BSc (Eng) Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering
- the disciplines of two worlds - mechanical and electrical
Study mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials, basic electrical engineering and basic mechanical engineering. Design, build, control, and maintain a wide range of engineering products and processes.
Learn about microprocessors; digital electronics; mechatronics design; electro-mechanical design; control systems design and simulation; computer integrated manufacture and robotics; project management; maintenance management and reliability in systems; industrial engineering and industrial law; and new venture planning.
The programme aims to meet the demand for engineers with cross-disciplinary skills - generalists rather than specialists - particularly in the field of robotics, flexible manufacturing and electro-mechanical power systems. Some flexibility is allowed in the selection of courses so that students can tailor the degree to suit their interests and needs.
Careers
Most industries use forms of mechanical systems with electronic control parts of them. This makes mechanical & mechatronic engineering one of the most diverse of all engineering disciplines with careers in a wide range of sectors. These include management of people and resources, development and use of new materials and technologies, researching and developing medical products, improving production in old refineries and designing building services.
Mechatronics in the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment
The broad field of Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary programme that encompasses electronics, mechanical engineering, control engineering, systems design and computer programming. This combination of disciplines equips graduates with excellent skills for modern industry and future research.
Specific differences between the programmes hosted by mechanical and electrical engineering:
Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering is a mechanical engineering degree with significant electrical and electronic content in line with international industry requirements. Students studying Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering take additional courses in digital and embedded systems and mechatronic system design equipping them to work in a range of traditional mechanical engineering roles, but also in automation, robotics, and other fields that span the electrical/mechanical spectrum.
Mechatronics is an electrical engineering degree with predominantly electrical/electronic and computer content. Mechanical content forms a small proportion of the degree with advanced electrical/electronic and computer science comprising most courses. Graduates of the mechatronics programme can be found building underwater robots; designing artificial intelligence software to identify faculty machinery; designing new packaging systems for bottled beverages; and developing diagnostic systems for the next generation of motor vehicles.
A recent high-level analysis of the content of the two programmes has enabled the image below to be developed. This image shows that the primary difference between the two programmes relates to how much traditional “Mechanical Engineering” and “Electrical/Computers” content is covered.
The Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering programme (in the Department of Mechanical Engineering) has half the content (50%) focused on traditional mechanical engineering and a quarter of the content (25%) focused on electrical/electronics and computing.
The Mechatronics programme (in the Department of Electrical Engineering) has 15% of the content focused on traditional mechanical engineering and 65% focused on electrical/electronics and computing.
