Encyclopedias describe Mechanical Engineering as a professional engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing and maintenance of mechanical systems. It requires a solid understanding of key concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics and energy. Mechanical engineers use these principles and others for example in the design and analysis of automobiles, aircrafts, heating and cooling systems, industrial equipment and machinery. In addition to these main areas, specialized fields are offered at universities to prepare future engineers for their position in industry, such as: mechatronics and robotics, transportation and logistics, cryogenics, fuel technology, automotive engineering, biomechanics, vibration, optics and others.
Accordingly, the Springer Handbook of Mechanical Engineering devotes its contents to these areas of interest for the practicing engineer as well as for the student at various levels and educational institutions.
Authors from all over the world have contributed with their expertise and support the globally working engineer in finding a solution for today's mechanical engineering problems.
About the Author: Karl-Heinrich Grote is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany. Since 1995 he is the editor of the DUBBEL- Taschenbuch für den Maschinenbau, the most renown German language book for mechanical engineering.
Prof. Grote received his Dr.-Ing. in 1984 from the Technical University Berlin, Germany. After a professional stay in the USA, he became the Head of the Engineering Design Division at the "Ingenieurgesellschaft für Auto und Verkehr, IAV" in Berlin. In 1990 he joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the California State University, Long Beach, USA. From June 1995 to October 2020 he was Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering - Engineering Design at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. After staying as Visiting Professor at Caltech, Pasadena, USA from 2002 to 2004, he was appointed Dean of the College of Mechanical Engineering at the Otto-von-Guericke University until 2017. In 2013 he also joined the Western Norway University of Applied Science in Bergen, Norway, where he serves up to now as Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Marine Engineering. In 1993 he was awarded of the Ring of Honor from the German Professional Engineering Society (VDI) and the TRW Excellence Award (USA).
Dr. Hamid Hefazi is Professor and Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the State University of New York (SUNY) - Korea located in Incheon, Republic of Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1985. He has been involved in a broad range of teaching and research in fluid mechanics, aeroacoustics and aerodynamics. His more recent research has been focused on hydrodynamics, advanced multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO) methods and their applications to Naval Engineering. Dr. Hefazi has been the Principal Investigator for more than one-hundred externally funded research projects, including projects sponsored by the US National Science Foundation, NASA, the US Office of Naval Research and the Boeing Company among others. Dr. Hefazi has extensively worked as a consultant for wind-energy companies and holds a patent on an innovative vertical axis wind turbine. Dr. Hefazi served as the director of the Boeing Technology Center,"at California State University, Long Beach for 12 years. He is the recipient of many awards including the Boeing Company's Silver Eagle award for innovation and the US Department of Defense's Nunn-Perry Award for 2005 and 2006 for his work with Northrop Grumman Space Technology. He is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
