During their mechanical engineering degree program,

During their mechanical engineering degree program, many of the students are usually interested in doing mini projects and final year projects related to design and manufacturing.  Here I have suggested a list of mechanical engg projects for students:

1. Design/manufacture a sugar dispenser: You will find many tea and coffee dispensers at different places. Why not introduce a sugar dispenser as well? This sugar dispenser can be used to mix sugar in a more hygienic condition with minimum sugar waste. In this mechanical engineering design project idea, you need to design a sugar dispenser with full automatic control. This sugar dispenser will be used to pour tea into cups and can be placed alongside tea dispensers.

2. Design a multipurpose chair/table: Design a multipurpose chair/table which can be converted to a table or a chair as needed. Using mechanical engineering design techniques you need to design this product which users can fold into a chair or even a table as required. This is actually 2 in 1 type product. This product if properly developed can also be sold in the market.

3. Design a machine to produce power from canals: Water in most of the canals has a lot of energy. Why not use this energy for some useful purpose? Think of some product or machine which you can install on a canal to generate energy and electricity from running water. This mechanical design project can be very useful in rural areas of developing countries.

4. Design a multi-direction wind turbine: Design a wind turbine which can operate in any wind direction but rotates in the same direction. Whatever the direction of the wind is, it must operate in same direction. These kinds of wind turbines are very useful in hill stations and mountainous areas where wind comes in from different directions at same time. So all this wind from different direction can then be used to operate this turbine in a same direction.

5. Design a robot for spraying: In this mechanical engineering design project you need to design a robot for spraying purposes using a remote. This is also related to robotics projects in mechanical engineering. Movement of robot can be defined and controlled using a robot.

6. Design a mobile phone holder for cars: In this design project, engineering students can design a product which can be installed on car doors or dash board and which is capable of holding mobile phones and charging them.

I have suggested these mechanical engg design projects after detailed discussion with industry experts and professors. Kindly discuss these projects with your college professors as well. Keep visiting this mechanical engineering vision website for more new and latest projects.

Thermal mechanical engineering projects (thermodynamics)

After proper guidance from senior professors and experts, i have created following list of projects :

1. Calculate heat generation and refrigeration capacity: This mechanical engineering project idea is related to thermodynamics and heat transfer. You need to calculate heat generation and refrigeration capacity within any factory or shopping mall or even in your own campus building. Then after performing complete analysis on these factors you need to suggest improvements in building design and other factors which will minimize heat generated and humidity within a building.

2. Make a steam powered rocket boat: Do you know how a rocket propels itself? Hot gases burn out and rocket propels further. Why not use this phenomenon in making a rocket boat which uses steam/boiled water or even hot gases to propel the boat onto water.

3. Manufacture solar powered oven and cookers: Design and manufacture solar powered cookers with more efficiency for use in remote areas of developing countries. This thermal mechanical engineering project is purely related to thermodynamics. Students who are interested in engineering projects related to thermodynamics should undertake this project in order to understand complete concepts of the subject as well as heat transfer.

4. Design and analysis of a virtual refrigerator: In this thermal mechanical project you need to Design a virtual refrigerator in any CAD utility and perform complete analysis using ANSYS or any other software on performance of using different refrigerants. This virtual environment will help save millions of dollars spent on making labs for understanding performance of different refrigerants used within refrigerators.

5. Design a fish aquarium with automatic control: In this thermodynamics project mechanical engineering students are required to design an aquarium for fish with automatic control of temperature according to the weather and temperate in the environment.

6. Automatic fire fighting robot/Machine: Design small scale robots or machines which can be installed in different buildings and shopping malls in order to avoid accidental fire in any building. This mechanical engineering project is related to thermodynamics and manufacturing courses. It will help save many accidents which cause great financial loss due to fire caught within any building during night.

I hope you will like these thermal mechanical engineering project ideas.

Automobile project ideas for mechanical engineering students

I would like to share some automobile project ideas for mechanical engineering students:

1. Improvements in diesel engine for less emission of CO2: Obtain a used diesel engine from your engine lab in your campus or you may also get it from any sponsor. You task is to measure the percentage of hazardous gases which emit from engine exhaust then you have to reduce that percentage to a minimum level. Think about the improvements which you can make into that diesel engine which can reduce emission of dangerous gases which cause pollution to the environment. This is a hot issue and research topic these days. Get yourself involved into this research and maybe you can reduce a little bit of it and play your part in saving the world. You can work initially on reducing percentage of CO2 emitted or you can choose any other emission gas. This project will help you in understanding all diesel engine working procedures in detail. Hint: Record you readings in excel sheets and develop macros to sort out data in a desired form.

2. Create a device or make changes in speed meter to warn next oil change required: Changing engine oil and filter on time helps improve efficiency and performance of an engine. Exactly when a car owner requires changing engine oil? There is no such device to warn next engine oil change. It’s usually done manually. So in this mechanical engineering automobile related project, you can manufacture a device to warn next oil change required. This will help improve efficiency of the automobile.

3. Create a low price car jack: Create a low price and small scale edition of a hydraulic car jack in order to minimize human effort and risks. Most of the car jacks used these days are scissor car jacks with mechanical threads which require a lot of human energy and cause many accidents frequently. So in this automobile project you are required to manufacture a small scale hydraulic jack for cars which are cheap to buy and require less effort to use. Fluid energy can be used which will minimize human effort to a great level

4. Design/manufacture more efficient mudguards for cars: In this mechanical engineering project idea, you need to design special mudguards with improved efficiency. Use any mechanical engineering software or CAD/CAM setup to design these mudguards. Make them more elastic and more strengthened to survive from any hard materials on roads or in mud

5. Create a small carriage for shopkeepers or grocery store owners from bike engine: Convert your motorcycle into a more useful carriage for medium shop businesses. Take into account all the weight requirements and safety measures while making this device. Perform complete structural analysis before finalizing your product. This is very helpful for developing countries. It will provide a great carriage for small to medium scale shopkeepers to carry their stock from market with less fuel consumption and at economical cost

6. Create a device to insert into exhaust system of a car to convert hazardous gases into environment friendly liquids and gases: In this mechanical project which is related to automobile exhaust system, you need to create a device which can be inserted into exhaust section of any car. This device should be capable of converting CO2 and other hazardous gases into environment friendly liquids or gases through some chemical reactions.

I hope you like these project ideas for mechanical engineering students. Discuss these automobile projects and ideas with your professors and advisors in your colleges and departments and start working on them. You will find these projects very helpful in understanding mechanical engineering and automobile engineering concepts.

Final Year Mechanical Engineering Projects

Here I have compiled some great ideas for final year mechanical engineering projects at undergraduate level. These final year mechanical engineering projects are just an idea of what you can do. You can always increase or decrease the scope of a project and make any changes according to your requirements.

1. An Automated Umbrella:

Design an automated umbrella with sunlight sensors such that the umbrella opens automatically in sun light and closes in the evening. These types of automatic umbrellas are used in mosques, parks, beaches and open air cafeterias etc. Main objectives of your project will include:

• Sketch out of conceptual design.
• Designing and assembling of every part in Pro-Engineer.
• Analyse the model for motor/hydraulic system requirements.
• Structural, thermal and drag force analyses of umbrella
• Structural Analysis in Pro Mechanical for design robustness.
• Manufacturing of a prototype for illustration.

2. Power production from waste air of exhaust fans at Textile Mill

Design, Analysis and Fabrication of Modular Type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) for a Textile Unit. Installation and Testing of the VAWT will be accomplished to generate power from waste air emitting from exhaust fans located in the Power House of the Textile Unit. The waste air recovered will be utilized as a source to drive the wind turbine blades. As such the power generated must be sufficient enough to meet the internal lighting requirements of the mill. Main objectives of this final year mechanical engineering project will include:

• Install a wind turbine in front of exhaust fans.
• Entirely new concept of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.
• The Objectives include design, Analysis (on ANSYS), Manufacturing, Testing and Installation at the Textile Mill.
• Perform Static and Dynamic Analysis on ANSYS.

3. Power Production from Biogas using Sewage Wastes by Solar Energy

Main objectives of this mechanical engineering project will include:

• Design and Fabrication of Biogas Digester.
• Design and Fabrication of Solar Reflector.
• Checking composition of Biogas collected through Gas Analyser.
• Design and Fabrication of Up gradation Apparatus for Biogas.
• Power Generation from purified Biogas

4. Thermo-Hydraulic Design of Evaporator for Low Temperature Organic Rankine Cycle

The aim of the project is to develop software for Thermo-Hydraulic Design of Evaporator of Organic Rankine Cycle which utilizes the low grade waste heat available in process industries and renewable energy resources. Organic Rankine Cycle is a cycle that generates electricity from low temperature waste heat. Evaporator is a heat exchanger, essential to any power plant. Development of a computer program to carry out thermal and hydraulic design of the evaporator.

5. Design Standardization and Fabrication of Micro-Hydro Cross Flow Turbine

This final year mechanical engineering project will include:

• Vital link in the chain of solutions to deal with the problem of providing electricity to off-grid locations in rural areas and ensure off-shelf availability of CFT.
• Model and Design “Cross flow turbine” on PRO/E and performed CFX analysis.
• Engineering drawings and Designing of Shaft, Bearing and belt Selection

I hope mechanical engineering students will like these mechanical project ideas.

Things every Mechanical Engineer must know

1. NEVER loan out your copies of: Machinery’s Handbook Shigley’s Mechanical  Engineering Design Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists (okay this one is a shameless plug, but my friend told me it’s “destined to be be a classic of sorts” so you can blame him)

2. Project planning follows the rule of pi. Take how much time you think you can complete something in, multiply it by pi, and that will be the actual length of time it takes.

3. Parkinson’s Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Don’t give yourself too much time for a project or it will never get done. Speaking of done, check out The Cult of Done Manifesto. If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.

4. Everything is a spring.

5. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use duct tape. If it doesn’t move and it should, use WD-40.

6. Document everything you do. Someone will ask you to justify your design at some point, and “it kind of sort of looked right” is never a good answer. This is especially true on collaborative projects. The group will forget who did what and it will make going back and changing things that much harder.

7. Design is an iterative process. The necessary number of iterations is one more than the number you have currently done. This is true at any point in time.

8. Ask questions. If you don’t know something, say so. Your credibility as an engineer lies not in being infinitely intelligent, but in knowing how to get at the right resources to figure it out. If you cheat, people will die.

9. Designing for disassemble is just as important as design for assembly. It will never work the first time you put it together. Oh, and make sure that everywhere there is a screw, there is a place for a screwdriver to install it. And for a hand to fit around said screwdriver.

10. Business will always be a part of engineering. Don’t work for free (unless you really want to) and don’t work without a contract. Don’t design a better mousetrap THEN expect someone to want it. The products that sell the best are not necessarily the ones that are technologically superior.

11. Design is based on requirements. There’s no justification for designing something one bit “better” than the requirements dictate. Better is the enemy of good enough. Get it done then go play outside.

12. Engineering is done with numbers. Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

13. Be friendly and talk to your machinist and/or shop techs. You may have a fancier title or degree, but that does not make you better. A short conversation on how to make a part more easily machinable/moldable/etc. can save thousands of dollars and make you both look good. You may even learn something.

 

Classes every mechanical engineer should take.

The first class is machining, which should be fairly apparent from my title. I think all mechanical engineering students should learn how to machine something. Or, as MEs say, learn how to make chips. There are several reasons for this.

1. Mechanical engineers should be able to build things and know how things are built. In the real world, MEs probably aren’t going to be machining parts 24/7. However, they should know how something is machined and what processes they can use to machine stuff to better design parts/components/systems etc. It also will give MEs an appreciation for good designs that are easily machined.
2. Machining doesn’t require advanced math/physics skills. If students are coming in without AP credit and are following the course schedule, their first two to three semesters are Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Physics I, Physics II, Chem, Writing, etc. For basic machining, you don’t need any of that. A machining course is perfect for a 1st year class because it has no prerequisites. And, it’s not a course that’s time consuming outside of class, relative to the Calcs, Physics, and Chems. So it’s not going to over-burden students.
3. It’s a good class to retain students or even draw students into ME programs. I know most of the first year classes are the so-called weed-out classes. At DrWife’s UG university, they called freshman engineers “pre-business” because so many drop out. While I don’t think fundamentally that everyone should be able to do engineering and people without the math skills even less so, a machining course is a good way to bridge that gap between theory and application. Yes, there’s this advanced calc and physics that can be difficult at times. But, you also get to build cool shit with your own hands. Someone who is on the fence may not hop over because of such a course.
4. Feedback from senior/grad students is that they want/need this in the curriculum to find competitive jobs. Several students I’ve spoken to say they have a competitive disadvantage over other students from other universities because they never had a machining course nor a project that they build with their own hands. They say that trying to describe to your potential future boss that you’re a really good mechanical engineer but you’ve never built anything during your undergraduate program is an oxymoron. If students can see that dilemma, why can’t we, as supposedly advanced educators with higher degrees, see that as well?

So, a machining course in a ME program, makes sense right? How about my second course that every ME should take? Wait for it…

There are some other courses that I think are useful as well. They are:

1. Computer Aided Drafting

(I don’t know how many time I’ve seen this skill listed on job posting. My suggestion is to learn Pro-E, AutoCAD, and SolidWorks. They are the three most widely use and if you can’t use any of these program well, it’ll be difficult to get any ME jobs)

2. Material Selection in Mechanical Design

(highly useful for any design work you’ll be doing in the future)

3. Strength of Materials

(I highly recommend keeping the textbook and notes for this course.)

4. Heat Transfer

(I highly recommend keeping the textbook and notes for this course.)

5. Technical Writing Course

(Very useful, not just for graduate school research papers, but for design or meeting reports for future work).

These courses apply most to design engineering. I might be missing a few courses, but definitely should make a note of these.

 

I will also  recommend the following in order of importance..

1. Experience with prototyping in lathe machine, at least the knowledge of the process flow. Most important because modeling in software is easy, not making it in real life.

2. Software for solid modeling - Solidworks (easy to learn, lots of tutorials available)

3. Good knowledge of basic mechanics, strength of materials or fluid mechanics and mechanism design.

4. Presentation skills - Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, Word, LaTeX

5. FEM or CFD and software - Ansys/Abaqus/Comsol

6. Numerical methods with Programming - MATLAB/C++/Mathematica/Python

I.E.S EXAM PATTERN and SUCCESS TIPS

IES Exam Pattern
1. The Examination shall be conducted according to the following plan:
Part I— The written Examination will comprise two sections—Section I consisting only of objective types of questions and Section II of conventional papers. Both Sections will cover the entire syllabus of the relevant engineering disciplines viz. Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. The details of the written Examination i.e. subject, No. of questions, duration and maximum marks allotted to each subject are given below.
Part II— Personality test carrying a maximum of 200 marks of such of the candidates who qualify on the basis of the written examination.
SUCCESS TIPS-
-----------------------------
-Among all the career options available for engineers across domains, i.e. in private, public and government sectors still the best, prestigious and coveted career remains that of esteemed Indian Engineering Services(IES).
-Through Indian Engineering Services (IES) a candidate gets a career in most reputed government departments like Indian Railways, Military Engineering Services, C entral Engineering Services,Telecommunication Department, Central Water Services and other esteemed departments.
-In Indian Engineering Services (IES), an Engineer gets an opportunity to handle technically challenging roles and tasks technically, which have a direct bearing on the building up of infrastructure and services of our nation.
-Strategy for the Engineering Services Examination, The foundation of success can be laid on the resolute efforts but a sound strategy accompanied by never say die spirit makes the recipe of success.
-Success can’t be achieved overnight hence a prudent strategy matters a lot.
-For success in Engineering Services Exam, a candidate is required to have excellent fundamentals in the core subjects, along with thorough update on general awareness, current affairs and no less, all the traits of matured personality.
-Following subsequent points will be worth mentioning and aspirants should necessarily keep a note of the same viz:
-Get acquainted with the latest examination pattern and syllabus of the exam. Go through the previous year's question papers. Compare them and see what types of questions are repeated every year.
-It is advisable not to go refer several books for same topic, instead it is better to refer one good book for each topic, which clarifies basic concepts. Selective books are advisable for selected topics.
-For every candidate time management is very essential along with the setting of target. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is apt in his words “One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.” 

The first step which every candidate should follow is to make a time table. Take one subject from each section of your technical syllabus and devote at least 3 hours daily to it. Try to devote 1 hour each to English and General Studies so that you can take an edge as it is key differentiator for being in top rankers.
-Manage your time table such that it has good distribution of study hours for General Ability Section and technical papers, as it makes studies enjoyable and it becomes easy to sustain the momentum for longer hours, without boredom setting in and without losing interest and enthusiasm.
-It is always better to prepare short term plan of study, which should be framed in mind and executed.
-While studying the technical subjects don’t forget to make short notes of important topics. Make a separate list of formulae for each subject and revise the short notes and formulae list daily.
-After completion of the topic solve all previous year questions and practice other questions which are available in good books. This will help you to assess yourself for level of understanding of the subject.
-When you are solving the question set the time limit and after the completion of it check whether you have completed the task within stipulated time or not.
-It is better to practice questions on OMR sheets for marking the answers, which will help to practice the marking of correct answers on OMR sheets quickly in the examinations.
-After completion of it take another subject and follow the same guidelines and don’t forget to revise the important portion and your short notes of the subject which you have prepared earlier.
-While preparing the English, segregate the vocabulary from previous 10 years paper of Engineering Services Examination and Combined Defense Services Examination. Try to memorize at least 20 words daily and don’t miss to revise those words.
-The next step to prepare the portion of English is solve daily 10 to 15 questions based on finding errors and rearrangement of sentences.
-From the topics of general studies first of all find out the area of your interest and study it in the form of story or try to correlate the things. It will develop interest and make the things comfortable.

Recommended books for GATE 2016

See if you want to prepare for GATE 2016 which is going to be preapared by IISc so first of all let me tell
Here list of books for preparation.
1. Thermodynamics -- P K Nag.
2. Fluid mechanics -- Bansal/ modi & seth /SOM
(Bansal is simple and upto the mark.. Modi & Seth is good book for clearing concepts.. SOM is good book if you are good in vector mechanics and differentail equation)
3. Heat and mass transfer -- Sachdeva/Holman
(Sachdeva & Holman books are same, fundamentals of Heat and mass transfer by sachdeva is Indian edition of Holman book).
4. SOM -- B.C. Punamia / Timoshenko.
(Punamia is good for both concept and problems... Timoshenko gives full clearity of all concepts but you won't find GATE related problems)
5 . I C engine -- Mathur & Sharma / V Ganeshan
(I used V ganeshan book its good and have sufficient problems... Mathur & sharma is aloso good book i heard it from friend but i never used)
6. Material science -- Narula & Narula / Callister / IP Singh
( Callister is very good but very vast, if you time then refer some times.. Narula & Narula and IP Singh good books for GATE point of view).
7. Theory of Machines and Mechanical vibration– SS Rattan.
8. Machine Design -- Bhandari/ Shigley.
(Bhandari is perfect book for GATE and IES... Shigley is very good book for concept).
9.Refrigeration and Air Conditioning-- P. K Nag /CP Arora Domkundwar
10. Industrial Engg -- O. P. Khanna Buffa & Sarin
(for Industrial Engg i used hand made notes, so i am not sure of how khanna book is, you can take help of others to decide the book)
11. Operational research --- kanti swarup/ SD Sharma.
12.Manufacturing process -- P N Rao Vol 1& 2/ R K Jain/ Hajra & Choudhary/S K mondal notes which is available in major book houses.
Or A text book on Production Engineering- Dr. Swadesh Singh.
( while preparing for MP be little choosy and stick to the syllabus, because as per my knowledge no book will give you complete information, but i am not sure)
13.Mathematics --BS Grewal/Erwin Kreyszig
(Both books are good, if you like maths then go for erwin kerysing book, really good book and vast... or else for simple GATE preparation Grewal; is more than enough)
14.Aptitude -- As a engineers i don't think we need book for GATE aptitude, but still one can refer Agarwal book..
At last prepare GATE previous years of 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2016 because they were set by IISc Bangalore and the difficulty level will be almost same with the type of questions