What’s good, future engineers!
Maadhav back again, writing this from the sacred sanctuary of mid-semester break (aka my bedroom at 1 PM still in yesterday’s clothes because time is a social construct when you’re on break).
So we’re officially halfway through Semester 2, and I figured it was time for some brutal honesty about what these past 6 weeks have actually been like. Forget the glossy course descriptions, this is the unfiltered, slightly delirious truth about living through Part II mechanical engineering.
The Courses That Are Currently Owning My Soul
MECHENG 211 (Thermofluids): The Humbling Experience
Remember when I thought I understood physics? Yeah, that was cute. Thermofluids is out here teaching me that air has feelings, water has moods, and apparently everything wants to reach equilibrium but nobody told me the math would be THIS involved.
We’ve covered:
- Heat transfer (turns out there are three different ways heat can ruin your day)
- Fluid mechanics (water doesn’t just flow, it has OPINIONS)
The lab sessions are actually pretty cool though. Watching actual heat exchangers work while you’re trying to figure out if your calculations make any sense is weirdly satisfying. Plus, there’s something therapeutic about measuring temperatures and pretending you know what you’re doing.
MECHENG 222 (Dynamics): When Things Won’t Stop Moving
If statics was about things standing still, dynamics is about things that refuse to behave. It’s like babysitting Newton’s laws when they’ve had too much caffeine.
Current situation:
- Rotating rigid bodies (everything spins, nothing makes sense)
- Vibrations (not the good kind)
- Impact and impulse (things hitting other things with math)
The problem sets are… well, they exist. And they’re definitely problems. Some days I solve them, some days they solve me. Yesterday I spent two hours on a rotating disk problem only to realise I was using the wrong moment of inertia. Classic me.
MECHENG 236 (Design and Manufacture): The Phone Case Saga
This is where things get real. After the robot-building glory of MECHENG 235, we’re now tasked with designing and manufacturing actual phone cases. Sounds simple? HAH.
Current project status:
- Researched materials until my eyes bled (thermoplastics vs thermosets, who knew there was drama)
- Learned that injection molding is both incredibly cool and incredibly complicated
- Discovered that “just make it protective” is not specific enough for engineering
- Currently questioning whether drop testing is necessary (spoiler: it definitely is)
The CAD work is actually really satisfying when Inventor decides to cooperate. There’s something oddly zen about perfecting wall thickness and fillet radii at 11 PM.
ENGGEN 204 (Professional Skills): The Necessary Evil
Look, I get it. Communication skills are important. Teamwork matters. Ethics exist. But having this alongside three technical courses is like being asked to write poetry while solving differential equations.
We’re learning about project management, which is ironic because I can barely manage my own sleep schedule. But honestly, some of the content about working in teams is actually useful, especially when your MECHENG 236 group is trying to agree on phone case specifications.
The Real Talk: What Nobody Warns You About
The Workload Isn’t Joking Around
Part I was busy. Part II is a different species entirely. It’s not that any individual course is impossible, it’s that doing four technical courses simultaneously while maintaining basic human functions is… challenging.
My typical week:
- Monday: Recover from weekend (optimistic)
- Tuesday: Thermofluids lab + trying to understand why my heat transfer calculations are wrong
- Wednesday: Dynamics problem set that makes me question reality
- Thursday: MECHENG 236 Phone case iterations.
- Friday: ENGGEN 204 assignment that somehow takes longer than expected
- Weekend: Catch up on everything I should have done during the week
The Learning Curve is More Like a Learning Cliff
Every course assumes you remember everything from Part I perfectly. Spoiler alert: I don’t. Half my study time is spent re-learning things I swear I knew six months ago.
The Unexpected Victories
Despite my complaints (which are really just love disguised as suffering), there have been some genuinely awesome moments:
When the Math Actually Works
Last week in thermofluids, I calculated the heat transfer rate for a heat exchanger and got an answer that was actually close to the experimental value. Not exact, but close enough…which is always good enough.
Design Breakthrough Moments
There’s this incredible feeling when you’re staring at a CAD model and suddenly realise how to solve a design problem. Last week, my phone case design had this annoying stress concentration issue, and after three hours of modelling different solutions, I finally figured out how to redistribute the loads properly.
It’s like solving a puzzle, except the pieces are engineering principles and the final picture is something that might actually protect someone’s phone.
The Community is Actually Amazing
The mechanical engineering cohort is full of genuinely brilliant, slightly unhinged people who are all figuring this out together.
What I Wish Someone Had Told Me 6 Weeks Ago
Embrace the Confusion
You’re supposed to feel lost sometimes. This stuff is hard. If you understood everything immediately, they wouldn’t need four years to teach it to you.
Take Notes on EVERYTHING
Seriously. That random comment the lecturer makes about material selection? You’ll need it for your project. That offhand remark about manufacturing tolerances? Project again. Everything connects to everything else in ways you won’t see until later.
Your First Design Won’t Be Your Last
Our phone case has gone through approximately 47 iterations (slight exaggeration, but not by much). That’s normal. Engineering is iterative. Embrace the process.
Mid-Semester Break is Sacred
If you’re reading this during your own mid-semester break, PLEASE take some actual time off. Your brain needs to decompress. Binge-watch something mindless. Touch grass. Remember what sunlight feels like.
Looking Forward (With Cautious Optimism)
We’ve got another 6 weeks ahead of us, including final projects, exams, and the small matter of actually manufacturing our phone cases. Am I stressed? Absolutely. Am I excited? Also absolutely.
This is what I signed up for when I chose mechanical engineering: the challenge of turning theoretical knowledge into practical solutions, the satisfaction of seeing your designs come to life, and the mild panic of realizing you’re responsible for making sure things don’t break.
For Those Still Deciding
If you’re reading this while trying to figure out your own path, here’s my advice: pay attention to what energises you, even when it’s difficult.
These past 6 weeks have been exhausting, confusing, and occasionally soul-crushing. They’ve also been fascinating, rewarding, and full of those small moments when everything clicks into place. If that sounds like the kind of challenge you want to sign up for, then maybe mechanical engineering is calling your name too.
Just remember: we’re all making it up as we go along, and somehow that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some heat transfer equations to catch up on and a phone case design that’s not going to optimise itself.
Stay curious, stay caffeinated, and remember that confusion is the first step toward understanding!
Your temporarily well-rested, perpetually confused, still-loving-every-chaotic-minute-of-it engineer,
Maadhav
P.S. If anyone has figured out how to make thermodynamics intuitive, please slide into my DMs. Asking for a friend (the friend is me, I am the friend).