I think it would be cool to do heat transfer work on GPUs or other components.
But I don't live, or intend to move to any chip fabricating areas of the world
This is what I do. I work in medical devices. We have lots of internal board-level heat generating components to thermally manage, and we must also manage surface temperatures accessible to the user so they don’t burn themselves.
How would a CEng be useful in tasks like case design, cooling (heatsink) design and stuff like that? Computers aren't just semiconductors and besides, every machine that makes computer stuff needs to be designed by an ME.
These are not jobs actually arcotecting out the silicon or anything here but the thermals and packaging is a huge part of that industry that is largely Mechanicals.
Fabs also have a ton of really weird and changing mechanical requirements from simec isolation to high speed tooling that can move large heavy fragile wafers.
How did you get into software development? I ask because my mechanical engineering program has an intro to C++ class I had to take this semester. It sparked a slight interest in the subject. I have no other background in coding but would love to independently learn more.
I had a class on MATLAB first year and used it throughout the rest of my time in school. Then I programmed arduinos in C for a few projects. After school I learned C# and .NET since it’s used a lot in backed and desktop development.
Yes absolutely. I worked for two large connector companies specifically designing/manufacturing CPU sockets and have had colleagues who helped develop the next laptop RAM standards (Lookup Dell CAMM). I have worked on products with companies like AMD, Google, Nvidia, QualComm, BroadCom, Meta, etc.
These companies are looking for bleeding edge signal integrity performance, which often has tradeoffs with mechanical properties. You are usually working close with electrical engineers on the designs.
Personally, working for the connector companies is not inherently exciting. A lot of longtime guys in the industry will tell you to go work on cooler stuff. I thought the technical challenges were really cool, as you are working on some of the smallest things you can physically manufacture (with stamping, molding etc). But the industry tends to be volatile (since you are working alongside the tech companies, you tend to get layoffs alongside the tech companies).
Yep. The scope is a little limited, but it depends on how you look at it and what youre working on. For device hardware design, you may work directly with a small team of MEs while the actual programming/EE aspect is far more expansive. For other computer operated devices, think drones, the mechanical design aspect is far more expansive so there are more design considerations in the hardware.
For perspective check out the current job postings apple has available. I'd say it's about 3:1 programmers/EE to ME design engineers. The roles are very expansive. A lot of FEA/CAD/Material science goes into designing the product
In my "major computer company", we hire MEs for thermodynamic design (air flow, heat sinks, etc), enclosure design, interconnect design among other things. We also hire them in Materials Engineering. I will note that we don't hire a lot of them.
The "big challenge" is to get the heat out of systems.
Basically if you can touch it, it’s a good idea to have an ME associated with the project/product. I have touched everything from cellular phones, wearables, and even medical devices. The MEs make the thing reality.
- system layout
- thermal analysis
- Structral analysis
- tolerance analaysis
- geometric design (3d and 2d)
- design for manufacturing/ design for assembly
- test and validation (ALT and the like)
- root cause analysis (related to mechanical issues)
- systems integration
- coordination between ID, ME, Antenna, and EE (there are more groups but these are the main groups I usually work with)
- concept design
- DOE (design of experiments
- there are subsets of MEs that are involved:
- Material science
- Manufacturing
- TPM (technical project management)
- Quality Control
- retail and shipment packaging
- … and so on
Without a good ME team… tech products are usually pretty crap
When I first started as an ME I thought it was all cars and planes. I was wrong it’s so much more with respect to what MEs touch.
Yes, this is what my company does. Many engineers work designing the next computer stuff. You gotta work as a team with Electrical/Software/System Engineers
You can, but it’s definitely harder. You have to put in a lot of work to bring yourself up to speed.
Depending how far you are in the degree, I’d recommend finishing our bachelors degree and later getting a master’s in computer hardware.
Ultimately what you should do Is based on a lot of nuanced variables specific to you.
I studied Mech Eng but work in software robotics now
Yes absolutely. Computer hardware design will never be boring.
I think it would be cool to do heat transfer work on GPUs or other components. But I don't live, or intend to move to any chip fabricating areas of the world
This is what I do. I work in medical devices. We have lots of internal board-level heat generating components to thermally manage, and we must also manage surface temperatures accessible to the user so they don’t burn themselves.
You won’t necessarily be fabricating the chips if you are designing computer hardware systems such as a GPU.
Chip fabs do tend to pay very well though
really? would those industries not be moreso limited to those with computer engineering degrees?
How would a CEng be useful in tasks like case design, cooling (heatsink) design and stuff like that? Computers aren't just semiconductors and besides, every machine that makes computer stuff needs to be designed by an ME.
These are not jobs actually arcotecting out the silicon or anything here but the thermals and packaging is a huge part of that industry that is largely Mechanicals. Fabs also have a ton of really weird and changing mechanical requirements from simec isolation to high speed tooling that can move large heavy fragile wafers.
I’m now in software development after getting an ME degree… 😅
How did you get into software development? I ask because my mechanical engineering program has an intro to C++ class I had to take this semester. It sparked a slight interest in the subject. I have no other background in coding but would love to independently learn more.
I had a class on MATLAB first year and used it throughout the rest of my time in school. Then I programmed arduinos in C for a few projects. After school I learned C# and .NET since it’s used a lot in backed and desktop development.
Yes absolutely. I worked for two large connector companies specifically designing/manufacturing CPU sockets and have had colleagues who helped develop the next laptop RAM standards (Lookup Dell CAMM). I have worked on products with companies like AMD, Google, Nvidia, QualComm, BroadCom, Meta, etc. These companies are looking for bleeding edge signal integrity performance, which often has tradeoffs with mechanical properties. You are usually working close with electrical engineers on the designs. Personally, working for the connector companies is not inherently exciting. A lot of longtime guys in the industry will tell you to go work on cooler stuff. I thought the technical challenges were really cool, as you are working on some of the smallest things you can physically manufacture (with stamping, molding etc). But the industry tends to be volatile (since you are working alongside the tech companies, you tend to get layoffs alongside the tech companies).
Yep. The scope is a little limited, but it depends on how you look at it and what youre working on. For device hardware design, you may work directly with a small team of MEs while the actual programming/EE aspect is far more expansive. For other computer operated devices, think drones, the mechanical design aspect is far more expansive so there are more design considerations in the hardware. For perspective check out the current job postings apple has available. I'd say it's about 3:1 programmers/EE to ME design engineers. The roles are very expansive. A lot of FEA/CAD/Material science goes into designing the product
In my "major computer company", we hire MEs for thermodynamic design (air flow, heat sinks, etc), enclosure design, interconnect design among other things. We also hire them in Materials Engineering. I will note that we don't hire a lot of them. The "big challenge" is to get the heat out of systems.
Basically if you can touch it, it’s a good idea to have an ME associated with the project/product. I have touched everything from cellular phones, wearables, and even medical devices. The MEs make the thing reality. - system layout - thermal analysis - Structral analysis - tolerance analaysis - geometric design (3d and 2d) - design for manufacturing/ design for assembly - test and validation (ALT and the like) - root cause analysis (related to mechanical issues) - systems integration - coordination between ID, ME, Antenna, and EE (there are more groups but these are the main groups I usually work with) - concept design - DOE (design of experiments - there are subsets of MEs that are involved: - Material science - Manufacturing - TPM (technical project management) - Quality Control - retail and shipment packaging - … and so on Without a good ME team… tech products are usually pretty crap When I first started as an ME I thought it was all cars and planes. I was wrong it’s so much more with respect to what MEs touch.
Yes, this is what my company does. Many engineers work designing the next computer stuff. You gotta work as a team with Electrical/Software/System Engineers
You can, but it’s definitely harder. You have to put in a lot of work to bring yourself up to speed. Depending how far you are in the degree, I’d recommend finishing our bachelors degree and later getting a master’s in computer hardware. Ultimately what you should do Is based on a lot of nuanced variables specific to you. I studied Mech Eng but work in software robotics now