Mechanical and aerospace engineering is a comprehensive major, and students can work in various fields such as research and development, design, and sales. In particular, the ‘Design and Manufacturing’ class helped me to understand the direction of the mechanical major and clarify my career path through teamwork and presentation experiences. The experience gained in this course provided me with the opportunity to enter various fields such as marketing and sales as well as research and development.
Mechanical and aerospace engineering is a comprehensive major as most companies hire mechanical graduates in all areas. R&D, design, and even sales prefer mechanical engineering graduates in a variety of fields, which shows the broad academic scope of the department. However, this diversity makes it difficult for many students to decide on a career path. For me, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering until my third year.
Then, in the second semester of my junior year, I took a class called Design and Manufacturing, which gave me a clearer idea of where the mechanical major was headed. Design and Manufacturing is one of the most heavily weighted majors in the department. Each semester, we work on a different project, and in this case, we collaborated with the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the National Medical Center to create an assistive device for the disabled. The team consisted of eight students and one advisor with a disability, and the class started out by forming a company instead of a team.
The class was organized into three presentations, with the goal of the first presentation being to plan what kind of product we would create based on the requirements of our advisor, who would be the user of our product. The most challenging part of preparing for the first presentation was figuring out what the customer wanted and coming up with a new product to meet that need. For the second presentation, we had to perfect the product that we had designed in the first presentation and sell it to the professors and other disability advisors as a good product. In preparing for the second presentation, I had to make a lot of modifications because the original model of the product was not feasible, and I was very worried about how to present the presentation because I thought that I would have to sell the product. The third presentation was to actually create the product that our group planned and designed. In this course, we made many attempts to lower the unit cost of the product, and we made a prototype while fixing the parts that were difficult to make.
Through this one class, I was able to experience all the processes that the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has to offer, from creating a company, organizing customer requirements, product planning, design, analysis through mechanics, product production, and prototype presentation. This process had a great influence on my career choice. First, I had the idea that I could do everything on my own, but this project showed me that working in a team is more versatile and reliable than trying to do everything on my own, and I really enjoy working together.
Secondly, I always thought that R&D was the main focus of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and planned to pursue a career in that field, but when I gave the second presentation in this class, I had a lot of fun preparing the PPT, practicing the presentation, and introducing the product in front of many people. This experience was the biggest factor in my decision to pursue a career in marketing or sales rather than R&D.
The broad scope and diverse possibilities of mechanical and aerospace engineering will become increasingly important in the modern world. Especially in the era of converging technologies, there will be more and more fields for graduates of mechanical and aerospace engineering to choose from. With the knowledge and experience gained from majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering, I hope to learn and experience a wider range of fields, not limited to mechanical aviation, which I believe will be of great benefit to my career.
The comprehensive education and practical experience of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering provides many students, including myself, with a wide range of career options. Through these opportunities, I hope to continue to grow myself and become a person who can contribute to society.
