Mechanical engineering vs electrical engineering: All you need to know

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In this article let’s take a look at everything you need to know about mechanical engineering vs electrical engineering by looking at the

definition difference and similarities pros and cons career options and average salary and many more factors in detail.

So if you are in your 12th and confused regarding which engineering branch you should select between mechanical and electrical then this is the blog you should read till the end and

I would also advise you to bookmark this article so that you can come back whenever you want and read the article in future.

So let’s jump right in.

Definition.

We will first start with mechanical engineering then move to electrical engineering.

What is mechanical engineering?

Basically mechanical engineering is one of the oldest engineering branches which combines principles of maths and physics for design and maintenance of mechanical systems, These engineers specialise in fluid mechanics, automation and control system, renewable energy, automotive design.

Now let’s take a look at what electrical engineering is all about and its duties.

What is an electrical engineering?

Electrical engineering is basically the study and learning the application of all the equipment and machines which use electricity, This is also one of the oldest branches of engineering.

This engineers specialise in following areas which are semiconductors, nanoelectronics, electrophysics, microsystems, optics and photonics, signal and image processing, network systems, computer networking,etc

These are all the definition and duties of both mechanical and electrical engineering professions, now let’s take a look at the difference between both engineering branches.

Difference between electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

Here is a table which explains the difference between the two engineering branches.

S.no Mechanical engineering Electrical engineering
1. Mechanical engineers research, design mechanical systems Electrical engineers design, develop manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as motors, radar,

 

 
2. Mechanical engineers usually focus on power application – getting physical parts, motors Electrical engineers instead focus on generating power like electricity & computer chips not the physical parts
3. They make less money with more competition in the branch They make more money with less competition in the branch

Similarities between both electrical and mechanical engineering branch.

  1. Electrical and mechanical engineers use computer design software to produce design plans for new products. They also work on altering existing design plans to improve products or to correct specific issues.
  2. Even if the job of both is quite different but still both engineers can work in similar companies
  3. In both branches you can work in both government & private sector
  4. Both engineering branches are four years long, you have same eligibility criteria which is to have maths physics and chemistry as main subjects in your 12th
  5. Both the branches require almost same soft skills like creativity, problem solving, etc
  6. Because both professions are creative in nature, they are secured & not completely replaced & automated by AI in future
  7. The admission process to get seat in the top colleges is also similar, you should write & clear JEE main exam to get seat in the top engineering colleges like IIT, NIT in India.

These are all the difference & similarities between the two engineering branches now let’s take a look at the career options, scope, skills required and salary you will get in the both engineering branches.

Career options, scope, skills and salary:

Career options, scope & salary in mechanical engineering.

If you choose mechanical engineering then you can get a job in many industries and companies and some of them are listed below,

  • Aerospace industry
  • Automotive industry
  • Defence forces
  • Manufacturing industries
  • Government agencies & PSUs
  • Bio medical industries
  • Engineering consultancies

Apart from that you can also get a chance to work with government in PSU sector by clearing the gate exam and you can get a government job.

Apart from that you can also do the higher education like Mtech, Ms or MBA to get more career opportunities after completing mechanical engineering undergraduation.

Let’s take a look at some top companies which hire most mechanical engineers.

  1. Tata group
  2. Ashok Leyland
  3. Godrej group
  4. ONGC
  5. Bharat electronics limited
  6. Microsoft
  7. Google
  8. DRDO
  9. Coal india
  10. ISRO

The average salary of the most mechanical engineers in India is around 4 lakh per annum & obviously your salary package will depend upon

lots of variables including your college from where you have graduated, your skills, company hired you, etc.

The average salary of the most mechanical engineer in America according to BLS, it is 90000  USD per annum.

Career options, scope & salary in electrical engineering.

If you choose electrical engineering then you can get a chance to work in many industries and companies and some of them are listed below.

  • Engineering Services.
  • Electric power generating installations.
  • Indian Railways.
  • Aerospace Manufacture Industry.
  • Automobile Industry.
  • Airports Authority of India.
  • Government Electrical Works Department

Apart from this you can also do higher education like Mtech, Ms or MBA by writing GATE exam.

Let’s take a look at some top companies which hire the most electrical engineers.

  1. Reliance Power
  2. Google
  3. General electric
  4. Lock heed Martin corporation
  5. Defence forces
  6. Government organization
  7. Aerospace industry

You can also get a job in PSU sector through gate exam or by their own admission exam in companies like BDL, NTPC,PGCIL, etc.

The average salary of an electrical engineer in India is around 4 lakh rupees per annum and as I said earlier in the mechanical engineering, even

when it comes to electrical engineering your salary will depend upon various factors like college from where you have graduated, your skills and the company hired you.

The average salary of electrical engineer in America according to bureau of labour statistics is 103000 USD per annum.

Now let’s take a look at some important skills you need to have in order to be a good engineer in both the branches.

Skills required to be a mechanical engineer

If you want to be a mechanical engineer you must have the following skills mentioned below.

  1. effective technical skills.
  2. The ability to work under pressure.
  3. Problem-solving skills.
  4. Interpersonal & team working skills.
  5. Verbal and written communication skills.
  6. Commercial awareness.

Skills required to be an electrical engineer

If you want to be a electrical engineer you must have the following skills mentioned below.

  1. Critical thinking.
  2. Technological knowledge.
  3. Active learning.
  4. Interpersonal skills.
  5. Organizational skills.
  6. Complex problem-solving skills.
  7. Mathematics and physics skills.
  8. Innovative thinking.

Now let’s take a look at some pros and cons of both engineering branches.

Pros and cons of both;

Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons of mechanical engineering then move to the electrical engineering.

Pros and cons of mechanical engineering:

Pros of mechanical engineering.

  1. It is one of the highly respected job
  2. You can get a knowledge about wide variety of subjects
  3. It is a global career and you can get opportunities to get a job in many companies both national and international
  4. It is both evergreen and exciting career option and also gives a lot of job satisfaction for a lot of people
  5. It can improve your personality and help you get new skills like problem solving which can help you start a business in future

Cons of mechanical engineering.

  1. There is immense competition in this field
  2. There is also a great deal, stress of workload & pressure
  3. You need to constantly keep yourself updated with the changing technology

you can take a look at the pros and cons in detail from my another article on this topic clicking here.

Pros and cons of electrical engineering:

Pros of electrical engineering.

  1. You can get a high paying job
  2. It is less competitive as compared to other engineering branches like mechanical
  3. It is an evergreen industry and you can get chance to work in many companies and industries
  4. You can get a chance to work in both private and government job
  5. It is an exciting career option and also gives you a lot of job satisfaction

Cons of electrical engineering.

  1. You can have a lot of work load and work pressure to complete the project and task before the deadline
  2. This engineering branch requires constant learning and keep your skills and knowledge updated with the changing Technology

You can learn more about the pros and cons of electrical engineering in detail from my another article by clicking here.

Both of them are popular engineering branches, interms of overall growth I believe electrical engineering is better than mechanical engineering

because it has more average salary, less competition, and more career opportunities, and it is a evergreen career but it is just my opinion.

With that said let’s conclude the article.

Conclusion

These are all the things you should know in between mechanical engineering vs electrical engineering.

Do let me know which is your favourite branch in comments section below.

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