Ergonomics and Safety are scientific disciplines used to engineer better solutions to complex relationship between people and their environments. Ergonomics is the process of designing a task to fit the human, rather than forcing the human to fit the task. Its aim is to design and arrange systems so that systems and humans interact efficiently and safely. Ergonomics also works to assist those people with unique needs following medical events and accidents. Goals include the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders, worker errors, and physical strain and exhaustion through the study of engineering, biomechanics, human factors, anthropometry, industrial design, and user-interface design. Safety Engineering strives to reduce risks posed by hazards encountered by people and society. Risk reduction can be achieved by eliminating hazards or by reducing the severity or probability of any harmful event. Areas within this field of engineering include industrial safety for people at work, system safety for large or complex engineering systems within industrial operations, and product safety for goods and systems encountered by society. In addition to fundamental engineering principles, engineering ethics must also be considered when solving real-world safety problems.
Mechanical engineers play a significant role in designing and manufacturing all of the products and systems essential to everyday modern life: recreational equipment, automobiles, aerospace systems, airplanes, medical devices, robots, industrial equipment, power generation, and sustainable energy systems. The field of mechanical engineering (ME) is concerned with the mechanical, thermal, and fluid-flow aspects of all of these systems, including computer and feedback control of complex systems. As a mechanical engineering student at the University of Utah, you will learn the professional, technical, critical thinking, and communication skills you need to be successful and make meaningful contributions to this exciting field.
Mechanical engineers are prepared to pursue work in a variety of fields using the skills gained from coursework, research, or interning. U alumni have found work as engineers in a number of areas such as product design, aerospace, medical devices, robotics, manufacturing, sustainable energy, hi-tech, and software development including artificial intelligence and machine learning. With additional education at the graduate level, students can become project managers, professors, researchers, lawyers, or doctors.
