Why did you want to be a mechanical engineer?

I became a mechanical engineer initially because I enjoyed math and physics... but over the years that has morphed slightly. I stayed in engineering because I love solving problems, finding creative solutions and working with others. My background in engineering has made me a better manager and business-thinker, as I approach all problems with an open mind of innovation (as opposed to a "text book" solution).

I wanted to be a mechanical engineer because I loved taking things apart and figuring out how they worked together. Mechanical engineering allowed me to work in the area that allowed me follow my interest. Another good reason to be a mechanical engineer is that it is a very diverse field and you can be involved in so many different industries and different types of work with a mechanical engineering job. I have done manufacturing facility planning work, oil field pipe fluid calculations/projections, product engineering in designing parts for a car engine, working in a manufacturing plant helping to improve the quality of the process and now I work as a patent engineer who is involved in helping to patent inventions at my company. I hope you find what you are looking for but mechanical engineering is a great diverse field!

Growing up I used to take everything apart to figure out how things worked, but not always succeeded in putting them back together. My toys lasted me a day or two before they were in pieces, but my curiosity for how they worked was greater than my desire to play with them. I also had a passion for cars, growing up I knew every car make, model, and year and when I was out with my parents I would entertain myself identifying the different cars I saw on the road. I say this because originally I wanted to be an automotive engineer but in my home country automotive engineering was not an option as we don't produce cars, so my second choice was mechanical engineering. However as life progressed I found my true passion and that was to lead product development teams and I've been doing that for a long time now, but my mechanical engineering degree helped me develop the problem solving skills I use in my job every day, the difference is that I don't just solve engineering problems, now I help solve problems across multiple disciplines of the business and the product development and management cycle.

I became a Mechanical Engineer in part because I enjoyed math and physics. I also like taking things apart to see how they worked and fixing them. The more mechanical features the better. What put me over the top on selecting this, was my mother working for the engineering department at the local university. This allowed me to see some of the things going on at the campus in the engineering school.

If you want want to understand this in simple terms, I had "The Knack", as explained in the Dilbert comic strip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw

I became a mechanical engineer because I have a passion for the automotive industry and I excel in mechanical physics.

Growing up I had a lot of cheap toys that would break. Eventually, I took them apart and started fixing them. After a lot of broken toys, I started seeing patterns of how things were designed and how they broke. It was about then I decided I wanted to design products that wouldn't break as easily. It wasn't until the end of high school that I found mechanical engineering was a good major for what I wanted to do.

Mechanical Engineering has been a perfect career choice for me. Its continual problem solving keeps me excited about work every day.