IE201

Name: Abdullah Ali Abdullah

ID: 1208472
Section: ZF

Team: 3
Member: 3
Date: 16/3/2014

Assignment C-1 (Engineering, the Professional)

Context
The assignment C-1 is the first assignment in concept section in IE201
(Introduction To Engineering Design-I) course, and it is about "Engineering, the
Profession" which means that one of the engineering fields "Mechanical
Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering,
Industrial Engineering, etc", will be discussed.
The goals of this assignment are, stimulating the student to achieve a knowledge
about his engineering field of interest by searching, collecting information from
available sources, and to achieve awareness about other fields of engineering. Also
this assignment will develops the skills of in writing researches by good ways, so
that will assist me for the coming assignments in this course.
This assignment will be prepared by using "the Presentation Sandwich Structure",
(Introduction, work, and discussion), according to the available checklist.
Initially, I will identify the engineering term and state its main branches generally,
and then diving into details in my current specialization (Mechanical Engineering).
About Mechanical Engineering, first, I will identify it in general, then discuss in
order (types of problems which mechanical engineers face, typical project duration
length, sorts of companies which hire mechanical engineers and some examples,
number of engineers are there in KSA, names of professional societies, job market,
and finally salary package. In addition, (safety in Mechanical Engineering, and
mechanical equipments and devices) will be discussed in details.
At the end of this assignment, I will have a general idea about mechanical
engineer's work and I hope that I know what exactly Mechanical Engineering is.
Also the methods which I used to complete this work will be recorded.
Work
Engineering
The free dictionary website defines the engineering term as "Engineering is
the application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the
design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines,
processes, and systems" [4]. Another definition of Engineering in Wikipedia website,
"Engineering is the application of scientific, economic, social, and practical
knowledge in order to design, build, maintain, and improve structures, machines,
devices, systems, materials and processes" [1]. The discipline of engineering is
extremely broad, and encompasses a range of more specialized fields of engineering,

each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of technology and types of
application.
Main branches of engineering:
Engineering can be divided into various branches, however, the main branches are:

Electrical Engineering.
Mechanical Engineering.
Chemical Engineering.
Civil Engineering.
Industrial Engineering.
Nuclear Engineering.

This assignment will explain in detail about Mechanical Engineering.

Mechanical Engineering.
Definition of Mechanical Engineering
There are several definitions of Mechanical Engineering in several sources,
but the most comprehensive definition I found it is, according to Wikipedia website,
it defines it as "a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of engineering,
physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance
of mechanical systems" [2].
Mechanical engineering is considered as the most important engineering field in the
world, because manufacturing depends on it entirely. Also whenever you buy or use
almost any product, you can be sure that a mechanical engineer was involved in
making it.
Mechanical engineer is characterized by a creative personality and a wide variety of
knowledge available. And he is a team member with high value and high reliability.
Mechanical engineer's tools
Mechanical engineers use computers daily to:

Perform complex mathematical computations.

Simulate new designs.
Change existing designs.

By using CAD/CAM Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided

Manufacturing (CAM) mechanical engineers can turn a design into a
manufactured product.

"The Mechanical Engineering Technology program has two areas of

concentration" [2]:
1- Manufacturing Systems, which includes robotics and computer integrated
manufacturing.
2- Mechanical System Design, which provides skills in designing, building and
installing mechanical systems of all types from thermal and a/c systems to
production equipment and power systems.
Safety in Mechanical Engineering
Safety is the most important factor when you oriented to work for any plant,
and you have to follow the roles of that plant to avoid any risk. According to nature
of work mechanical engineers face lots of hazards when they work at their locations,
such as toxic substances which resulted from foundry processes, and flied chips
from machining operations. Also mechanical engineers often work with dangerous
tools such as metal cutters, and blow torches. They must follow the safety guidelines
in their area work, such as helmets, safety shoes, safety glasses, etc; in order to avoid
any harm if occurred.
In the other side, mechanical engineers design and build machines and mechanical
devices. Any mechanical engineer has to make sure that project which they are
designing it, is safety for use and there are no hazards will be occurred when it used
by correct ways, that will be depended on Factor of Safety (F.S.), which is calculated
based on experiences and comparison tests. Factor of Safety "is a term describing the
structural capacity of a system beyond the expected loads or actual loads" [18], and
represented as numbers for example, the Factor of Safety for an elevator is 16, and
for a car is 34. As can be seen in the previous examples, the Factor of Safety is
proportional to the kind of project. The lowest Factor of safety is one, and used in
simple projects.
Mechanical Equipments and Devices
Mechanical Engineers actually deal with mechanical equipments and devices
in working area. So this section of my research will discuss the most famous
mechanical equipments and devices, in terms of their functions and utilizations. In
the past, the mechanical equipments and devices were very large in volume and very
difficult to use, also were take much time in maintaining and lubricating. However,
nowadays, they have developed largely, and could be utilized in industries and
workshops easily. And manufacturing processes depend on them completely. From
the devices that could be existed in manufacturing processes there are, (lathe
machine, milling machine, rollers, prototype machine, and grinding machine). And
from the cutting tools there are (saws, pliers, and electrical saws).
In the following there are examples of mechanical equipments and devices and their
utilizations :

- Saw : It can be utilized to shear wood, metals, and other types of materials, and
can be used by hand or automatically. There are three kinds of saws : circular saws,
straight saws, curved saws.
- Lathe Machine : It is a machine could be existed in workshops, in order to
complete manufacturing processes, and deals with cylindrical shapes. Its functions
are, to reduce the diameter, cutting, and facing the cylindrical shapes, such as car's
hops. There are two kinds of lathe machines : vertical and horizontal machines.
- Milling Machine : It is a manufacturing machine could be existed in workshops
and industries. It is basically responsible for manufacturing various types of gears.
There are three kinds of milling machines : vertical, horizontal, and universal
milling machines.
- Prototype Machine : It is possible, when you want to design a part by computer
and find out it naturally, so this machine can do like this. Prototype machine; is a
very high cost machine, and it depends on AutoCAD and Solid Works programs in
order to manufacture products by several materials. And classified as CNC machine.
- Rolling Machine : It is a machine contains rollers, each roller has a cylindrical
shape, and circular movement, clockwise and counterclockwise. Also these rollers
are heavy and have a very high hardness. Rolling machines can be utilized for sheet
metal forming processes in order to reduce the thickness of a rolled sheet. There are
two kinds of rolling : hot rolling and could rolling.
Types of Problems in Mechanical Engineering
If you have chosen Mechanical Engineering as a career, that means you have
to have the capability of solving problems which you would face in your work, and
the capability of analyzing complex systems to simple elements by several methods.
Also they have to work in producing products with high quality and low cost.
Mechanical engineers, normally, deal with anything has a relationship with motion.
Actually they can solve problems individually or in a team. They work on designing
parts of machines, maintaining machines, raise productivity in production lines, and
providing some design modifications to avoid any damage. Also they could work on
manufacturing processes such as (machining, milling, sheet metal forming, drilling,
filling, rolling, and grinding), and building mechanical devices such as (lathe
machines, millers, cutter machines, and prototype machines). Sometimes,
mechanical engineers work on planning, managing, and implementing projects in
major industries and companies as project engineers. They can work on gas
distribution systems, and prepare engineering recommendations for the
administrative head. They often work on Systems management which means
"overseeing operations of a large system, such as a power plant, as well as
supervising the people who work there" [12] . Nowadays, the power can be produced

by mechanical work, so mechanical engineers could work on producing several

types of power such as electric power. They apply the fundamentals of science and
math to create practical, useful solutions that the rest of us can use.
Several types of problems in Mechanical Engineering have been covered above, and
I cannot cover all types of problems in Mechanical Engineering in this section of the
research.
The Typical Project Duration Length in Mechanical Engineering
Management of time and projects is one of the most important characteristics
of the engineer. The time factor is very important and sensitive in engineering
projects. "Engineering projects are, in many countries, specifically defined by
legislation, which requires that such projects should be carried out by registered
engineers and/or registered engineering companies" [8]. The duration length of any
engineering project could be effected by several factors. For example, number of
labors working on the project, importance of the project, volume of the project, and
the project cost. In Mechanical Engineering, most of projects concentrated in
everything that could be movable. For example a graduation project with short
duration called as ''Structural Health Monitoring of welded steel joints", and its
procedure is "Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) aims to give a diagnosis of the
state of structure of the material at every moment during the life of structure to
remain it in specified domain in the design In the present project, and would takes
one year" [9]. The recorded example clarifies us the approximately duration length of
a mechanical project to be accomplished. So we can say that the duration length of
projects vary from one project to another, according to the circumstances of each
one of them. We can compare two projects in order to find the relationship between
volume and duration length, one of them is very big and the other is small, actually
we will find that has the big volume would take more time to be accomplished than
the other. So volume of project is proportionality to duration length of it.
The Companies that Hire Mechanical Engineers
In this section of my research I will write about some sorts of companies
which hire mechanical engineers and some examples of these companies in KSA.
Mechanical engineers design and create all types of devices, from tools to engines.
As a result, a diverse range of companies employ them, though engineering and
architecture firms are by far the largest employers of mechanical engineers.
"According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 21 percent of mechanical
engineers in 2010 were employed by architectural or engineering companies. By
comparison, the second largest sector -- scientific research and development
industries -- employed just 6 percent" [10].
In addition to Mechanical Engineering companies, automation, factories, aerospace
and biomedical engineering firms employ mechanical engineers. "Mechanical
engineers work in many industries, and their work varies by industry and function.
Some specialize in energy systems; applied mechanics; automotive design;

manufacturing; materials; plant engineering and maintenance; pressure vessels and

piping; and heating, refrigeration, and air-conditioning systems" [14]. Also
mechanical engineers can work in water desalination stations, oil and gas refinement
stations, and even electricity stations need mechanical engineers in their generators,
because the electrical power generated from the mechanical work.

Examples of Companies Which Hire Mechanical Engineers in KSA

In KSA there are various companies need receiving mechanical engineers.
The most requested companies are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 : Examples of companies which hire mechanical engineers in KSA.
Field
Water desalination

Company
Water National Company
(WNC)
Saudi ARAMCO
Saudi SABIC
Saudi Electricity Company
(SEC)

Oil and gas refinement

Manufacturing
Electricity

1- Saudi ARAMCO :
ARAMCO is the greatest company in the world which produces oil and gas,
and their derivatives. It is located at the east of KSA. In fact, ARAMCO has a very
large volume of oil and gas spares (about half percentage of oil and gas in the whole
world). ''Were investing in the future of energy at Saudi Armco working to ensure
the reliability and sustainability of oil and gas suppliers across the globe through a
56,000 strong workforce comprising homegrown talent and 77 nationalities. Today,
we are one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. To put that into
perspective, we supply 25% of the worlds daily oil supplies. Saudi Armco is the
worlds largest exporter of petroleum, with a daily output that stands at nearly twice
our nearest competitor" Dr. K.Alfaleh said [17]. The company needs lots of engineers
from several fields including mechanical engineers. The functions of mechanical
engineers in ARAMCO is working in industries, also developing, designing, and
maintaining of oil drilling and exploration. In addition, it is known that the company
provides several special offers with high salaries (reaches about S.R.16,000
monthly) to wilders to work with their staff. Dr. A.A. Aljinidy from the Department
of Mechanical Engineering at KAU has an experience in ARAMCO company. He
had already worked for it as a mechanical consultant and had achieved a patented to
the company.
2- SABIC :
It is the largest company in the Middle East, and one of the largest 10
companies in the world which produces and manufactures various types of
chemicals, invented plastics, polymers, and steels. It has several branches in KSA,

however the main branch is located in Riyadh. SABIC has numerous related
companies such as, HADID, Saudi KIAN, etc. Actually It depends on engineers
including mechanical engineers in order to maintain its foundations. Mechanical
engineers' responsibilities are concentrating in industries of the company specially in
production lines. They design, build, and maintain mechanical equipments which
utilized in the company, managing of manufacturing processes. Also they can work
as consultants for the company, managers of some departments. They can be worked
as project engineers and project managers.
3- Water National Company ( WNC ) :
"The National Water Company in Saudi Arabia is dedicated to providing
quality water and wastewater management services to all citizens and residents" [18].
And it is a company from the government sector. And it is responsible about
desalination water and connect it to citizens. About the job at the company we see
that the majority of its staff are mechanical engineers because of 90 % of the
company activities are depending on mechanical engineers. Mechanical engineers
have large responsibilities inside the institution, and their responsibilities concentrate
more in maintaining pumps and pipes, and managing the department of pumps
operations and check it daily. They work in developing, designing, and redesigning
several types of pumps and pipes. Also they have to check, maintain, and estimate
the volume of water inside tanks of the companies. Mechanical engineers are usually
working for water desalination stations in terms of managing and maintaining the
station daily to avoid any damage will be occurred because it is serious in effective
on cleaning rate of the desalinated water. Sometime they responsible of network of
the connected pipes which connect water to all houses of the whole city.
Statistics about Number of Mechanical Engineers in KSA
Nowadays, the manufacturing and other fields depend more on mechanical
engineers. So it is advantageous in developing the economic and industrial fields for
your country when the number of mechanical engineers is rising annually. In this
section of my research I found a difficult to find the number of mechanical engineers
in KSA, because there is no sources providing these statistics. However, I asked my
academic adviser Dr. Osama Khashaba and Dr. Ahmad Khairy for providing me
statistics about the number of mechanical engineers in KSA (both Saudis and Non
Saudis).
The followings table and figure show us the statistics about number of mechanical
engineers in KSA ( both Saudis and Non Saudis ).
Table 2 : The number of Saudi MEs and Non Saudi MEs in KSA.
Saudi MEs
Non Saudi MEs
Total

854
12146
13000

7%
93%
100%

1
2
3

Number of MEs in KSA

7%

1
2

93%

Figure 1 : Comparison between number of Saudis MEs [1] and Non-Saudis MEs [2]
in KSA.
According to Figure 1 and Table 2, I concluded that the number of Non Saudi MEs
is greater than Saudi MEs. We can see that the number of Saudi MEs is represents a
very small percentage of all MEs in KSA. And in the other side we can see that the
number of Non Saudi MEs represents a very high percentage of all MEs in KSA,
this means that majority of companies in KSA prefer Non Saudi MEs.
Mechanical Engineering Professional Societies
An engineering society is a professional organization for engineers of various
disciplines. Some are umbrella type organizations which accept many different
disciplines, while others are discipline-specific.
There are various engineering professional societies around the world in order to
uplift the profession, develop and upgrade its standards, for example in KSA we
have Saudi Council of Engineers, it is one of the engineering professional societies
which will be discussed below. Also if you want to get further information about
Mechanical Engineering, there is "The Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers
(PSME)" which is interesting Mechanical Engineering only.
-

The Saudi Council of Engineers ( SCE ) :

"The Saudi Council of Engineers is a Saudi Arabian professional body
intended to promote the engineering profession, develop and upgrade its standards
and those practicing it. It operates under the supervision of Ministry of Commerce
with headquarters in Riyadh"[11].

The Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers ( PSME ) :

"The Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) was founded in
1952 with the objective of uniting and enjoining mechanical engineers in the pursuit

of further professional growth and the up liftment of the mechanical engineering

profession in general.
"PSME was established to serve the Filipino Mechanical Engineers of various
grades, to advance the Mechanical Engineering profession, and provide
sustainability to a changing world" [12].
-

American Society of Mechanical Engineers( ASME ) :

"ASME is an engineering society, a standards organization, a research and

development organization, a lobbying organization, a provider of training and
education, and a nonprofit organization. Founded as an engineering society focused
on mechanical engineering in North America.
The organization's stated vision is to be the premier organization for promoting the
art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied
sciences to the diverse communities throughout the world. Its stated mission is to
promote and enhance the technical competency and professional well-being of its
members, and through quality programs and activities in mechanical engineering,
better enable its practitioners to contribute to the well-being of humankind. ASME
has over 130,000 members in 158 countries worldwide" [13].
Job Market and Future Growth of Mechanical Engineering
In Mechanical Engineering, the job chances are very strong and available in
several institutions, the need for mechanical engineers is still growing in most fields
of work, because of the huge industrial revolution in nowadays. "Mechanical
engineers held about 215,000 jobs in 2002. More than half of the jobs were in
manufacturing mostly in machinery, transportation equipment, computer and
electronic products, and fabricated metal products manufacturing industries" [14].
In each country, there are two sectors of work (private and government sectors). So I
have a statistics that clarifies the comparison in percentage of mechanical engineers
who work at these sectors.

84%

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

16%
3

Engineers who
are working at
the private
sector

Figure 2 : Comparison between government and private sectors

As can be seen in Figure 2, there are 84% of MEs work at private sector, and a small
percentage 16% of MEs work at government sector. So I concluded that most of
mechanical engineers prefer working at private sector on government sector because
the advantages which offer to them from the private sector, from these advantages
are more benefits, high salaries, annual vacations, etc. Actually, in KSA the
availability of job chances for mechanical engineers is increasing every year because
the progress of the industrial revolution, and the number of industrials increases,
especially in the plant of petrol, so the job market of KSA still needs mechanical
engineers
Salary Package for Mechanical Engineers In KSA
After graduation, there are several offers will be given to the graduated
student, and actually he will choose the best offer with the highest salary. In this
section of my research, I will write about the salaries for mechanical engineers. In
KSA, majority of the companies which hire mechanical engineers give high salaries
to them, specially oil and gas refinement companies such as "ARAMCO & SABIC".
However, the maintenance companies give low salaries to them. The average
salaries for mechanical engineers in Saudi Arabia is $63,000 (about S.R. 236250).
The previous average salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, benefits,
etc.
The following table is taken from " simply hired " website, and shows the difference
in salaries for several engineering disciplines in KSA in the government sector :
Table 3 : Salaries for several engineering disciplines
General engineer

$74,000

Civil engineer

$58,000

Electronics engineer

$72,000

Mechanical engineer

$63,000

Electrical engineer

$63,000

Aerospace engineer

$75,000

According to Table 3, I found that the salary of mechanical engineers is the fourth one in
order of the highest salaries. So we see that aerospace engineers earn the highest salary
and civil engineers earn the lowest. These salaries are just in government sector, however
there are salaries greater than these in private sector. In addition, according to the
industrial revolution and the increasing in the industries in KSA, the salaries of
mechanical engineers will be raised in the future.

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Discussion
I spent much time to finish this research, so at the end of this it, I learned lots
of things and my skills in writing researches, and collecting information from
sources have been developed. My gaze to my specialization (Mechanical
Engineering) is changed after doing this research, I learned what does Mechanical
Engineering mean in fact, safety in Mechanical Engineering including some hazards
which mechanical engineers face and the best ways to avoid them, and what does
Factor of Safety. Also mechanical equipments and their utilizations. Sorts of
problems which mechanical engineers face and their responsibilities in their jobs.
Comparisons between companies which hire mechanical engineers in KSA, and
what is the nature of work in these companies. Also I found a statistics about the
approximated number of mechanical engineers in KSA (both Saudis and Non
Saudis) supported by figures and tables, and concluded that the number of Non
Saudi MEs is greater the number of Saudi MEs. I earned lots of information about
professional societies of Mechanical Engineering in KSA and other countries, and
what are their functions in serving and supporting Mechanical Engineering field.
Mechanical engineers can work in several fields, and job market still needs
mechanical engineers, so job chances are available strongly, and this availability of
job chances will be increased in the future. The average salaries for mechanical
engineers is high and there are variety offers will be given to applicants. I used
Internet as the main source of collecting information, also I used Microsoft Excel
program for doing statistics. Finally, I hope that I have prepared my work
completely, and provided the reader a clear idea about Mechanical Engineering.
Also I am ready know to write a greater assignment.
Acknowledgement
I cannot but offer words of thanks and gratitude to those who helped me and
pleased me access to information, in particular my academic advisor Dr. Osama
Khashaba, and Dr. Ahmad Khairy for giving me some information in order to
complete my research. Also I cannot forget to thank my instructor Eng. Mohammad
Rehan, because he helped me to accomplish this assignment correctly, and also he
was very cooperative with me.
References
1- "Wikipedia" Website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering) accessed on
7/2/2014.
2- "Old Dominion University" Website (http://dl.odu.edu/programs/manufacturingsystems-mechanical-system-design.com) accessed on 7/2/2014.

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3- "SIT" Website (http://www.singaporetech.edu.sg/mechanical-design-andmanufacturing-engineering/bachelor-of-engineering-with-honours-in-mechanicaldesign-and-manufacturing-engineering-2) accessed on 7/2/2014

4- " Free Dictionary " Website (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/engineering.com)
accessed on 7/2/2014.
5- " Thermal Engineering" Website (http://www.thermalengineering.co.uk/)
accessed on 8/2/2014.
6- "Wikipedia" Website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_engineering)
accessed on 7/2/2014.
7- "Engineering your Future" Website
(http://www.futuresinengineering.com/what.php?id=4) accessed on 9/2/2014.
8- "Wikipedia" Website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#Engineering_project)
accessed on 9/2/2014.
9- "NCSU" website (http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/research/pdf/2010-11/mae.pdf)
accessed on 9/2/2014.
10- "Global Post" Website (http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/kind-company-hiresmechanical-engineers-33490.html) accessed on 10/2/2014.
11- "Wikipedia" Website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Council_of_Engineers)
accessed on 10/2/2014.
12- "PSME" Website (http://ph.shop.88db.com/psme/aboutus) accessed on
10/2/2014.
13- "ASME" Website (https://www.asme.org/about-asme) accessed on 11/2/2014.
14- " Purdue University "Website (http://webs.purduecal.edu/me/career-outlook/)
accessed on 10/2/2014.

15- "SBU" Website (http://me.eng.sunysb.edu/) accessed on 11/2/2014.

16- "ARAMCO" Website (http://www.saudiaramco.com/ar_sa/home/our-) accessed
on 12/2/2014.
17- "Linked in" Website (http://www.linkedin.com/company/national-watercompany) accessed on 13/2/2014.

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18- "Wikipedia" Website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_of_safety) accessed on

13/2/2014.

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