There are many types of gadgets and machinery stuff made by mechanical engineers. But what kinds are the most focus on and most popular?
Dude, mechanical engineering is very broad and it's almost impossible to answer your question. But I guess I would say automobiles and electronic gadgets used in everyday life (computers, phones, medical devices). It all depends on where you land a job.
I've been working in the design special machinery primarily for use in the automotive industry. I've been involved in machinery to automatically assemble auto and truck engines, transmissions, and axles. I've had assembly lines build an engine as fast as 18 seconds, or a differential in 16 seconds. But today, there are many niche lines, with production rates much slower, and more with manual content as production lines go to lower cost countries. Worldwide, production of vehicles (cars, trucks) has been as high as 70 million units per year, that is a lot of production, that needs a lot of engineering.
ME is the basis of all engineering. Civil Engineers are MEs that build structures that do not move. Electrical Engineers are MEs that can only work with electricity. A good ME is a physicist who can actually BUILD the things that he or she can dream up. Given all that, most MEs focus on one of several areas. Thermodynamics, Machinery design, Power generation, Robotics/Machinery Control, or Fluid Dynamics. Almost everything you use, ride in, live in, or look at was designed in some part by a ME.
All mechanical engineers may not focus on same items. As a mechanical engineer I can tell you my taste that I believe is the concern if not all but of many. We love mechanisms! Like what you see in watch, gear box, Transmission etc. Even simple mechanisms like levers that operate to close car doors, petrol outlet opening, bonnet opening, seat adjustment etc. Don't they make you feel wonderful. There are many much more such things you will see in real life. Try to find how the mechanical movements happen in your daily life. None of these are comparable to electronic gadgets. But many electronic gadgets depend a lot on mechanical movements. Just open and see any Tape / cassette recorder, you will agree my point of view.
Mechanical engineering is a very broad topic. You can work on things from weaponry to air-conditioning and heating. It is very hard to determine exactly what the most popular branch of mechanical engineering is because mechanical engineers can branch out to almost any field and do almost anything that is related to engineering. For example a mechanical engineer has background in thermodynamics, statics, dynamics, and fluid mechanics so a mechanical engineer can go into almost any engineering field knowing at least a little bit of background.
