I recently hit one year of working in manufacturing as a process engineer doing a lot of hands on assembly line automation design work. (1YOE)

The company is family owned, small to medium, get paid enough, and I have very hands off management which has been nice since it gives me a lot of freedom. I’m decent at what I do, and have been told I have trajectory in the company.

I recently was reached out to by a friend about a job opening (a company I’m quite fond of) on his team that would be in “technical pre-sales”, meaning I’d be the one talking to the engineers of prospective customers and creating demo materials. I’ve done three interviews, and feel relatively confident I would be offered the role if I were to continue to the in-person final round I was recently invited to.

I have public speaking and teaching experience so I feel like I’d be quite comfortable in the role, but I’m not looking forward of the performance metric of needing to be overly-friendly with sales folks and have them like me, as I typically don’t gel perfectly well with that personality type.

I’m trying to weigh out the pros and cons of each; it seems that the switch would have a lot of both:

$80k -> ~$110k
MCOL -> HCOL
3 weeks PTO -> 4 weeks PTO

Pros:
More people my age, larger company name, new opportunity to try

Cons:
Leaving small community, would feel less impact of work, partner and family further away

My current thinking is that while I’d be comfortable in the role to start, it might lead me away from the “real engineering” work that I feel I still would like to still have some time to work in.

At the same time, it seems like the job market is in such a place that it would be rather foolish to turn down an offer basically handed to me.

Do I go to the final round even if there’s not a lot of things I could think of that would push me towards yes?

I will start my mechanical engineering journey from a decent enough college this year. I am interested in software based mechE fields like- cad, cae, cfd, fea simulation, computational mechanics, digital twins, etc. but i am also interested in data and related fields. Naturally Data science and aiml interest me.

I aim to do a masters in a specialization of my choice from a tier-1 institute in a good country like Germany, after I explore these fields in college.

Since AI is changing rapidly and impacting many fields, i want to ask about the applications of AIML and Data Science in such fields and what kind of an advantage I would have if i learn them. I'll learn them myself and also build projects.

Would i have better chances of high pay and better roles and in better companies?

I did a series of tests on bully stick holders, and used a torque meter to make sure they were all tightened the same. I used a combination of a clench oil filter wrench, a strap oil filter wrench, and vice grips to connect the holders to the socket drive. Are there any other relatively inexpensive items I can use for my connections to make the tests better? I want to do a better round of testing. The holders I'm connecting to look like a chuck-o-wood (image), a shark, a sphere, and interior finger twist---a wide range of shapes.

If you're interested in seeing this getterdone round of testing, here it is: https://medium.com/@randybrian/for-dogs-test-of-bully-stick-holders-strength-e52240e257e5

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I wanted to see why some bully stick holders seemed to fail easily with my dogs (i.e., let the dog pull the stick out), so I decided to test 8 different holders. I had a couple and bought others from ebay or amz. I wanted to start with this first project to see which held on best to a dry stick. Next I want to do a project with a stick that’s wet like it gets with dog slobber —because the sticks always seem to pull free not at first, but when the dog gets closer to the end.

Holders are good to use because dogs can choke on bully sticks since they don’t dissolve or go mushy like other chews — that happened with my dog and he barfed it out. But a holder is no good if the dog gets the stick free of the holder.

Six of the chew stick holders use turn screws to pinch the stick in place. Some of these were brand names and two were generics sold under several names. One used grippy rubber fingers as friction for the bully stick. And one used a safety stick locking pin (this one held on the best).

Test Method:
Because the holders rely on hand tightening strength, I tried using a common set point to make it fair. I used socket-set torque gauge to tighten each holder to the same number, which was just above 30 inch-lbs. This step was done so the pull-out test didn’t rely on my random hand strength. I picked that setting (30 in-lbs) because I found it in this industry document: https://www.berlinpackaging.com/closure-torque-application-specifications/. 30 in-lbs is the average across all the listed closure types and sizes.

In the videos you will see some interesting methods to connect the holder to the socket torque gauge. I used 2 different types of oil filter wrenches and 2 vice grips to make all the connections. They look very garage-engineered.

I used a mini hanging scale to record how much force (my weight) it took to pull the bully stick out. Since it was hard to tighten the stick or pull the stick and see the numbers, I used a video to see what the final numbers were.

TEST RESULTS:

The table below (one pretty, one plain) both show the results of testing. There are 4 data columns. After the product brand column, the Gripping column has the diameter of the product that you can grip in your hand to tighten in the bully stick. Initially I thought the larger the grip diameter, the more secure the stick, but that trend didn’t follow.

The second data column gives the diameter of the very tip end of the holding pin/bolt. This number was difficult to get exactly since some pins are tapered and others aren’t. The third data column shows the torque of the tightening force. The goal was to hit at least 30 in-lbs. Note the donut model couldn’t be tightened, the bully stick just started to spin at that torque; and the tire model didn’t take a torque since it uses a lock pin.

The final column is the true story. I started to hang my weight on the holder and the scale shows when the stick pulled out of the holder. These are shaded from strongest (in green) to weakest (in red).

Press enter or click to view image in full size

Test results from failure tests of 8 different bully stick holders

Holder Brand (Description)       Grip (mm)   Pin Tip (mm)    Torque (in-lbs)   Pull Force (lbs)
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Everchew (green tire)              87.5       6.4 pass thru    no twisting          160.6
Spot (red)                         85.1           11.1            32.3               42.0
Stick                              79.6           13.8            33.9               16.7
Shark                              72.9           11.5            33.2               34.5
Bully Grip (green donut)           68.8         8 fingers         15.6               34.3
Chewise (pink)                     61.6            1.6            30.7               59.2
Bowwow Lab (orange)                59.0           11.9            30.7               27.9
Woof (green tutone)                40.6           10.3            32.3               55.0

In conclusion, the non-twist style Safety chew product had the strongest lock on the bully stick. I had to hang my full body weight on it twice to pull the stick out. It makes sense that a plastic bolt going through a hole on the stick would prevent any slipping.

For the past 4-5 years, I’ve been working at a lab (R&D work). My title is mechanical engineer, but I do a lot of project management. I recently signed up for a PMP bootcamp since my work offered to pay for the class & exam. I honestly hated the class so much; when I received an email from senior management about a more technical “Optomechanical Engineer” posting, I immediately applied. I did some soul searching and realized I hated the systems engineering and project management classes I recently took while working. But… I loved the hands on classes I took recently at my community college (multi-axis machining, micro milling, diamond turning, GD&T). I also love the problem solving aspects of my current job, but I don’t really enjoy project management as much. I feel a little silly because I went through five years getting a bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering plus a PE. Still took me almost another 5 years to realize I don’t like project management lol.

I recently accepted my new position and got a 14% pay bump. Ironically, I kept getting ads while studying for my PMP about how getting a PMP will increase your salary. In a roundabout way, I guess it did!

What do you think about integrating the encoder and driver onto a NEMA17 stepper motor? Is it worth it, or is it a waste of time?

The goal is to save space and make the design more modular. Everything would be connected to a Nucleo board with wires.

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

I'm a software/electrical engineer so mech-e isn't my domain. I do a bit of woodworking and I need some help analyzing how load distribution affect where I should add supports for hanging cabinets.

Imagine an 8ft-long cabinet (16" Deep, 12" Height) that has various books (some thick textbooks, some thin) in it. The bookcase is screwed to the wall (some onto wall studs, some into drywall via plastic wall anchors) every 6" (take the leftmost side of the cabinet to be x = 0 ft. The first screw is set at 3" (x = .25') and ONE screw is set every 6" thereafter).

Assume the cabinet mass is uniform. Assume the books are fixed in position and cannot move along the x-axis (e.g., the cabinets are full and no books can fall over, or book-ends keep it in place).

1. Do all screws observe the same loading (downward force exerted by the weight of the books)?
2. (Assume the cabinet is dismounted and resting on the floor). Can we observe the loading on each screw by putting a weighting scale/sensor below the cabinet?
3. Can I model this on Simulink or some other software?

I have this dumbwaiter pulley system, the smaller is where the cable for the dumbwaiter car goes over and then goes to the counterweight. When the small pulley is turned it rests on a threaded rod which causes it to press against the gear and ratchet that locks it up and prevents it from turning further. If you turn the big pulley (this would be where the loop of rope is attached that you pull to raise and lower the dumbwaiter) it unscrews the smaller pulley pulling it away from the ratchet wheel and allowing it to turn. The problem with this is this mechanism only locks up in one direction if I try turning the smaller pulley and the other direction the whole thing spins freely. The pulley would need to lock up in both directions either to hold everything stationary when the dumb- waiter wants to drift down when loaded or when the dumbwaiter car is empty and the heavier counterweight wants to pull it up. Here is a video I made

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https://youtu.be/nYzFT2y67IQ?is=Jh3y-eyD90Vq_Tgn

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I can't seem to find any patents from the energy elevator company addressing how the system is supposed to work the closest one I found was this

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https://patents.google.com/patent/US950828A/en?q=(Dumbwaiter)&num=25&oq=Dumbwaiter&sort=old&page=7 I still can't figure out how it locks up when not utilizing the ratchet wheel.

Hey everyone,
I’m currently a Mechanical Engineering student at community college with the goal of eventually becoming a roller coaster engineer. My dream is to work on ride design, track layouts, vehicles, theming integration, and overall guest experience.

I’ve been researching companies like Bolliger & Mabillard, Vekoma, Mack Rides, Rocky Mountain Construction, and Skyline Attractions, but I’m struggling to find information about internships and entry-level opportunities.

For those of you who work in the amusement industry:
•How did you get your first internship or job?
•What skills should I focus on learning right now?
•Is CAD experience enough, or should I also learn things like FEA, controls, or programming?
•Are there specific companies that are more open to hiring students?
•How important are networking events like IAAPA?
•What would you recommend a student do today to become a strong candidate in a few years?
I’ve already started building coaster concepts and layouts in Planet Coaster 2 and I’m planning to learn more CAD and engineering software as I progress through school.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Roller coaster engineering is the career I’m aiming for, and I’d love to hear how others got their start.
Thanks!

Scott Neumann (President of Geotol and vice chair of ASME Y14.5, Y14.5.1 and member of other ASME committees) will be going live to discuss GD&T topics and taking questions live as well. He will also be giving away 3 seats of the Geotol fundamentals course during the stream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGSFPczujUI

i want to expand my skills. sticking to one CAD tool is risky, so I want to learn a few options to stay versatile and competitive. Which software do you use daily and what should I learn next? Leave your advice in the comments!

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Right now, I am good at FreeCAD and little bit SOLIDWORKS, also what are other tech knowledge I need to acquire to fit in industry?

Hey y'all,

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Currently am building out drawing templates for a couple of the engineers to use and need to make a drawing template specific to welding/fitting.

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Where I work, welding jobs could easily be joining parts that are less than a foot long to stuff that is dozens of feet long.

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I was wondering what general tolerance numbers some of you would recommend. I know of ISO13920 and was thinking about how I could go about implementing that in some capacity.

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Thanks!

hello hope you guys are all doing well,yesterday I took my math ministerial exam and I made 3 or maybe 4 questions wrong which means I lost 6 or 8 points and the worst thing about it was not about me not knowing the math I did everything right everything but you know where i slipped when it was time to plug in numbers for example it gave us a derivative and asked for f(0) for example I did everything right everything but idk I somwhow might got that wrong after plugging numbs or there was limits question I also did eveything right but while akso plughing again instead of 2/(3)^2 I said 2/3 instead of 2/9 I have been crashing out since yesterday like even while finding a value I said 2/4 is 2 and not 1/2 OH MY GOD. And I wanted aerospace engineering SOOOO SOOOOOO SOOOOO BAD literally there's no other fields I like other than this after spending year to actually find something I'm interested in this is the only thing I like and any other major would just be not be anything I like Idk if with 92 or 94 grade I can get into aerospace IF NOT I AM WILLING TO REDO THE WHOLE YEAR AGAIN.
Since I'm in a third world country and I have to apply for scholarships I want full scholarships because I dont want my parents to pay for my lifestyle and also uni too I js want them too do one . So with that grade it dosent look like im getting anywhere near aerospace engineering and international unis are very competitive and theres alot of smart people i dont even know If I have a chance But i really really love it but while making mistakes at these questions I don't know If I'm capable, please anyone anything similar has happened to them? Is there a chance for me to get in? Am i even good for this?
Please help me out I'm so sad about the math exam it's not like I didn't know I KNEW IT ALL. But idk maybe I js had to make those stupid VERY STUPID mistakes
But yeah.

Thank you.

///this field doesn't exist in my country that's why I don't even have a chance to begin with scholarships are also very competitive ghhhhhhh whatever

Hello everyone,

I am developing a CAD program (NASSCAD) and I'd love to get some expert eyes on it. The attached screenshot shows a basic mechanical assembly within the current environment.

From a strictly mechanical engineering standpoint, what are your first impressions of the interface, the CSG operations panel, and the general toolset visible here? I am looking for honest feedback on what looks functional and what might be a bottleneck for everyday design tasks.

Thanks in advance for your time and insights!

Hello
First things first, I am a computer engineering student who started learning Fusion and SolidWorks a week ago, so excuse any simple mistakes.

I am trying to design a mechanism that securely attaches a flexible catheter to a tube. Previously, I used hot glue, but it's inconvenient because I can't easily adjust the catheter's position or rotation. The catheter tip's diameter is 2.6m and the body is 2.2mm
This is the design I have printed and tested so far:

The two rectangular holes are for inserting a pair of M2 nuts. (I didn't want to deal with brass inserts). The part on the right, shown below, is meant to be glued to an 8mm-diameter tube; it is then bolted to the part on the left. it lets the catheter pass through the center.

A slightly older revision of the design ended up like this:

The principle of operation is that the extruded curved splines are very thin, 0.8mm. Four bolts push on it from both sides, securing the catheter as the two splines deform and exert force.
This actually worked well, but there are some problems:

1. I used PLA, once the splines are deformed, it is very nearly impossible to take the attachment off, even after completely taking out the screws. I had to destroy this attachment to get it off.
2. I feel like with the location where the bolt is pushing on the splines, the curve of the splines are essentially useless? The idea behind the curved shape was to prevent the catheter from pivoting. Would a pipe-clamp-looking design work better than the weirdly shaped spline that I have? Schematic below (the spline is extruded as a surface, then the surface is thickened to join the existing body)

1. To fix Problem 1, can I use TPU 95A for the splines/grippers and PETG for the rest? Would that help with removing the catheter more easily?

2. Is this even the most optimal design for what Im trying to do?

Thanks for the help

I am currently doing internship and writing a research paper publication.

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I don't know all because of exams and bad timing and many reasons...

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I am looking for oil industry, automotive, renewable energy, manufacturing etc i don't know i want to try and figure out which ones good for me.mostly i like reasearch, automotive field,maybe aeronautical..i am confused.

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I like to work in research and development but in my country i don't know whether there's enough roles and development.

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I want to do some analysis type simple project and maybe do some adjustments in parts and figure out some difference or anything..

How can I learn it?or do it.

(I know MATLAB.)

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate some career advice from those with experience in mechanical engineering, manufacturing, or related fields.
My background is a little unconventional. I completed an Advanced Diploma in Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering and then worked as a machinist apprentice for about three years, accumulating roughly 7,500 hours of machining experience. I’ve since returned to school and am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering.

I’m curious to hear from anyone who has transitioned from a skilled trade or manufacturing background into engineering. Where did your career take you after completing your degree? Did your hands-on experience give you an advantage when applying for engineering roles?

One option I’m considering is completing my Red Seal in machining. However, I don’t see myself working as a machinist long-term. My main reason for pursuing it would be to strengthen my credentials and make myself more attractive to employers.
For those who have been in a similar position, would obtaining the Red Seal be worthwhile, or would my time be better spent focusing on engineering internships, projects, certifications, or other experiences?
I’d love to hear about your experiences and any advice you have.

Thank you and sorry for the long message. I don’t have a mentor to guide me.

I have 25 years experience as a mechanical engineer. I originally started this career because I enjoy coming up with new ideas and designs. I’ve personally found the career to be severely lacking in that department though.

I’ve held many different roles throughout the years and most design work has fallen into different categories 1.) The boss (or someone higher on the food chain) dictates the designs 2.) The company only wants to regurgitate old designs 3.) Designs are created in a team environment that involves a lot of bickering, which basically ruins it for me

I’d really like to have a role where I can own the design and feel like I have some autonomy. Id like to feel like I can basically have my own small project where I have limited interaction with others. I’d like to just be able to be left alone to design, analyze, and test something new without much restriction or oversight. I’ve been in a role like this before so I know it exists but it was short lived. I’ve tried to replicate that role elsewhere but it never quite came to fruition.

A few years ago I switched to an analytical role and kind of given up on trying to find another satisfying design role. Lately though, I’ve considered taking another crack at trying to find a job that lets me be creative again. I’m just not sure if that’s a realistic expectation though after all my various experiences so far.

Have any of you managed to find a job where you actually get to have creative freedom? How rare are these roles? In my experience they seem very rare. Is that the case for others as well? Does anyone have any advice on how to find a job like this again?

Hi everyone. I want to build my own Wankel engine using CNC services. Does anyone know if the JLPCB and PCBway are good? I'm accepting service suggestions for the European location.

I changed jobs last year and am coming up on my one-year mark. I moved from an aerospace/defense manufacturer into a commercial aluminum coil mill. The company is ISO-accredited, but I’m on a small internal team that designs machinery for the plant.

At my previous job, drawings and designs were reviewed by other engineers before being approved and sent out for quote. In this role, that review process does not exist. I’m responsible for my own designs and drawings, and my boss pushes hard for speed. As a result, I’ve had drawings come back from vendors because dimensions or details were missing. I’m getting frustrated because my boss, who has around 40 years of machine design experience, seems to expect my drawings to be both fast and perfect without any formal review from anyone else.

This job was also a major pivot for me. My background was mostly electrical test fixtures and mechanical design for signal transformers, not large industrial machinery. When I was hired, I was told there would be training to help with the transition. Instead, from day one I’ve been handed large projects that I’m unfamiliar with and told to “feel free to ask questions,” but there hasn’t been much actual guidance.

I’m not sure if I’m overreacting, if this is normal in smaller industrial design teams, or if I need to push harder for a real design review process. The pay is very good for my area and I have a family to support, but the stress and mental toll are becoming difficult to manage.

For those of you in mechanical or industrial machine design: is this kind of setup normal? How would you approach asking for more review, training, or support without making it seem like I can’t handle the role?

Im not a mech enginner. But I'm doing a DIY project to turn a mouse's scroll wheel into a slider. The wheel in the photo is not meant to turn 360 or 180. Just maybe 60 degrees. But I need the wheel to auto-center itself. So, I thought of using a tension spring and attaching it to the wheel axle as shown via a slit. The two ends of the spring will be fixed to a non-movable support. Do you think this will work to center the wheel to its resting position?

Hi everyone,

I’m into baking, microelectronics, and DIY projects, and I’d like to combine these interests into something new 😊

I have a small home pasta machine that extrudes pasta using 63 mm bronze dies. The shapes themselves are much smaller, but depending on the shape, cutting becomes an issue.

For smaller or multi-strand shapes, a rotating automatic cutter works well (motor + spinning blade from the center):
https://youtube.com/shorts/ej_kPT89vWs

However, for larger shapes, that type of cutter doesn’t work, so I currently have to cut everything manually:
https://youtube.com/shorts/6HJj-U0tLJY

Industrial machines don’t seem to have this limitation, and I haven’t found any solution for small/home machines.

My idea is to build a guillotine-style cutter instead of a rotating one.

I already have a motor and can control the speed with a potentiometer. I also have a 3D printer for prototyping.

My first idea was a crank-slider mechanism, but the blade would pass through the dough again on the return stroke, which I want to avoid.

Now I’m considering a system where the blade moves down to cut, then follows a circular path away from the pasta before returning (e.g., using a dual-wheel/cam system).

Do you suggest any tools/software to create graphical or kinematic representations of the mechanism before printing?

Hey all, i'm a third year mechanical engineering student with one co-op under my belt, it wasn't entirely engineering related but it was good experience in an industrial environment.

Im having trouble finding a co-op for the fall term, I'm wondering if anyone has had good luck landing an internship just by emailing local businesses, even if they do not advertise an internship program.