About Mechanical Engineering Consultants Ltd


Our Purpose

Mechanical Engineering Consultants exists to reduce risk and uncertainty in critical mechanical systems, so organisations can operate safely, reliably and with confidence.


Our Mission

Mechanical Engineering Consultants exists to give our clients confidence when critical mechanical problems put their operations, safety or reputation at risk, through clear, independent engineering expertise they can trust.


Our Vision

Our vision is to be the consultancy trusted for the most demanding mechanical engineering challenges, where reliability, compliance and sound engineering judgement support long-term, responsible and sustainable outcomes.


Experience & Expertise

We are a specialist mechanical engineering consultancy, built on 29 years of practical experience in mechanical design, vibration, dynamics, finite element analysis (FEA), product testing, and failure diagnostics. We support clients with complex engineering challenges through rigorous analysis, measurement and testing across design, verification and failure investigation.

Meet our director: Paul Schmitz, MBA CEng MIMechE MIoA.

Who We Are

We are an independent mechanical engineering consultancy focused on solving high-consequence engineering problems where failure, uncertainty or poor performance cannot be tolerated. Our work sits at the intersection of mechanics, vibration, structures and operating environments, supporting clients who need clear engineering judgement. We engage when systems must perform reliably in service — under real loads, real environments and real constraints — and when decisions must be defensible to regulators, stakeholders and operators alike.


Our Story

Our approach was shaped early by working on certification programmes where failure was not an option. During environmental and vibration testing of aerospace hardware, success was defined not by passing calculations, but by hardware that remained robust and compliant under real operating conditions.

That experience established a principle that still guides our work today: engineering only succeeds if systems perform reliably in their operating environments, not just on paper.

Problems We Solve

  • Certification and compliance delays, where vibration, shock or environmental performance cannot be demonstrated with confidence (e.g. RTCA DO-160, MIL-STD-810, API requirements)..
  • Recurring mechanical failures including fatigue cracking, premature bearing wear and unexplained loss of service life.
  • Excessive vibration and resonance leading to reliability issues, downtime or unacceptable structure-borne noise.
  • Mismatch between analysis and reality, where models fail to correlate with test data and design decisions lack defensible evidence.
  • Reliability and retrofit challenges on operating plant, where modifications must be engineered, validated and implemented without disrupting production.

How We Work

We follow a structured, evidence-led approach that moves from understanding risk to verified performance:

  • Define requirements and operating environments, including loads, constraints, compliance criteria and service conditions.
  • Analyse and model behaviour, using appropriate mechanical, structural and dynamic analysis to understand expected performance.
  • Measure and correlate, applying instrumented testing to confirm real-world behaviour and reconcile models with reality.
  • Validate performance, through vibration, environmental or functional testing where assurance is required.
  • Improve and verify, addressing root causes through redesign, refinement or model updating to achieve reliable outcomes.

See the full detail on Our Process.

Industries We Serve

  • Aerospace
  • Architecture
  • Automotive Off-Highway
  • Building Management
  • Construction
  • Health & Safety
  • Industrial
  • Manufacturing
  • Oil & Gas
  • Product Design
  • Recycling & Mining

Explore sectors and outcomes on our Industries and Case Studies pages.

Director

Paul Schmitz, MBA CEng MIMechE MIoA — Chartered Mechanical and Acoustical Engineer with 29 years across aerospace, oil & gas, manufacturing, industrial, and research. Began in 1996 at a university-affiliated consultancy (instrumentation, structural testing, fracture mechanics, simulation); research at the ISVR, University of Southampton; further study at Cranfield School of Management.

Professional Standing & Standards

Memberships are personal and do not imply institute endorsement of companies. Chartered Engineer (CEng); member of the IMechE and IOA.

We design and validate to BS/EN/ISO, API, RTCA/DO-160, and Mil-Std-810 standards. Learn more about regulatory compliance and how each phase connects in Our Process.

Have a Problem to Solve?

Let’s align requirements, risks, and a clear route to verification.