University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

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Mechd nical Engineering, ©©©© FEW weeks before this article was commenced, the writer saw on one of the pages of a technical journal the following : Wanted. — Several good mechanical draftsmen ; graduates of technical schools preferred. Address Shinkle, Harrison Howard Iron Co., E. St. Louis, 111. Wanted. — A man between the ages of 25 and 35 to super- vise the inspection of raw and finished parts ; must have good education ; college or technical school training preferred ; also some practical mechanical experience ; salary $800.00 to $1,200.00 per year. Apply or address Employment Bureau, National Cash Reg- ister Co., Dayton, Ohio. The first was inserted by the largest water pipe foundry in the West, and the second by a company having capital stock of $5,000,000. These advertisements show that the engineering world is beginning to ap- preciate the products of the colleges. I desire to state at the outset, that this article is intended to be a personal plea to those young men having a fondness for engineering — either civil, electri- cal, mechanical or mining. If these branches have a fascination for you, don ' t permit the ideas of difficult studies, long periods of work, soiled hands, or the easy life of a mercantile or bank clerk, or book-keeper, deter you from pursuing the necessary routine of work for such professions as these. As the writer is interested in mechanical engineering, and as this college has a growing department, it was deemed proper to touch on this subject for an arti- cle in Tiiic Reveille. What is this .sort of an engineer, anyway ? Who should learn it and what salary does it pay ? How is it to be learned ? What is the best wa - of learning it? Wliat are its advantages? The.se are legitimate questions, and are likely to be asked by any thoughtful young man who is to make his way. An engineer in the true .sen.se of the word means One wlio uses tlie laws, forces, and materials of nature in the design and execution of works, including structures and machines. A mechanical engineer is the man who brings the 12

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theories of physics that are taught us, in practical and daily uses by building en- gines or labor-saving appliances, or producing anything in metal that can be cast, rolled, pressed, machined or tooled into shape. A very good example of mechanical engineering, and a very familiar one, is the locomotive. Another, and one on a larger scale, may be seen in the planning and development of the great steel works of the Maryland Steel Company, at Sparrow ' s Point, Md. If a young man, seventeen or eighteen years of age, thinks he would like to go in for this sort of business and has during his boyhood, taken particular inter- est in the construction of anything he came across from a wind mill to a leaden steam engine, or dynamo, and has supplemented this thirst by going out of his way to see all kinds of things at work, and has spent his Saturdays hanging around some machine shop and foundry, or has been the principal actor in pick- ing up an innocent looking bit of black iron in some country blacksmith shop after school hours, it is safe to say he has that investigating spirit which is of primary importance in engineering. How is it to be learned? Well, one way is to put in an apprenticeship of four years, at the machine business, with some engineering firm to secure the practical details of the business, and spending the evenings and other leisure time, in se- curing the necessary theoretical knowledge. Another way, and quite an excellent one, is to enter a school of engineering and pursue the regular four year course; supplementing the theoretical and prac- tical instruction by working on Saturdays and during the sununer vacations with engineering establishments, as is now often being done. But as to the best method of learning, and of what it .should con.sist, has led to endless discus.sion among educators and engineers. That is, should the educa- tion be purely a theoretical one ; without any practical training — except a few laboratory experiments, or .should it be one in which the practical has been con- sidered on a par with the theoretical. It is well to divide this into three stages and to consider each. First — the purely theoretical stage, in which practice, or application of prin- ciples, has no part. vSecond — the semi-theoretical, in which the application is taught of theoretical truth to practice, and lastly — there is the actual instinct in the art it.self, the theoretical ])eing judiciously mixed with the practical. As an example, take the consulting engineering, or mechanical superintend- ent of any large establishment. If he is of the first mentioned stage, his work is likely to look most beautiful on i)aper, but when being constructed, it is often found that some of the work is to be of such .shape that it is impossible to con- struct, and in this way often wrecking a bu.sine.ss. He may l e of the cla.ss in the second stage, where his principles are correctly applied and the work successfully executed; but at such cost as to leave no mar- gin for the company. As stockholders do not i)ut their money into a business for 14