What do you actually learn when you study mechanical engineering at university?

Shorter version Mechanical Engineering is the study of science behind everything physical, with special focus on application of concepts and theory.Friendlier, but longer version Mechanical Engineering is one of the most diverse engineering branches, which has its roots deep into history. No, its not an adolescent branch, nor a limited branch and certainly not an immature branch. This is a field which inculcates in you, a new way of viewing, of everything around you. Let me explain how: Mechanics This is the study of interconnection of various bodies with each other and the resultant response of any other body, when an input in terms of motion is given to a link. Few subjects coming under this topic are: Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machinery Kinematics of Machinery 2. DynamicsThis is the next step and one of the most interesting topics after Mechanics. Under this, the systems are studied which are dynamic. Features like velocity, acceleration, vibration, gyroscopic effects etc. are extensively looked upon for a variety of cases. This is really the bread and butter of mechanical engineers. Some of the subjects under this are: Dynamics of Machinery Turbo-machines Machine tools and Meterology 3. MaterialThe above topics are only abstract, till you add a material to make it physical. This topic does just that! With strengths, rigidity, manufacturing process etc., discussed for almost all materials, this is really very important subject to read. Material Science Manufacturing Technology Strength of Materials 4. Computation and DesignIf the above topics are the foundation, this topic is the actual construction over it. This topic deals with the application of all the above topics in a multi-dimensional problem from an engineer's point of view. Some of the topics under this are: Computational Fluid Dynamics Design of Machine Elements Finite Element Method And lastly, to top it off, some other subjects are: Thermodynamics Internal Combustion Engines and Automobile engineering Mechatronics CAD/CAM Management Science and Productivity Linear Control Systems and many more....

If you study at a university of applied sciences in Germany, you learn a lot of practical stuff. You need to do a internship before even starting university in which you mostly learn drilling, milling, welding etc. . Afterwards the are practical lessons amongst the lectures. We had some pneumatics and hydraulics, mechanical projects and project management as well as robotics with part development. I myself build a gripper and a model of a solar system. I developed a electric kettle and a gear box.Now I am not sure whether I am better at repairing or building stuff as I was before, due to the fact I had a training as industrial mechanic all along. But I suspect that all other students learned practical experience in construction and repairs.

You learn a lot in a mechanical engineering program. gets into the details pretty excellently, In addition to everything that he mentioned mine also included…Intro and Advanced ThermodynamicsDesign of Thermal systemsAdvanced Controls and Non-linear ControlsDesign of Mobile RobotsDesign of Robotic ManipulatorsCircuit analysisIndependant courses in C/C++, Java, MatlabMulti-body DynamicsVibration…and a few others that I don’t recall right now (not including my MS programs)I suggest you read his answer it’s quite good.To get to the root of your other questions. Engineers are completely different from technicians. When you go through technician training, you specifically learn in details of specific commonly used machines in an attempt to repair them. This list of machinery also changes based off of what technician program you go through.Engineers learn to create new things based off of ideas and to improve/optimize existing things. We do not learn how to fix/repair things. In fact I know many engineers who absolutely cannot fix anything that breaks down in their house (and these are “mechanical engineers” too). Does this mean that all mechanical engineers do not know how to fix/repair things, no. I personally am able to repair everything I see in my home because off the troubleshooting skills I learned in my program. I know other engineers who have built cars from piles of metal. So it really depends on the engineer in this regard.