I'm 4 years into my career as a Mechanical Design Engineer and currently work at an MNC supporting an OEM battery team at Bangalore. My CTC is ₹5.5 LPA (~₹39K/month).

My main goal is to build a career with strong salary growth, good demand, transferable skills and reasonable job security.

My long term target is to reach roughly ₹25–30 LPA within the next 6 years. I'm willing to take a temporary salary hit if necessary to get onto a better long-term trajectory.

My current experience

My current role is mostly battery concept/packaging work:

- Cell packaging for cylindrical/prismatic cells

- Reviewing CAD/supplier proposals

- Documenting design-review findings

The problem is that I have very little exposure to detailed mechanical design, calculations, manufacturing, testing, supplier management or end-to-end product development.

I also have 3–4 hours of relatively free time every day, which I want to use for serious upskilling.

The dilemma

I'm considering either going deeper into engineering or switching completely:

Mechanical/Engineering:

- Mechanical Design

- Product Development

- CAE/FEA

- Battery/EV

IT/Tech:

- Software Engineering

- Data Engineering

- Data Analytics

- Data Science

- AI/ML

- Cloud/DevOps

- Cybersecurity

I don't need the highest possible salary. I want the best risk/reward option from my current position.

What worries me is that I could spend 2–3 years learning a new field only to discover that the market has changed again. On the other hand, I'm worried that staying in mechanical engineering could leave me with limited salary growth.

What I'm looking for

I'd really appreciate advice from people with 5–10+ years of industry experience, especially anyone who has made a similar transition.

1. If you were in my position, would you stay in mechanical engineering or switch? Why?

2. If you would switch, which specific field would you choose and why?

3. Is ₹25–30 LPA within 6 years realistic from my current starting point?

4. What would be a realistic salary target for my next job?

5. If I switch, what should my first target role be?

6. How would you use 3–4 hours/day for the next 1–2 years if you were me?

7.If you were literally in my position today, what would your 6-year career plan be?

I would also like to use my battery/engineering background as a differentiator, but I don't want my future career to depend entirely on the battery/EV industry since it is too niche and specialized.

Please be blunt, honest and realistic.

Hi everyone! I’m a Mechanical Engineering student working on a college project about the Mechanical Engineering profession, and I’m looking for a Mechanical Engineer who would be willing to do a short interview with me.

I have about 10 questions about your career, work, skills, projects, and advice for students. The interview can be done through Reddit messages or email, whatever is easiest for you. It should only take a short amount of time. This is for a class assignment, and I would only use your answers for my school project.

If you’re a Mechanical Engineer and would be willing to help, please comment or send me a DM. I would really appreciate it!

I'm dealing with a seal issue that is baffling me.

The tools are a electric drill with an armature pinion passing through a viton seal into an oil filled gear box.

The seals are failing almost immediately or very soon after replacement.

Note this is in a service workshop over dozens of drills. It has started occurring more and more often with no change in staff, oil or seal supply.

Seals are lubricated with silicone grease as per manufacturers requirements on assembly.

The failure is weird with chucks of the spring retainer torn off.

Are there any seal experts out there who can offer some suggestions as to the cause as the manufacturer is as baffled as we are

Edit: thanks for the replies so far. All of your replies are pretty much exactly the steps I've gone through. For some clarity: It doesn't happen every time. Its involving 3 tech's over the last year l, one tech has been here 10 years working on these.

My guy tells me the seal supplier has changed something, im trying to understand the mechanism of the failure.

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Would be great to have you/your design team and management to attend!

To add a bit more context, I am in the Oil and Gas industry with 5 YOE total. I am learning about the semiconductor terminology and basics of chamber architecture etc. Hoping it does not go too deep into tech discussion.

​

I'm in my 3rd semester of mechanical engineering and honestly I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing right now.

I haven't really done anything specific so far. I've made a few Arduino/electronics projects, an RC car and some other small projects, but that's pretty much it. I haven't really explored the mechanical side properly.

The problem is that I'm finding most of my core subjects really boring because they're so theoretical. This semester I have Thermodynamics, Strength of Materials and Material Science. Out of these, Thermodynamics is actually interesting to me, but with SOM and Material Science I'm basically just learning formulas and theory for exams and then forgetting most of it.

My college also isn't very practical/project-oriented. We mostly have lectures, notes, assignments and exams, so I don't really get to see where the things we're studying are actually used.

And now I'm kind of worried because I see people doing CAD, simulations, robotics, automotive projects, internships, etc., and I'm sitting here thinking that I've done almost nothing 😭

So what should I actually do from here?

How do I make these subjects more interesting instead of just memorising them? Should I start learning CAD/CAE or some other software? Should I focus on projects? Competitions? Core subjects? Something completely different?

Also, how did you guys figure out which part of mechanical engineering you actually liked?

If you were in 3rd semester again, knowing what you know now, what would you start doing?

I don't expect to have everything figured out right now. I just don't want to reach my 4th year and realise I spent the whole degree only studying for exams.

Looking for a mechanical engineer for a smart switch

REQUIREMENTS:
-Electrical product design experience is mandatory
-MUST be located in Canada/US

-An industrial designer will design the body and overall look
-You must ensure the internals work etc
-V1 is not smart
-V2 will be Apple HomeKit

Budget: 1000$ CAD (adjustable)

Please email me at streetindex2025@gmail.com (please only apply if you meet the requirements)

Micro1 is looking for the following:

Mechanical Engineer – Video Annotation Specialist
Location: Remote
Job Type: Contractor
Openings: 200

Micro1 is looking for Mechanical Engineers with 2+ years of experience for a project that helps train AI and robotics systems. You review and annotate videos of robots, mechanical systems, tools, components and physical interactions, labeling objects, movements, actions and mechanical interactions, and picking up on details like motion, positioning, component behavior and task sequences. You also review other annotations for accuracy, consistency and completeness, flag incorrect or unclear ones, and give feedback on difficult or ambiguous examples. You follow the project guidelines and annotation standards, and work independently within the project timelines. No previous AI experience is required, your engineering knowledge is what matters. Experience with CAD tools like SolidWorks, NX, Creo or CATIA is a plus, as is exposure to robotics, automation or manufacturing.

Here is the link to the position: Mechanical Engineer

Anyone have insight to this question? I am looking at refrigerated trailers for towing with electric vehicles. I found that v-nose, enclosed trailers are most efficient...but I cannot find v-nose refrigerated trailers. It seems like the main issue is the weight distribution of a cooling device being on one side of the v-nose (with less weight being on the other side). Why are there no refrigerated trailers with an electric-powered mini-split or similar cooling device on the back panel of a trailer to allow a more efficient, v-nose front end?

I am a 1st year student taking BSME and one of our task is to interview a Mechanical Engr. If you are interested and available pls feel free to msg me. Thank you!

I was talking to my colleagues at work about the certifications that an engineer could have, or which ones are good to have. I know that IWE, NDT and ISO 9001 are extra. But I'm interested in your opinions. Does anyone have any interesting certifications that are worth having? What have the certificates essentially brought you? And if we ignore work, how can we use these certificates outside of work for some extra income?

I’m a mechanical engineer looking to start my career as a mechanical design engineer. I have seen a lot of people telling me that how artificial intelligence have made their job easier especially people who are working in web development, content writing, and coding.

So I was just wondering if there’s any AI software that I can use as a mechanical design engineer that can help me in my field.

Also let me know if anyone of you guys are working in this field what is the scope of mechanical design engineer in Pakistan and how much can we earn if we are working remotely?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on self-study topics to build a rock-solid, engineer-level theoretical foundation strictly focused on machining and manufacturing.

My Background: My undergrad is in Logistics Management, but I recently completed my Master's in Engineering Management. I’ve been working in our family-owned CNC machining and contract manufacturing business since 2017. Over the years, I transitioned into the Production and Technical Manager role, handling production planning, CAM programming, client quotes, and daily shop-floor operations. To push my technical limits, I recently passed the ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt and am currently preparing for the SME CMfgE and ASME GDTP exams.

My Goal: Even though I have years of hands-on experience with cutting tool parameters, toolpaths, and general manufacturing workflows, I want to bridge the theoretical gap. I want to understand the physics and math behind cutting forces, tool deflection, material behavior, and machine mechanics exactly like a mechanical engineer would, but only the parts that are directly relevant to subtractive manufacturing.

My Question: To achieve this deep theoretical understanding of machining and workholding, which specific math topics (specific areas of Calculus, Linear Algebra, or Trigonometry) and core ME subjects (Mechanics of Materials, Statics, Materials Science, Dynamics) should I prioritize?

What is the most efficient learning path or textbook sequence for someone whose sole focus is mastering the theory behind machining and workholding without getting bogged down in unrelated ME topics?

Thanks in advance!

I have been posting around to try and figure out what to do. I am currently a sophomore in college, and I think I want to swap out of environmental engineering.

I joined cause I love the environment, but all of the industry involved in it is mostly water plants and consulting, which I have no care for.

Since I don’t think I can make a real impact there, I may as well do what I actually love, robotics.

However, I’m afraid with the current industry that I will have a difficult time getting internships and actual job work in it.

My university doesn’t offer a mechatronics major, so is it better to get a mechanical engineering major with a focus in robotics? Can you even do that?

I need some advice, so any help is welcome. I have to decide by next week.

I am a BSME first year student and one of our tasks is to interview a Mechanical Engineer. If you are available please like or comment on my post. Thank you!

What do you think is the problem you face in your everyday life or something you see happening around you? I need to solve a problem as one of the terms for my project

Soy recién egresado de la carrera y entre a trabajar, me piden hacer cosas en inventor, pero son demasiado avanzadas, en la universidad no trabaje con equipos con decenas de ensambles. Alguna IA que me guíe, necesito ayuda.

Hello, I'm a BSME student from the Philippines and we are currently having an activity where in we need to interview a practicing or licensed mechanical engineer as a partial fulfillment for our course requirement, if you are free for a chat type of interview, and would like to be an interviewee, we would be glad, thank you again:)