Hi guys,
I’ve been thinking about college a lot lately and I have a lot of questions that I think would be answered here.
My question here concerns what type of engineering matches the type of work I’d like to do.
I think that designing machines or devices that move is amazing. I would love to design (I’ve already got some designs worked up in my head) an automatic marshmallow roaster. It seems obsolete, but really! It would be practical to not have to hold it in front of the fire and get your eyes burned. Basically, it would have a metal wire or probe that you’d spear a marshmallow with, elevated just above the fire. To support it there would be a beam that is perpendicular to the wire, that would hold the wire above the flames. I’ve imagined it to have a telescopic height adjuster, and temperature sensors at the end of the probe the marshmallow would be stuck on. Once the interior of the marshmallow reached its target temperature, a beeper would sound and an electric motor would lift the wire to stick straight up in the air. Also, while the wire is over the fire, another motor would rotate it so that it would be evenly cooked.
That was a lengthy design plan, but this is what I’d love to do. I’d also like to design an automatic lawn mower, where it senses the height of the grass and cuts it to a precise length, while sensing the edge of the property and also the fence. It would be user-programmed to cut just the way they want it. Essentially, it would be a roomba, but for cutting grass.
And things that aren’t as practical/new seem fun to me too. I’d like to design/make prototypes of these things, even parts of them. In summary, designing things that move mechanically and work automatically appeal to me. There’s definitely some degree of computer programming required in this field, like programming something in Arduino to move on its own when given a certain input.
Motors, anything electrical, and things that move fascinate me.
So I’ve looked in to this. To me, it seems like Mechatronics would be the right major for this. It compiles everything! But there aren’t very schools that offer this major, and the colleges that do offer these courses I’m not interested in, mainly because I feel as if I can get in to a better school with a better education.There are schools with Mechatronics programs abroad, but I’d like to stay in the states and go to a good school. I’m a smart person, and my ACT scores are high. Like UC Berkeley. They don’t offer a Mechatronics program but they do have a Mechatronics class, and according to this video it seems right up my alley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ng–2sqdDo
More on mechatronics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM531wRUw9A
Anyway, most of the colleges that do offer Mechatronics aren’t as reputable as I’d like them to be. So now I’m wondering if I can get into a field like Mechatronics with a Mechanical Engineering degree. Mechatronics integrates computers, control systems, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. Will a ME degree be enough to get me in this field? If it isn’t the right degree, then what is? And do I need multiple degrees? What are some good schools I can look into to do this sort of work?
Thanks for all your advice.
mechE is likely the right major that is offered at far more places than that “mechatronics”. You’re going to want something that is marketable. Sounds like you want to invent things. My uncle was a pretty successful inventor. He was MechE.
It is not always necessary to go to the very best college you can get in if another good college suits your needs better. However you shouldn’t limit yourself by picking some obscure major when most people working in that area probably have ME or EE or ECE degrees. You can decide later if grad school is necessary or desirable as you learn more about academic research and industry. Maybe you might like a uni that lets you pick the specific discipline after the first year or so.