Beyond Wrenches and Ratchets: What’s Really Behind Automotive Engineering
You may not know it, but when you look at how your car is shaped, or the way it burns fuel, or simply how it “rides” you are looking at the work done by the car’s automotive engineers.
Automotive engineering is largely a specialized field of mechanical engineering. But it concerns itself not just on cars, but also on trucks, motorcycles, buses, tractors, bulldozers, boats – practically anything that has an engine and moves!
Try not to get the image that an automotive engineer is simply a fancy name for a mechanic. People who practice and specialize in automotive engineering go beyond just “fixing things”. They look and / or devise new ways and means to get the best performance out of the vehicles they work on – and that keeps to the spirit of engineering in general.
To give you an idea of just how extensive the field of automotive engineering is, below are major areas of concern that automotive engineers participate in and how they contribute to that said field.
Car safety
Everything from tire pressure loss to driving stability is an issue an automotive engineer must be adept at. He / she has to be able to detect flaws in the system of a particular car, or a whole fleet of cars, in order to make the necessary adjustments to ensure the car is at its best to protect its driver and passengers.
Fuel efficiency
The need to conserve fuel is now more than just a nice add-on feature on automobiles. It has, in fact, become an actual necessity. Automotive engineers look for ways to achieve fuel efficiency not only through making better engines, but also examining how the entire car is built. It is common knowledge that the heavier a car is, the more fuel it takes to make it move. It is left to an engineer to devise better ways in constructing a car to make it lighter, but at the same time, safe.
Engine efficiency is also a concern that automotive engineers look at. They assess, for example, the movements an engine and its transmission systems to assess whether power is efficiently distributed and used by the vehicle.
Environment concerns
It is not fair to think that everyone working with cars is pitted against the environment. In fact, there is a specialized field in automotive engineering that is concerned with minimizing vehicle emissions into the environment. These specialists work together with engine experts and designers to find the best means of reducing the level of pollutants that get introduced into the environment as an engine is used.
Further Innovations
Automotive engineers are also at the forefront of shaping the design and manufacture of future automobiles. Fields like materials research work hand in hand with automotive engineering in finding, if not creating, the best material yet for manufacturing vehicles of various kinds. Plastics, for example, are being considered more and more for the manufacturing of consumer vehicles like cars and trucks. The kind of metal alloys used on tires is yet another aspect.
As much as basic function is important, that is not to say that automotive engineers are not concerned with form as well. In fact, engineers working with designers are able to conceptualize cool, sleek cars that don’t only work good, but look good as well.
Automotive engineering is indeed an exciting field if one was so inclined at working with things that move and go. All it basically needs is a keen eye at how components work together and the imagination to see how else they can move. And it probably doesn’t hurt to have a ready willingness to get the hands dirty.