Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineering is one of the earliest engineering disciplines with very wide applications in industries. Mechanical engineers often use the laws of mechanics, energy and other fundamental principles to design and manufacture machines, machine tools, components of various equipments and devices of all types. They create the processes and systems that drive industrial technologies. They also design mechanisms to impart several kinds of useful work which include elevators, refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, robots, and electric generators. Mechanical engineers use tools in other engineering disciplines also for design. The undergraduate programme of mechanical engineering in our institution was started in the year 1998. All the laboratories have been equipped with modern machineries and other facilities and the department has well qualified and dedicated faculties of 21 which is the illustrative feature of the department. The Mechanical Engineering Technical Association (META) organizes invited lectures, symposium, conferences to enlighten the latest technologies in this field.

The Department has strong research programmes leading to Ph.D. degree in all the areas of Mechanical Engineering. A large number of Ph.D. scholars are currently engaged in cutting edge research in the Department.Mechanical engineering at TEC is nearly as old as TEC itself, and its impact on the Institute and on society itself is easily demonstrated by noting the alignment of the department’s evolution with key events and technological advances in the world.

MechE’s origins trace back to the end of the American Civil War, in 1865. Its earliest areas of focus included extensive programs in power engineering and steam engines for both transportation and fixed use. By the mid-1870s, with the Industrial Revolution well underway in North America, the department became known officially as Course II. It innovated the use of lab subjects, giving students the opportunity to apply methodology to current engineering problems with hands-on lab work.

The specializations offered at the time reflected the industries of greatest growth, including marine engineering, locomotive engineering, textile engineering, and naval architecture. In 1893, marine engineering spun off from MechE as its own course and remained independent until it merged back (as Ocean Science and Engineering) in 2005. By the turn of the century through the advent of World War I, programs in steam turbine engineering, engine design, refrigeration, and aeronautical engineering set the stage for the technological advances to come.

Between World War I and World War II, automotive engineering was a very popular program in MechE. The Sloan Automotive Laboratory, founded in 1929, became one of the world’s leading automotive research centers. Post-World War II, the department’s research emphasis gradually shifted from military applications (which continue to be an important component of the overall MechE program in the present day) to “quality-of-life” applications, such as biomedical engineering, energy and environment, and human services.