Mechatronic Engineering

[wraitheater]

Hey I am a transitioning service member looking at going to school for engineering, and I saw a degree program for a BS in Mechatronic Engineering and was wondering if anyone has any experience in the field so I could find out more about it and see if its a good fit. I am a ships engineer for the navy my specialty is hydraulics and high pressure steam systems so and I love what I do so any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

[Cragyon]

I always thought Mechatronics would be exciting field of study. In my company there really isn't a position outside of maintenance or technicians where that field of study would fit. Most engineers as I understand it are singular degree like Mechanical or Electrical engineer and then work on electro-mechanical engineering.

[Kelly_Bramble]

I would search to job opportunities under the description "Mechatronics" and see if there are opportunities you find worth pursuing.

[jboggs]

I would suggest giving strong preference to one of the basic original related engineering disciplines (mechanical or electrical). They are both wide-ranging enough that with a little experience you can easily fill a "mechatronics" position. However, the opposite is not necessarily true. If a company is looking for mechanical or electrical engineers, a "mechatronics engineer" might have trouble even being considered. At the least he/she would have to prove that he or she could really do the job.

My thoughts are based on 40 years of experience designing automatic machines and systems. However others on this forum might disagree based on their own experience which is indeed valid and worthy of consideration.

[wraitheater]

Thank you all. I greatly appreciate your time and advice. I will probably do the mechanical side and then do a minor in electrical instead of doing mechatronics. I had not thought about the versatility aspect so it was very helpful to have that bit of help.

[Kelly_Bramble]

Interesting Video ---> What is Mechatronics?