Have you wondered how to use the time while doing a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering?
Today’s overwhelming negative information makes mechanical engineers fall into wrong decisions while choosing their career paths. This evergreen degree will survive for years with integrating biomechanics into the curriculum.
Students should stay productive and focus on their goals to make the world a better place to live.
Table of Contents
Productive Things To Do As A Mechanical Engineer
There are some productive things to do while handling studies and lifestyle to get the most out of your college life.
Brain Storming
One thing that makes an engineer successful is the ability to do relevant brainstorming processes. This is the only possible way to generate new ideas and designs.
Start creating mind maps and mood boards.
Simply start asking “why”. To find a solution to the problem, rephrase your question several times to hit the problem in all possible directions.
For instance, ask yourself, “why should I memorize this equation?”. Watch videos or lectures on the same topic and try to get the easiest explanation for your problem. Google is your best friend. There are thousands of articles on the same topic for you to brainstorm.
These are some useful websites to refer to as a mechanical engineering student.
- Interestingengineering.com
- Enterfea.com
- feaforall.com
- Skill-lync.com
- Simscale.com
- Convergecfd.com
- nptel.com
- Efficient engineer (YouTube)
Be open to crazy ideas. You may get inspired by art for an engineering project of yours. A bull’s shape inspired Lamborghini.
Be a good listener more than being an excellent orator.
Leadership Qualities
The most important character traits include the ability to handle a team as an engineer.
If you are a production engineer, you could have 50 – 100 people working under you. You should develop strong authoritative leadership qualities to make them work efficiently.
Develop qualities like group influencing ability, social adaptability, liveliness, cooperation, courage, self-confidence, organizing ability, power of expression, stamina, initiative tendency, reasoning ability, effective intelligence.
Listen to both sides of your mind and take decisions based on logic. Love people and use things, but don’t mix this up.
You may have to shout at them and chat friendly at the same time. Understand the mindset of the people around you and behave appropriately. Your ability to understand and respond deeply lies in the quality of your education.
If you like to stay more technical, involve yourself in different tech-related symposiums. If you like to grow in a career like logistics, sales, and production, learn leadership, organizational, and productivity-enhancing strategies.
You must be able to communicate your teachings effectively with the people to double the peak of your learning curve. People need more advice than you think. Be a person of pure knowledge.
Note Taking
Have you ever thought of a new idea to implement but forgot it as soon as you complete some other job? Yes, that happens a lot.
Create a habit of note-taking.
Laziness could put a full-stop for your creativity and productivity. Take time to note down ideas and points to remember. Buy a journal or use some note-taking apps like Notion, Evernote, ClickUp.
Depend on physical or digital highlighters when reading. Weava is a chrome extension that could save your day.
This is a real game-changer. This habit may seem small, but it can save you at crucial times. I have recovered the notes that I wrote 3 years back for one project exactly similar to a new project.
Guess what, I made money fast by completing the project faster. My client became super happy and started giving more projects. This note-taking habit can become a long-term investment if you use it wisely.
To become a design, CAE, or CFD engineer memorize a lot of equations. It will become much easier if you use aboriginal memory techniques and note the story in your journal.
These could be the most productive things to do in your life.
Career Goal
There may be a situation where you make more money is a work than your engineering job. Before that meet that point in your life, you have to decide your career goal.
- Decide up to what age you will work.
- Decide how long your working hours should be.
- Decide the type of company you would like to work.
- Decide on the achievements you would like to receive.
- Decide how much salary you would like to get at a specific age.
A wavy mind could cause more difficulty in finding happiness in what you do. Involve in a goal wholeheartedly to be productive and efficient.
Track your time (get Time Doctor). Use Pomodoro techniques to focus on the work you do.
Related:
Skill Development
As a mechanical engineer, you must spend time learning new software applications depending on your career goal.
Software skills needed for CAE engineers
- Altair Hypermesh
- ANSA
- Ls Dyna
- Abaqus
- Ansys
Software skills needed for CFD engineers
- Ansys Fluent
- Matlab
- OpenFOAM
- Python
- GT power, GT suite
- ANSA
Software skills needed for mechanical design engineers
- Solidworks
- AutoCAD
- Creo
- Ansys
- Catia
- Rendering softwares
Skills needed in production and logistics engineering
- PLM softwares
- AutoCAD basics
- Creo basics
- Excel
- Project management tools
- Lucid charts
- Leadership
These tools can secure your life as a mechanical engineer as well as you can freelance on Fiverr to earn some extra bucks. Learn few languages like German, French to get more clients.
People look for freelancers in every field. You may have to create a small website to showcase your talents to create an authority for your knowledge. Get more exposure to technology. Coding skills may help you automate the process in the long run.
Conclusion
These are some productive things to do as a mechanical engineer while studying in college. I recommend following a path rather than inspiration. Inspirations don’t last, but strategies and systems do last.
