“Is industry or academia right for you? Success in one will help you succeed in the other, says the University of Texas at at Arlington Engineering professor Ankur Jain in this new video from ASME FutureME.” This is the decision question faced by holders of advanced degrees in particular master’s and phds. Let’s listen to this talk by professor Ankur Jain on his perspective at American Society of Mechanical Engineer Community, ASME FutureME. I hope you get some useful information.

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 MajorPrep that gives a general idea of differences between the two majors.