The free Mechanical Engineer Scorecard™ permits a quick self-evaluation of your knowledge in all main mechanical engineering domains. By distributing a given number of points, proportional to your experience and know-how among these domains, it visually identifies areas of strength and specialties to your target role. By understanding where you stand, you can pursue targeted learning or close skill gaps if judged so. From an HR perspective, it helps in a job description to build the profile of a mechanical engineering open position.
Mechanical Engineer Scorecard™
How it works: the goal this Mechanical Engineer Scorecard™ is to perform a self-evaluation, or help on a job description (job-desk) of an open job position. You have a certain amount of “points”, representing experience, know-how, and knowledge to distribute on an interactive graph among 18 main mechanical engineering domains. Some specialties overlap partially (ex: design to cost & manufacturing, or Engineering Mechanics & Materials Science) and oblige to chose a preferred domain. The industrial sector so as soft skills are not taken into account.
The maximal score for each domain is 20. This 20 must be considered as achievable for a good expert in that domain after many years. It should not be considered as the exception, the one-in-the-world. Neither the score you never give because “you can always progress” (despite we agree of course).
Refrain to put all as even or close to 10 as being average; no-one is a Swiss knife.
“At 0 or close to is no problem. You are not bad at something, but specialized at something else.”
As one always has “not enough points because I am a special case”, it obliges to focus on one’s few core domains. It also forces to evaluate how a specialty diploma rates versus many years of experience in that domain (ex.: a PMP official certification vs many years as Project Manager). The key mechanical engineering domains identified are:
- Engineering mechanics: statics, dynamics, strength of materials …
- Engineering drawing and GD&T: technical drawing, dimensioning, geometric tolerances, standards …
- Mechanical design and CAD: design principles, 3D modeling, drafting, use of CAD tools (SolidWorks, Inventor, Creo, Catia …)
- Kinematics and mechanisms: motion, linkages, gear trains, cams, robotics basics …
- Fluid mechanics: pumps, turbines, hydraulics, aerodynamics …
- Thermodynamics and heat transfer: energy systems, refrigeration, engines, HVAC…
- Mathematics and computational methods: calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, numerical methods, MATLAB …
- Finite element analysis (FEA) and simulation: ANSYS, Abaqus, stress/thermal/fluid simulations …
- Materials science: properties, selection, processing of metals, polymers, ceramics, composites…
- Machine elements: bearings, gears, shafts, couplings, fasteners, springs …
- Control systems: feedback loops, PID controllers, automation, sensors and actuators …
- Mechatronics and instrumentation: integration of electrical and control systems, sensors, basic electronics …
- Manufacturing processes: machining, forming, CNC, cost estimation, lean sigma, CNC, quality control …
- User-centric design: ergonomics and usability, design to cost, safety, risk analyses …
- Project management and communication: teamwork, documentation, scheduling, OPEX & CAPEX budgeting, financial follow-up, presentations, interdisciplinary communication …
- Innovation management: team methodologies, surveillance and protection, intellectual property (IP) …
- Sustainability: energy efficiency, green materials, recyling, lifecycle assessment …
- Quality management and regulatory compliance: procedures, audits, verification, validation, test reports, QMS …
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Mechanical Engineer Scorecard™ |
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| Years of Experience | Recommended total points |
|
0 (school/univ.) |
|
| 1-5 | |
| 6-15 | |
| 16+ | |
Draw Your Scorecard
The total quantity of points, depending on the experience, can be changed by you or your organisation, but we suggest the following baseline:
- Click on the right the total points related to your years of experience. Alternatively, you can enter a custom value in the grey cell bellow.
- Move left or right all red lines as desired to distribute the points. Mouse-hover on any topic title to have more detailed information.
- Save a snapshot of your own scorecard when finished.
Mechanical Engineer Scorecard™
Total experience, know-how and knowledge points: Remaining to distribute: 0
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