The next step after you learn mechanics. Again, Hartog gets the job done for minimum bucks and with maximum insight.

Great value for those interested in getting a "feel" for vibration phenomenon & theory. The book is very clearly written. It contains good basic coverage for both 1 & 2 DOF systems. Basic calculus & knowledge of complex numbers assumed. There is much practical material on internal combustion engines, balancing rotating machinery, self-excited vibrations, and vibration tuning and management.

A clear book with excellent exposition of the subject. More than likely Monson will be your assigned text, but this one is much better. There are some typos, so perhaps an earlier edition would not only be cheaper but more accurate.

After fluid mechanics, fluid power circuits is a great elective. This book splits the difference between a how-to shop manual and a terse academic tome with plenty of sample calculations, design examples, and labs.

MECHATRONICS - For mechanical types that consider electronics to be a mysterious "black art". Written in the simplest, clearest, best organised manner possible by a P.E. You need very little math, nothing beyond scientific notation, fractions, and how to read a simple graph - & even that is reviewed for you. Everything is done step by step and with amazingly clear mechanical and hydraulic analogs.

This is a very good text that goes in depth on the various technologies involved in combining mechanical and electrical devices to produce a single system. The book culminates in a capstone design project involving a robot.

For beginners who have absolutely no knowledge of Control Systems and its purposes. Gives an indepth view of the subject. This is excellent tool for beginners (for understanding the fundamentals) and gradually upgrading to a better level by able to design systems. The Skill Assessment Exercises are able to bring out the key techniques to solve any problem.

Its comprehensive coverage makes it very popular among both novice and experienced users. Begins with the basics & eventually covers more complex 2D and 3D drawing techniques, including using layers, creating dimensions, 3D coordinates, solids, & rendering. Finally, it discusses advanced topics like customization of commands & toolbars, & programming AutoCAD using AutoLISP and VBA.

Past, present, & future of mechanisms & mechanical devices. Drawings & descriptions of more than 2000 components that have proven themselves over time and can be incorporated into the very latest mechanical, electromechanical, & mechatronic products & systems. Overviews of robotics, rapid prototyping, MEMS, and nanotechnology, & tutorial chapters on the basics of mechanisms & motion control.

An introduction to CNC programming using the "G" language. Although most programming is now done with the aid of CAM programs which generate G-code based on a drawing of the part to be machined, the complexities of CNC machining demand that the operator have a thorough understanding of CNC programming.

The strengths include the vast amount of detail, illustrations, references and exercises to embed learning; broadness yet correctness of content; and many examples of industrial application and usefulness for industry.

This book is an excellent review of a host of methods for solution but what is more important is the physical interpretation of the PDE's the author insists on. Most of the physical examples are drawn from the fields of heat and mechanics.

Very good for beginners who need to look up how to do general tasks such as write a function using variable arguments, perform plotting, or figure out how to shoe-horn a problem into Matlab that doesn't really seem to fit the Matlab paradigm of everything being a matrix. I also particularly like the chapter on using Matlab with Java.

REFERENCE - Not only a self-contained reference for passing the PE exam, it also has good refresher explanations of ME subjects plus worked example problems.

This book has good sections on electrical engineering topics for ME's and also is pretty good in applications areas like robotics. In the basics of undergrad ME material it is overweight in talk and underweight in examples and problem solving.

Updated, with a user-friendly page layout, this new edition includes expanded coverage of joints, bearing and shear stress, experimental stress analysis, and stress concentrations, as well as material behavior coverage and stress and strain measurement.

A good companion for the above book. It is a good supplement, but not a replacement for a textbook. The problems are very helpful and real-world in nature.

Lots of times mechanical engineers wind up involved in this field. This is everything you'd want to know about both the business and technical ends of plant maintenance.