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Is a chemistry background important for a mechatronics engineer?
I mentioned chemistry as being important to a mechatronics engineer working on environmental projects in my June 9, 2008 blog entry, and for most such projects that would be true. The thing to keep in mind is that mechatronics engineering integrates development projects at a very high level. Traditional engineering disciplines focus on the piece of equipment being developed.
An electronics engineer working on an audio amplifier, for example, works from specifications that involve electronics quantities, such as input signal level, frequency bandwidth, and so forth. It makes little difference what application that amplifier ends up in. I have seen high end stereo amplifiers that were designed for consumer high fidelity market used quite successfully to power ac motors in motion control systems.
I have, myself, cut the tip off a Christmas tree light bulb, epoxied the remaining envelope into a high vacuum system, and used the exposed filament as a Penning vacuum gauge.
Most marine inboard power plants are engines designed for automotive applications and repurposed for installation in boats. The modifications involve replacing the air cleaner with a flame arrestor, the exhaust manifolds with special water-cooled manifolds, and similar replacements of peripheral components bolted onto the outside.
Geographic mapping and remote sensing satellites were originally designed as spy satellites.
The list goes on….
The mechatronics engineer, however, needs to understand the end application because he or she works at the interface between the system and the application. It is impossible to organize the system correctly without knowing exactly what application it is to work in and how it is to function.
Chemistry is a good example of a science that affects so many things that it is a good addition to a mechatronics background. To get away from the environmental applications previously mentioned in passing, let’s assume our mechatronics engineer has been asked to design an autonomous system to find and disarm terrorist bombs in buildings.
Along with the automated guidance, robotic manipulation, and other more obvious mechatronic components, the project could use a good “sniffer” to pick up volatile organic compounds associated with explosives. What compounds might be appropriate? What detector technologies are available? How to compare potential candidates? Someone versed only in the usual mechatronic disciplines of mechanical, electrical/electronic, and automated-controls engineering would be ill equipped to answer these questions, but they’re duck soup for someone with a few college chemistry courses under his or her belt.
The point is that mechatronics engineers must interface with the real world of applications in a fundamentally different way than engineers in more narrowly defined disciplines. The broader his or her background, the wider the range of projects he or she can approach with confidence.
Is a chemistry background important for a mechatronics engineer?
June 23, 2008
I mentioned chemistry as being important to a mechatronics engineer working on environmental projects in my June 9, 2008 blog entry, and for most such projects that would be true. The thing to keep in mind is that mechatronics engineering integrates development projects at a very high level. Traditional engineering disciplines focus on the piece of equipment being developed. An electronics engineer working on an audio amplifier, for example, works from specifications that involve electronics quantities, such as input signal level, frequency bandwidth, and so forth. It makes little difference what application that amplifier ends up in. I have seen high end stereo amplifiers that were designed for consumer high fidelity market used quite successfully to power ac motors in motion control systems.
I have, myself, cut the tip off a Christmas tree light bulb, epoxied the remaining envelope into a high vacuum system, and used the exposed filament as a Penning vacuum gauge.
Most marine inboard power plants are engines designed for automotive applications and repurposed for installation in boats. The modifications involve replacing the air cleaner with a flame arrestor, the exhaust manifolds with special water-cooled manifolds, and similar replacements of peripheral components bolted onto the outside.
Geographic mapping and remote sensing satellites were originally designed as spy satellites.
The list goes on….
The mechatronics engineer, however, needs to understand the end application because he or she works at the interface between the system and the application. It is impossible to organize the system correctly without knowing exactly what application it is to work in and how it is to function.
Chemistry is a good example of a science that affects so many things that it is a good addition to a mechatronics background. To get away from the environmental applications previously mentioned in passing, let’s assume our mechatronics engineer has been asked to design an autonomous system to find and disarm terrorist bombs in buildings.
Along with the automated guidance, robotic manipulation, and other more obvious mechatronic components, the project could use a good “sniffer” to pick up volatile organic compounds associated with explosives. What compounds might be appropriate? What detector technologies are available? How to compare potential candidates? Someone versed only in the usual mechatronic disciplines of mechanical, electrical/electronic, and automated-controls engineering would be ill equipped to answer these questions, but they’re duck soup for someone with a few college chemistry courses under his or her belt.
The point is that mechatronics engineers must interface with the real world of applications in a fundamentally different way than engineers in more narrowly defined disciplines. The broader his or her background, the wider the range of projects he or she can approach with confidence.
Posted by Charlie Masi on June 23, 2008 | Comments (0)
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