The profession of mechatronics engineering can be defined as working on analyzing, designing, and controlling mechanical and electronic systems via computers. Today, mechatronics systems have become important in the industrial world, and consequently, many universities have established bachelor's degrees in mechatronics engineering.
The tasks of a mechatronics engineer can be summarized to include designing digital circuits, writing software for programmable microcontrollers, designing integrated circuits, designing mechanical systems, designing electromechanical systems, controlling electromechanical systems using programmable logic controllers or computers, and mechatronics engineers are also prepared for research in the field of robotics, which is fundamentally built on the use of mechanical and electronic systems.
Among the most important factors that helped launch the academic plan for mechatronics engineering at Philadelphia University are the following:
Industrial Needs
Due to the development of regional industry through automated production and computerized manufacturing, and the increasing requirements for multidisciplinary engineers with in-depth knowledge in mechanics, electronics, and computers, the demand for engineers capable of dealing with these integrated systems has increased, even though the term mechatronics was not well-known at that time.
Educational Motivation
The interaction between different engineering fields has encouraged students to study how various engineering systems work, which developed the need to establish an academic plan that presents courses in integrated systems engineering (mechatronics).
Need to Develop Mechanical Engineering
As engineering technology advances, computers and electronics play greater roles in mechanical systems, and therefore mechanical engineers began taking courses in electronics and computers to develop themselves in modern mechanical systems technology.
Objectives
Philadelphia University confirms that the main objectives in launching the mechatronics engineering curriculum were as follows:
Challenges
The major challenges in developing a successful academic curriculum in mechatronics engineering in the Middle Eastern Mediterranean region are:
Benchmarking and Standards
The main purposes of benchmarking and standards data are to support:
The outputs of mechatronics engineering are integrated systems that can be distinguished from basic sciences. Based on the above, the characteristics of the outputs of this degree can be set as shown in Table No. (1)
The purpose of the process of setting specifications and characteristics for mechatronics engineers is to assist in:
Assessment
To develop the assessment process, some basic elements must be taken into consideration as follows:
• There must be sufficient and distinctive opportunities for students to demonstrate that they have achieved the minimum threshold for each component of the basic characteristics and attributes.
• Achieving minimum standards may in some cases be implicit in the higher education stage (for example, completing any project may demonstrate the acquisition of some general acquired skills).
• Achieving the minimum threshold is possible without requiring the knowledge needed for all assessment items (for example, a specific assessment item may include one of the components of the attributes where a student can achieve the minimum threshold for that component regardless of passing the combined components).
• Careful selection of multiple assessment methods can make the assessment process efficient and effective.
• It is important that this strategy provides sufficient opportunities for "the best students" to display a level of creativity fundamentally associated with excellence and mastery.