I'm from India and doing a B.Tech course right now, and want to get a graduate degree from the USA. My stream is mechanical engineering. What fields in mechanical engineering have a good future for doing a master's in, and which universities are worth looking at?

If you really want to do something, then try this. Give tution to 1st year and 2nd year engineering students for the subjects in which you are best. Doesn't matter it Maths or any core subject. Thanks for A2A.

Thanks for A2A. One thing I have learnt in three years of Engineering is that engineering opens a lot of option after the graduation. If you are really interested in your subject then you can start preparing for GATE and IES. You can really increase your strength in Electronics and have certain practical experience then you can join a core company.  If you want to change your stream and work on Data Structures start from competitive coding and after a year or so you can be an asset. If you think of completing MOOCs before taking any job then make sure you have a good answer to why there is a time gap in between your interview and graduation. Bank PO might seem the last option to me but if everything fails and I hope it does not than it might seem good. I hope my answer satiates your question.

A2A I can't imagine myself doing a bank job after doing engineering - If it is due to lack of interest than there is no problem but just do not stop preparation thinking what people will say. Now about theses MOOC. If you are doing these for gaining knowledge than its all OK. But do not complete them with the hope that they will get you job ( Off course the knowledge is going to help ). Most of the free MOOC certificate do not affirm that the person in reality participated in it nor they can be used as a qualification. Yes it will give a positive outlook to the resume that you like learning new things.

Thanks for A2A. Its good that you know the problem statement and approached people to suggest some solution. But its only you, who can choose the best solution or figure out the best solution. Depends on what you really want to do, Studies or Job. First figure it out within 2-3 days at max. Job : Apply for jobs on http://HasJob.co and http://angel.co in the 1-2 area in which you think you can work or confident. Give telephonic/skype interviews. Go to any one of the city (Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi etc. ) give in person interviews. Studies : The process of admission for higher education continues during whole year, so you can start preparing for it. GATE is too close, but you can give it a try to improve your theoretical knowledge (which is also part of interviews).  Their are many other Exams/Degrees/Institutes/ways to enter in any academic institute (IIT, NIT, IIIT, BITS) for higher education, look for their site and find out the program you are interested in and start preparing.

Sorry,idont have much knowledge regarding this but yeeahh..... You can give papers privately. I will tell you one of my friend who got 84%  in 12th and as he did not give any competetive exam so he got a college name called tangori. I dunt even evr liten about this college before. Thier ws surely no scope for job or placement so he gave papers privately as by companies and now he is in INFOSYS. All the best!

I'd urge you to go one step further. Your aim shouldn't be to just do a master degree. Ask yourself what you really want to do with your career and life. Typically, there are 2 major paths after a master degree. A research based path leading to you getting a phd and working to become a professor. Another path leading to you working in an industry as an engineer and later a manager. There's another third path, one not so common for mechanical engineers- to start up your own industry which requires a lot of capital investment to say the least. So think about what you really want to do. It's not just a master degree. Masters is not the end. It's just a stepping stone to one of these paths. So now, a masters in mechanical engineering would provide you opportunities to all paths. If you are keen on path 2, there are also other ways, like working right away wit a good company in your field of interest. Internal transfers are also possible with most big companies today. You could always work for a while and do an MBA later. But if you're keen on path 1, then masters becomes inevitable. That said, check out universities based on your interest- research topic, funding, try and talk to research assistants about the work if you can. Also see what kind of industry tie ups hey have and how good the job scene is around those universities. If you're not clear on which path to choose, look at universities which are good on all grounds. Now to your question: some happening topics: materials, light weight design is big, simulation, analysis, numerical computation, e-mobility, lean and advanced production and process optimisation methods. Apart from these, the usual ones: design and development, quality, production systems,  thermal and automotive systems. Hope this helps.

Masters specialization in Material science,Industrial design, Powder metallurgy, Energy are some areas which are going to attract very great future.

Thanks for A2A Now after reading your comments in prev. answers i found out that you can do a lot better in education http://field.In my opinion you can work hard for GATE and can even drop a year coz lots of people do that.Now side by side you can teach in X XII coaching centers..There are infinite coaching centers in delhi.Who knows life may show you a right path there.Now if you crack Gate then after m tech you can be appointed as a lecturer in engineering colleges and if you are not able to crack GATE then also you will be having experience in teaching and you can switch centers ultimately starting one of your own. ALL THE BEST.