Bringing Ideas and Inventions Into the World

Bringing Ideas and Inventions Into the World

By Donald Hickerson

Great ideas are often conceived and built with the creativity of mechanical engineers. The Industrial Revolution would not have happened if it weren't for the ideas mechanical engineers who were able to make a dream or idea into a reality, such as the steam engine. The steam engine was essential in transforming society from being primarily agrarian to becoming more centralized in cities. The various designs and implementation of steam engines invented and improved upon by mechanical engineers did this by keeping factories producing products in quantity and at prices people could afford.

As the Industrial Revolution gained momentum raw products had to be harvested or mined at an ever increasing rate and shipped to a processor that could refine the products for further use. From there it was shipped to a manufacturer that would take the refine material and create goods and products. Once built the final products had to be shipped to the buyers and consumers. From start to finish, these products had to be transported across the nation as cost effectively as possible which meant shipping by either boat or rail.

A stand of trees are cut to become lumber, the lumber is built into a ship, and the ship is used to deliver cargo across the globe. Iron is mined, shipped to an ore processor, smelted into steel, forged into lengths of rail and laid as thousands of miles of track. The steel is also used to build steam engines that power the ships or the driving component of a steam locomotive. Together these machines transport even more raw materials, finished products, and people, and the industrial revolution grows ever larger. Every single aspect of these developments was made possible by the ideas, designs, discoveries and devotion to excellence of countless design and mechanical engineers.

It takes more than creativity to be a mechanical engineer. It also requires a strong understanding of mechanics, physics, kinematics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and energy in order to take a product from one simple state and fashion it to work alone or with other products as an efficient and cost effective invention. These elements are as necessary to the mechanical engineering tool belt today as they were back in the mid 1800s. Today, engineers continue to make the magic happen through their creative and mechanical ingenuity.

In addition to creating much of what we now take for granted (cars, trains, planes, lights, air conditioning), mechanical engineers can improve processes and make them more energy and cost efficient and environmentally friendly. Not only does the work of engineers influence what we use, how we live and the state of our environment, but mechanical engineering can also influence and improve our health. Doctors may perform the surgery or dispense the medications that save your life, but somewhere along the line an engineer designed and built the devices required to allow the doctor to perform their skills to the best of their abilities. From simple items such as cotton balls and tongue depressors to huge scanning and imagery machines and computer controlled robotic surgical devices, countless engineers have been involved in design, development and manufacturing. Medications are invented, designed, and refined by chemical engineers. Devices to create the pills as well as the packaging and distribution of the medication is designed and built by engineers. So, the next time you visit the doctor, understand they are able to do their job as quickly and efficiently as possible because of the creativity and design inventiveness of many gifted engineers.

How does it all happen? Mechanical engineers take ideas and build them into reality by using the principles of mechanics and energy. After making an idea tangible, mechanical engineers look at what might be the best, most efficient and reliable way of recreating the idea for mass production. This mass production of an idea is referred to as commercialization. After a period of time it is often found that an existing product can be improved upon. Sometimes a product is found to have uses in areas it was not initially designed for and is re-engineered to fit the new application. Oftentimes it's a mechanical engineer or engineering team that finds a way to make something great even greater. It's their ability to also look at the efficiency of a product to determine if it's viable, and to investigate and design production methods that may determine when a product we want or need is available.

Isn't all engineering mechanical in some way? No. Some engineers design streets, bridges and other elements of transit systems. Others focus on what lies beneath the ocean and how to best obtain it for our use or even how best to explore what lies beneath the surface of the ocean. Types of engineers include: nuclear, chemical, civil, manufacturing, environmental, computer/software and more. The field of engineering is only limited by imagination, and imagination has no limits.

Domaille Engineering specializes in contract manufacturing from their office in Rochester MN. As one of the world's foremost contract manufacturing companies, Domaille is now providing the engineering and manufacturing expertise to a broad range of industries.

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