14 Qualities of a Good Mechanical Engineer

In this post, I present the necessary requirements to be a good Mechanical Engineer.

Mechanical Engineering works with the design, analysis, construction, operation, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Therefore, a good professional in the field should present the following characteristics:

1. Ease with exact subjects: since engineering is the application of technical knowledge to solve humanity’s problems, a good mechanical engineer should find it easy to deal with exact subjects (mainly physics and mathematics) as the curriculum may involve subjects such as:

• analytical geometry and linear algebra

• applied calculus

• general physics

• statistics

• algorithms and programming

• thermodynamics

2. Having a taste for technology: it is indispensable for a mechanical engineer to like technology because nowadays, due to the renovations brought by the fourth industrial revolution and the implementation of tools such as Industry 4.0 and IoT (Internet Of Things), there is no action in the area without the use and implementation of technological resources.

3. Constant learning: due to mechanical engineering constantly using technological resources, it is necessary for the professional in the area to constantly seek new knowledge, technologies, applications, and innovations to stand out in the market.

4.Having Practical Intelligence: since the profession involves the constant resolution of problems with the implementation of knowledge and technical tools, it is essential that the professional in mechanical engineering has good logical reasoning and knows how to integrate their knowledge and practice. In this way, they will transform their knowledge into reality and bring the necessary results in the work.

5. Curiosity: to be a good professional in mechanical engineering, it is necessary for the engineer to be curious, like those children who disassemble toys and video games, so that they constantly update themselves on technological innovations and study the operation and manufacture of machines and products. However, in addition to curiosity, it is essential that this professional takes the initiative to know the mechanical systems in order to develop solutions to optimize them.

6. Willingness to study: this competence is paramount in a mechanical engineer, not only during the course but during all the days after graduation during the exercise of the profession. In addition to the knowledge of exact sciences, the engineer must update and study social sciences and economics because the profession requires the engineer to execute economically viable projects that degrade the environment as little as possible and solve the original problem of the project that arose from a client/person!

7. Being observant: the work of the mechanical engineer requires many details and an apparently silly mistake in any of these points can trigger a critical failure of the project and make it unfeasible, requiring everything to start from scratch! Thus, for engineers who hold management positions, this competence has an even greater importance due to the need for this professional to observe ALL processes to avoid errors and identify opportunities for improvement to avoid and remove waste from processes.

8. Analytical vision: this competence goes hand in hand with observation. One of the main activities of this professional’s daily life is to analyze projects and interpret the results in order to obtain an increasingly precise and economical operation.

9. Working in a team: the view that professionals in exact sciences work alone has become something outdated, industrial work processes are increasingly integrated and optimized, requiring that all professionals know how to work in a team..

10.Leadership: every engineer, whether or not in a management position, plays the role of leader of their projects, whether they are on a larger or smaller scale. Therefore, in addition to the ability to work well in a team, every mechanical engineer must know how to lead.

11. Strategic thinking: to establish good work practices and plan the development of a project from short to long term, it is essential to ensure that the strategies are working, in this way, the professional will be able to develop the analysis of results in order to identify errors and propose process improvements.

12. Being resilient: an engineer with resilience is able to better deal with their problems and obstacles in the execution of projects in a more proactive and effective way without letting this interfere with their self-esteem or hinder productivity.

13. Emotional Intelligence: during the process of executing the projects of a mechanical engineer, everything will hardly go as planned in the project phase and because it is a leadership position there is direct contact with other people (the members of your team) therefore, a good mechanical engineer must have good emotional intelligence to deal with the obstacles and frustrations that will arise during the day-to-day of the profession, whether they are caused by failures in the project or human failures.

14. Mastery and operation of complex systems: in most companies, the engineer is the one who dominates the technical knowledge of the technologies of that corporation. From this, it is important that the mechanical engineer masters the knowledge and operations of the complex systems related to his company to clarify doubts and make the work routine more productive.

And you? Do you remember any other quality that a good mechanical engineer should have? Leave it in the comments!!

Thank you for your attention and see you in the next post!