Mechatronics Engineering v Mechanical Engineering

[Waggy]

My son is looking at applications for University in the UK   or Canada  (he has dual nationality) for 2025 entry and was looking at Mechanical Engineering (MEng), primarily in the UK. However, he has since mentioned that Mechatronics Engineering may be a better fit for him, he is somewhat of a savant at computer science and dabbles with electronics and is a half decent watch guy. I myself am a Mechanical Engineer and when at university all those years ago (writing on slates and wearing black gowns and square hats ) Mechatronics was a subject we were forced to cover for a term and it talked about stepper motors and stuff that didn't interest 99% of the people there and was a 'grit your teeth and get through it course'. However, I just started reading up on it again and it looks like the subject has matured into a blend of mechanical/electrical/software engineering, making for a better well rounded engineer, if you take the online marketing at face value.

Is anyone on this forum a Mechatronics Engineer, what is the reality in todays world for graduates with this degree?

[RichardHarris123]

I don't know, Chemical Engineering for me, but I  would think it would be useful in the robotics field which is in demand. 

[HectorLooi]

I existed before the term mechatronics engineer existed. I had to combine electricity, electronics, pneumatics, hydraulics and computing just to keep my own equipment working. I have never sub contracted any of my own repairs to the suppliers because I know I could do a better job. For a long time, dental suppliers in my country would bring their dead equipment to me that their own engineers cannot handle. I have accidentally embarrassed a couple of hospital heads of engineering by demonstrating their inadequacy. 

I think mechatronics is the most under-appreciated, under valued of all the engineering sciences.

I had a part-time dental assistant about 25 years ago, who was studying mechatronics in the polytechnic. She was absolutely clueless about the job prospects for a mechatronics engineer. I asked her about her aspirations and she replied that she really wanted to work in the games industry. 

In our dental profession, equipment have evolved from simple mechanical to electro-mechanical to logic-driven electro-mechanical and currently to computer driven machines. 

The medical equipment suppliers who employ mechanical engineers and/or mechanical engineers cannot cope with the repairs of the newer equipment. And many times end up changing whole modules and whole machines just because they cannot repair them.

But I think HR is afraid to employ a mechatronics engineer just because they don't know what a mechatronics engineer does.

Mechatronics is much more fun. It combines almost all of the engineering sciences and produces an all-rounded engineer. But until HR changes their mindset, not all door will be open.

[RichardHarris123]

@HectorLooimakes an excellent point, the degree should be brilliant and more than useful but if it's not recognised, then the job options are limited.  You need to find out how many companies are willing to accept Mechrotronics. 

Edited May 9 by RichardHarris123

[tomh207]

It’s definitely a field that is not understood but is probably now the most important in manufacturing with the huge amount of automation and robotics being applied.

 

Tom

[rjenkinsgb]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:08 AM, Waggy said:

Is anyone on this forum a Mechatronics Engineer,

I've been programming, building electronics for, repairing and retrofitting machine tools and industrial automation systems for over 40 years now. I could have retired, but I always have work queued up - and I still enjoy it; also building electronics, robots and animatronics (among other things) as hobbies.

There is a vast range of work in machine tool / robotics / industrial automation field, and not all that many really good people, who fully understand the electronics and software side, rather than having been forced in to it from the mechanical side & struggling with anything to do with electronics or software.

I can't help with the qualifications side - things have changed too much over the years, & I started my business before I left school. At the time I was getting criticised and even penalised by teachers for spending too much time on the school "computer" (a massive early programmable calculator, really) because computers & programming were a waste of time, according to them!

 

One big problem I am aware of is that a lot of university courses have little to no correlation to real-world industrial machines and equipment - most of the equipment in the field that needs work is old!

You have to be an enthusiast and study older system and techniques; it's no good knowing the state of the art electronics & software inside out when you are more likely to be working on a 50 year old machine than a brand new one.

The oldest machine I routinely work on was made in 1911; many are from the 1950s - 80s.

New machines tend to be under warranties or service contracts, so only the makers agents ever touch them - it's the older gear that gets sold on after it's showing its age and really needs actual engineers!

 

[HectorLooi]

14 minutes ago, rjenkinsgb said:

New machines tend to be under warranties or service contracts, so only the makers agents ever touch them - it's the older gear that gets sold on after it's showing its age and really needs actual engineers!

 

Anyway, new machines are designed to fail after 5 years. 

[rjenkinsgb]

17 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

Anyway, new machines are designed to fail after 5 years.

One of the downsides of computer aided design - everything is cut down to the bare bones limits that can theoretically take the needed stresses and wear, to allow machines to be sold cheaper.

After a few years of mass-production use, every moving part is worn out and the cost to rebuild is near than of a replacement!

The older machines are built more on rule of thumb and "brick outhouse" principles and can be maintained just about forever, or at least be upgraded with newer, decent control gear.

The electronic were the same; a common 1970s-80s servo drive type, rated around 25-35A, was fused at 160A as standard! Modern ones either trip out or leak smoke if they much exceed the nominal rating for more than fractions of a second.

 

[spectre6000]

I guess that's me... I work with various pumps, motors, sensors, computers, PCBs, and lots of code and chemistry. Couldn't tell you much about life with a mechatronics degree, as I've never heard the term before. My degree is in Entrepreneurship, and I bootstrapped all the technical stuff (my superpower). On the face of it, it sounds like mechatronics is the better way to go between the two, but it seems hard to imagine a mech E degree without a lot of code and electronics these days...

 

Whatever happened with his CS project, btw?