The top mechanical engineering companies in USA are projected to hire 5% more mechanical engineers annually until the year 2024, according to industry statistics. But since the discipline is so broad, some specializations within the same branch of engineering will need more additional manpower than the others. For example, sub-disciplines such as mechatronics, nanotechnology, and CAE or computer-aided engineering are expected to grow faster than others, and hence, will require a bigger number of new hires.

What mechanical engineering covers is so vast. The dictionary defines it as the part of engineering that has to do with the design, production, and operation of machines. As such, mastery of physics, calculus, algebra, thermodynamics, electricity and even heating and cooling systems are required in the field.

When you get hired in any aspect of the discipline for the first time, your annual pay would not be lower than $60,000. Meanwhile, long-timers in the industry can net as much as $90,000. If you belong to the elite 10% of American mechanical engineers, it’s not unusual to earn close to $130,000 on an annual basis.

Mechatronics and nanotechnology are projected to lead the way in terms of job demand as space technology heats up and leading scientific firms duke it out to supremacy. Humanity will just never stop making machines so the future will always look bright for the engineering discipline as a whole. Thus, the individual with similar aptitude will do well to stick it out in the field to ensure career as well as financial success.

For people who do not excel in mathematics, mechanical engineering is not the ideal specialization to pursue. Young people who develop a liking for the discipline early in life tend to be predisposed to building systems, especially machinery. For this extraordinary league of men and women, structural analysis sooner or later becomes a way of life. Robotics is another area of specialization that the post-millennial population will find very exciting.

Finally, the space race is projected to heat up even more in the next decades and will most likely never run out of steam at least ten decades hence. The present American government has demonstrated its strong interest in working with space organizations, especially futuristic-oriented corporations. Driver-less and battery-powered cars, the increasing sophistication of robots, and the relentless drive for AI or artificial intelligence are telltale signs that even more sophisticated machines need to be made.

Hence, mechanical engineers not only in America but also in the Soviet Union, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia–have a huge reason to rejoice over the coming decades. For these nations have made plans in place to compete in space travel as well as the colonization of the moon and of Mars.