Hi all,
My name is Dr Nigel Kent from Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland. I will be delivering the upcoming webinar towards the end of November. As part of the webinar I'd like also like to present some feedback from the community in terms of what, they feel, the term 'mechatronics' means from a student perspective?
While it might appear on the surface an absurd question for those of us working in the area, please let me provide some context. I graduated with a B.Eng in Mechatronic Engineering in 2002. To this day when I tell people of my primary degree I am invariably required to add the qualifier 'it is a combination of mechanical and electronic engineering'. Even this, I feel, is now an over simplification of the award.
Given the advances in the area since 2002 the term 'Mechatronics' doesn't seem to have gained much traction with the larger community while other areas have. The terms Industry 4.0, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Robotics and Automation seem, from my perspective at least, to be more pervasive in modern society today.
While it may be a stretch to claim Mechatronics as an umbrella term over the topics above, there is certainly significant overlap. With that in mind I'd like to ask the community for their thoughts on this and how me might push Mechatronics to the forefront so that prospective students and the larger community have an awareness of the area?
Looking forward to your thoughts and the upcoming webinar.
Best,
Nigel
As with any field I guess it takes time to establish itself and folks start to appreciate it for what it is -- on its own. Perhaps one reason it hasn’t gain traction among the community is that its still primarily taught within mechanical engineering or electrical engineering departments. In fact you often hear MEs and EEs trying to take ownership of field. I guess once we see independent mechatronic departments being established that’s when the masses will start appreciating it for what it is. In the meantime using Vikram’s definition helps not having to add the qualifier Nigel mentioned above.
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