MECHANICAL VS AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

A lot of students, especially those who are deciding to pursue engineering studies, are confused when it comes to choosing mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. I have seen not only high school students but also freshmen students being confused between the two. In general, during freshman and sophomore years of undergraduate studies, these two majors share very similar curriculum structure with basic science courses such as physics, math, chemistry, static, dynamics, and fluid mechanics, etc. However, during junior and senior years, mechanical engineering emphasizes more in machine elements design, vibrations, thermodynamics and HVAC, robotics and control systems, etc. while aerospace engineering focuses more in aerodynamics, compressible flows, aerospace structures, rockets and space flight mechanics, aircraft stability, and gas turbines, etc. I’ve also shared below an informative Youtube video from Zach Star (MajorPrep) that may be motivational to anyone who is thinking to pursue mechanical engineering degree.