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Mechatronics – a specialty niche that's come into its own

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By BOB WEINSTEIN, Special Sections correspondent

Published: December 23, 2007

Don't be embarrassed if you've never heard the word "mechatronics." Believe it or not, it's not another newly minted tech field.

The term was coined in Japan in the mid-1960s, but it only recently has come into its own as an important career discipline.

A decade ago, futurist David Smith forecast mechatronics' emergence as an exciting and important engineering specialty. Smith is a senior vice president of Technology Futures, an IT consulting company in Austin, Texas.

Simply put, mechatronics combines mechanical and electrical engineering. "Actually, it embraces a whole range of jobs because it applies the newest techniques in precision mechanical engineering, controls theory, computer science and electronics to the design process to create better products," Smith explains.

According to information Web site Wikipedia, mechatronics embraces system modeling, mechanics, electronics, sensors, electro-mechanics, CAD/CAM, simulation, software, digital control and microcontrollers.

"Mechatronics is really nothing but good design practice," says Masayoshi Tomizuka, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Many engineers insist that mechatronics grew out of robotics, Smith says. Early robotic arms, for example, were unable to coordinate their movements because they lacked sensory feedback. Thanks to advances in kinematics, dynamics, controls, sensor technology and high-level programming, robots became more functional. As robots were programmed to take on more sophisticated tasks, a whole new generation of high-performance machinery was developed.

All of the techniques that have melded several engineering disciplines fall under the mechatronics umbrella. The field is vitally important because many manufacturing and equipment-service jobs require mechatronics skills and problem-solving abilities. For example, mechatronics engineers and technicians are involved in robotics; automated manufacturing and packaging; heating and cooling systems design; and medical monitors manufacturing.

The projected job growth rate for mechatronics technicians from 2007 to 2012 ranges between 9 and 31 percent. 

Here are some applications of mechatronics principles:

- electronics: cameras and audio equipment

- consumer durables: washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers and dryers

- vehicle systems: automobiles, small aircraft, trucks and small watercraft

- communication systems: telephone switches, satellites and radar equipment

- health care: MRIs, CT scanners and dialysis units

- office equipment: copiers, fax machines, printers and computers

- industrial machinery and equipment: silicon fabrication machines, printing presses, gas turbines, weapon systems and aircraft simulators

- transportation: large aircraft, locomotives, ships and mass transit systems

- construction: heavy equipment (cranes, bulldozers, trucks)

How to break in? Smith suggests breaking in at the technician level. While more companies are using the term "mechatronics" in job descriptions, many organizations are advertising mechatronics technician jobs as electronic mechanical technicians or simply mechanical technicians.

Rather than focus on the job title, read the job description carefully, especially the position's responsibilities. "If you've never heard it before, it's very easy to be intimidated by the word 'mechatronics,' " Smith says. "That's why companies have created more descriptive job titles that better explain the position."

Whatever the job title, all industries are hiring technicians with mechatronics skills, particularly health care and automotive companies and government agencies.

Project managers with strong engineering and IT backgrounds who can take on complicated mechatronics projects can practically name their price, Smith says. These are professionals who not only have a broad technical and engineering knowledge base, but also have finely honed managerial skills. They can either take a full-time position or work as independent contractors or consultants. And they can work anywhere.

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