Development of Courses in Mechatronics and Mechatronic System Design within the Mechanical Engineering Technology Program

Published in: Innovation in Engineering, Technology and Education for Competitiveness and Prosperity: Proceedings of the 11th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology
Date of Conference: August 14-16, 2013
Location of Conference: Cancun, Mexico
Authors: Vukica Jovanovic
Alok Verma
Mileta Tomovic
Refereed Paper: #311

Abstract:

In English:
Based upon the feed-back from the industrial advisory board and needs of the local industry, the Engineering Technology Department in the Frank Batten College of Engineering & Technology at Old Dominion University has taken the initiative to develop an option within the existing Mechanical Engineering Technology program in the area of Mechatronics. Under this option, two new courses are being developed to meet the needs of local industry. For this purpose, an Introduction to Mechatronics course was developed and integrated into Mechanical Engineering Technology curriculum in the fall 2012 as a senior elective option choice. A second course, Mechatronics System Design is being planned as a follow-up course. In this paper, we present the motivation behind the development of these courses and the developmental effort that has gone in creating these senior electives for providing new competencies needed by industry and our future program graduates.