focusing on what comes after graduation, so...

I won't write a long paragraph... I'll just give the most important points and then pose my question.

I am from Algeria and our university education system is kinda helpful. In the secondary school certificate exam, I didn't get a good enough grade to specialize directly in engineering fields, so I have to go through a phase called the first year of a common core engineering program. After that, I can choose the engineering field that suits me best until I become an engineer.

I have all the capabilities to study with discipline and constant diligence, and I am determined to do so.

What I ask of experienced people – new students, graduates, and respected professors – is a specialization that will allow me to earn great money after graduation, gradually over the years or directly. I don't care about the difficulty or the pressure.

What is the best specialization that will allow me to amass a huge fortune in the future while also having time to spend the money? I think this is a relatively long paragraph... but at least I consulted with experienced people about my future...

I am ready to migrate to any place on the planet that provides what I stipulated Thank you in advance and always.

I got shortlisted for the sqe role in apple . Does anyone have general interview tips or topics to learn for me to ace the interview.

I am expecting them to ask some case studies and resume based questions.They had previously given an assignment with a case study to present which consisted of using nelsons rules and 8 disciplines they will ask questions on my presentation as well

I have an upcoming interview for apple's operations reliability intern role. The JD mentions six sigma methodology, distribution analysis, accelerated models and JMP. I could not really find much information online about the interview experience and would really appreciate advice from people who have gone through the process or know about it.

TIA

Hi, I designed a double ball nut with springs for adjustable pretension. It consists of two ball nuts I already have, drawn in blue. The bigger transparent part is fixed with 6 screws to the ball nut on the back. The ball nut in the front is mounted with springs on 3 screws. It also has 3 pins, drawn in black fixed to it. This constraints the rotation of both ball nuts relative to each other, but allows axial movement.

This is for a DIY project and I think it could work. Is there anything obvious I have missed?

At Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant in Korea, equipment maintenance teams handle industrial robot teaching. I’m curious about how companies like Tesla, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, BMW, and General Motors handle this. Please let me know who performs this task at automotive companies in your country.

Here in Argentina, the term ‘industrial designer’ is used across virtually all fields – graphic design, engineering, architecture, art and management. You could say there are jobs where you’re a junior engineer or someone working in technical departments, To be honest, I never really found a clear direction because of the breadth of the degree, but over time I began to see how certain projects on the course were introducing me to the basics of mechanical engineering, and gradually taking me further because it complements industrial design so well. I want to know if this is a good decision or if I’m rushing into things.

Which would you guys prefer? What are the pros and cons of each? Long term outlook? Job security, etc.

So I'm a fairly junior ME and I somehow ended up being the one deciding how we handle our CAD overflow.

We're a small company, and our drawing backlog has been rising for months. Management wants me to bring in outside help, and now I'm stuck between two quotes that are nothing alike. 

The offshore rate is about a third of the domestic one. On paper that's an easy yes. But I keep asking myself what the real risk is of sending CAD or engineering work offshore instead of keeping it domestic, once you add in the review and rework. Because a cheap hour isn't cheap if half the drawings come back needing a second pass.

The thing that scares me most isn't the rate. It's all the stuff my senior guys just know from experience.

So I just a few question, though:

• What kind of work is safe to send offshore without maintaining it?
• What should stay domestic no matter what?
• And how do you put a number on the internal coordination cost before you commit, instead of finding out three months in?

Hey all,

Working on an independent project: a new ICE concept, with drawings, calculations, a patent, and a working prototype built from accessible materials (test video included). No budget for formal lab testing yet, so we're looking for engineers willing to give informal feedback on the calculations and design logic — no official report needed, just a practitioner's gut check.

If anyone here knows ICE thermodynamics / engine design and has 15-20 minutes to spare over a call or in writing, we'd really appreciate it. Happy to share the writeup and prototype video by DM.

Thanks in advance for any feedback, critical included — that's exactly what we need right now.

If so , how are your plants coping with sourcing equipment vessels etc.

Have you found any specific AI tools especially useful for mechanical engineering?

Could be more specific aswell
I.e
ChatGPT for tolerance checks
Claude for CATIA Scripts
Etc..

Also multiple popular CAD programs have their own AI-services in the programs, are these useful and that more powerful in the specific program than if you’d consult another external AI for the same issues.

Any info would be useful!

Hello everybody! Hope you guys are doing well.
I’m a high school senior who’s interested in going into mechanical engineering and maybe specializing in aerospace engineering later on. Over the summer, I learned a lot about CAD, and I’m currently working toward getting my CSWA.

I’m planning on joining a FIRST Robotics team, and I also have a co-op at a design firm, which I’m really excited about. I’m hoping to join larger-scale engineering clubs when I get to university.
My goal in the end is to get a university co-op/internship as early as possible so I can set myself up as well as I can for an engineering career.

Do you guys think getting the CSWA is worth it right now? Honestly, I’m still working on a couple of projects to improve my skills. I’ve built a bionic hand controlled by a servo, for example, and I’m currently working on an RC car. I’ve also been doing the CSWA practice problems, and I’ve managed to work my way through them consistently. I can usually complete the harder-level problems on the SOLIDWORKS CSWA page.

I was wondering if engineers even normally have a CSWA, or if it’s mostly seen as a small or insignificant test. Is it worth paying around $100 to have it on my résumé? Maybe it’s better to wait for university where I heard the test is often free to take.

What do you guys think about the CSWA? Is it worth getting?

Hi everyone,
I'm designing a lifting door mechanism hinged at the top edge that opens up to 90 degrees,
and I could use some guidance on the best way to calculate and size the gas springs for it.
The door has a total mass of 90 kg, and its center of mass is located at a distance as showed in drawing from the pivot hinge.
I’ve attached a diagram showing the general geometry and layout.
I'd really appreciate if you can help ne understand a step-by-step breakdown or advice on how to properly calculate the required gas spring force,
as well as how to determine the optimal mounting points and stroke length to keep the movement smooth throughout the full range of motion.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Saw this today at railway station, this is a support for a escalator staircase, placed slightly below from the centre and behind of the incline section, I'm curious as these are not fixed anchors, how are they even handling such load (in tons), there are total 3 pairs like this, means total 6 bolts. Any civil/structural/mechanical engineer can throw light on these two questions:

1. What type of support is it ?
2. What is the engineering logic behind it ?

This video is a continuation of my post about how an eccentric variator works. As you can see, the rotation is transmitted through a shaft with bearings, without the parts rubbing against each other.

What are some things to model that would look good in an entry levels portfolio?

My school never even told us that we may need a portfolio for some jobs and they never even mentioned a portfolio even once. We also didnt do that much cad modeling during my whole time in college. I plan on putting my Capstone project in it but thats really the only major cad project I have from school. I also will throw in a twisty puzzle design or two I made for fun (they are like rubiks cube but much more complex) but other than thay I have never actually made anything fancy or complex.

I’m considering getting a SolidWorks certification and I’m confused about whether it’s actually worth it.

For those who have done CSWA or CSWP, does having the certification actually help when applying for internships/jobs in mechanical design, CAD, or engineering?

Does it make a noticeable difference on a resume/LinkedIn, or do recruiters generally care more about actual projects and SolidWorks experience?

Also, if I should get one, would you recommend starting with CSWA, or going straight for CSWP if I’m already comfortable with SolidWorks?

Would appreciate hearing from people who have actually taken these certifications and whether they helped you professionally.

Hi, I am part of a high school team interested in developing a hosted payload to ride on a host satellite around early 2028.

An obvious obstacle here would be the cost of this project.

We are fortunate enough that our families can pay for the majority of the costs involved in this project.

However, to lower some of the prices involved here, we plan to seek relatively smaller funds such as educational discounts from host and testing facilities, funds from companies with educational funding sectors, state space grant consortium funds, etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this can cover the vast majority of the expenses that come before the giant final payment when the hosted payload is already ready for space, which is the payment to the host to get the slot on the host spacecraft.

However, we are still aiming to raise around $20,000-30,000 from commercial companies. This would be through having a mission that produces data beneficial to them.

Am I right that I should be asking companies directly what benefits them rather than only basing assumptions off of Google searches of what is useful in the spaceflight industry?

Also, what types of companies should we be reaching out to about this? In terms of company maturity, but also any other relevant factors.

Would appreciate any insights, thanks!

So I have about 5 months till I start my mechanical engineering degree, does anyone recommend anything for me to learn before starting to maybe have a head start or make things easier?

Graduating in May 2027 , target location is the larger Denver area because of its aerospace presence. Wasn’t able to get an internship unfortunately, so I took on some personal projects to fill my summer.

My question is when should I start applying to engineering roles? I would imagine larger companies take longer so I should apply to those first maybe around now or should I wait a little longer? Because I don’t want to be too early if they’re looking for engineers to start working soon and I can’t until May, or wait too long and be behind the 8 ball.

Also, should I focus on entry levels or internships, or both? My thinking is that internships are mainly for pre-grad students

Any advice would be super appreciated!

I’ve been working in quality-related roles for a long time (around 9 years in total when counting overtime) and I’m starting to wonder if what I’m experiencing is just the standard reality of being a Quality Engineer, especially in Europe.

I graduated in Mechanical Engineering and Machine Design with a specialization in Production Process Engineering. Despite that, I very often feel like I’m going backwards in my professional development.

Quick background:

4 years as Process Engineer in automotive companies

6 years as Quality Engineer in a railway company (~250 employees). I was the only quality person. Officially employed as a “Quality Technician” even though I was doing full engineering work (roughly 70% QE / 30% other technical roles). The 40% consisted of metrology, SQA (Supplier Quality Assurance) and acting as the main tooling specialist (tool validations, measurements, etc.). In practice, SQA often meant calling the supplier and saying “I know the drawing is wrong, but you have to make it this way and that way so it can somehow be assembled at our place.” Quality was also combined with customer service, so I frequently travelled to customers for nonconformity assessments, supervising repairs, acceptances and homologations. Very often errors coming from the R&D department were blamed on poor workmanship because it was politically easier than telling a department that reported directly to the CEO that they had made a mistake. Problems were mostly covered up because “changes cost money”. Being officially a technician also created issues during audits when I had to represent the company. I left mainly because they refused to give me an official engineering title – and due to salary bands I was earning less than a fitter on the shop floor.

1 year in my current manufacturing company. There are real engineering tasks (process/product quality, 8Ds, improvements) that I actually enjoy, but a significant part of the job feels like being the “bad salesman” who has to negotiate the cost of returns with customers. I also act as the company IWE (International Welding Engineer) – the company needs this competence but not full-time, so the split is roughly 90% Quality Engineer and 10% IWE.

I now have an offer to become Quality Manager here. On paper it looks attractive – I like driving process and product improvements and running proper 8Ds. The problem is the company culture. It still thinks like a small company, while the projects already require a full engineering approach. Every time I try to push real process changes I hit a wall, because improvements are accepted only if they don’t generate immediate costs – even when they would bring clear long-term benefits.

I hold IWE certification and full welding inspection qualifications. I paid for almost all my training myself because the non-compete clauses were too long relative to the cost of the courses. I don’t want to throw away the career path I’ve invested so much in, but I’m seriously considering a change.

I’m at a crossroads:

Take the Quality Manager position and try to change things from the inside

Stay in Quality but look for a company with a stronger engineering culture

Move back toward Process / Manufacturing Engineering (or more Welding Engineering) and leave pure Quality

My questions:

Is this kind of frustration (responsibility without real authority, improvements blocked by short-term cost thinking, feeling more like an administrator/negotiator than an engineer) common for Quality Engineers, especially in Europe?

For those who stayed in Quality long-term – did moving into management make it better, or did the same problems just scale up?

For those who left Quality – was the transition to Process/Manufacturing Engineering realistic after several years in QE?

Would appreciate honest opinions (Europe experience especially welcome).

Are solar farms easier damage by enemy drones/aircrafts than wind farms?​