Mechanical Design Engineers - what makes you good at your job?

Hello everyone,,
I am a senior Mechanical Engineering student and I will be graduating in May. I have had two internships - one as a Design Engineering Intern and one as a Manufacturing Engineering Intern. I enjoyed both internships very much although my Design skills have never been more than mediocre. I recently received an offer for a position that would require CAD and drafting using CREO, SolidWorks, and CATIA, FEA, and CFD using ANSYS with an Aerospace Company that I am extremely excited to work for. I have began to work on honing in my design skills and plan to practice consistently over the course of the next seven months to try and become the best designer I can be by the time I graduate.

How do you begin designing a part from the ground up? What is your process of conceptualizing a part or component that is needed? (for example - how would you begin to visualize and conceptualize a bracket or a manifold - are you usually given requirements first that your design has to meet? What tips can you give a college student looking to become better at CAD software and a better overall Design Engineer?

Do you keep any books/notes handy with you at your desk that you find yourself referencing often?
Yes. First on the list - Machinery's Handbook. ALL good mechanical engineers will have their own well worn copy. Also, I appreciate paper catalogs. Back in the day, large engineering offices had "Engineering Librarians". Their job was to keep all the hundreds of catalogs and reference books in order. Still today I see more flipping through a paper catalog then I will cruising any website. Paper catalogs are simply better sources of ideas and inspiration.

For me it was the challenges that the job brings, I am now retired but I spent my last 20 years of my ME career doing "New Product Research and Development" of "ASME Section VIII Pressure Vessel Code" pilot operated high pressure relief valves used in cryogenic, corrosive and high temperature applications.

It can depend on the job; but I agree the "Machinery Handbook for Engineers" is at the top of the list, another I frequently reference is the "Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers" by Baumeister & Marks ( pretty much referred to as "Marks handbook" another less accessed but really the key handbook on stress analysis is "Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain".

Seek information from the experienced engineers in your department and personnel in other departments including the people that are going to produce what you are designing. Learn from their experience. The best source of information I ever had came from the Product Field Servicing Dept, upon beginning a new design or a modification of an existing product the first thing I always did was go straight to the servicing personnel and ask them "Have you ever seen anything like this before? or What do think of this?" because if there is a field service problem with a design of an item they are going to be the ones dealing with it when it happens.

FEA can be an engineer's best friend, or, worst enemy. DO NOT assume that FEA is "plug and play" because it takes experienced operators and engineers to insure the correct meshing is applied to a model to insure an accurate result from an FEA analysis. A lack of understanding this is one of the major issues for new engineers.

The role of a mechanical engineer is to take a product from an idea to the marketplace. To accomplish this, the mechanical engineer must be able to determine the forces and thermal environment that a product, its parts, or its subsystems will encounter; design them for functionality, aesthetics, and durability; and determine the best manufacturing approach that will ensure operation without failure. If you want to know more details I would definitely recommend checking it out the Best website for mechanical engineers