<p>Hi guys,
I want to do mechanical engineering with a vision of working somewhere like JPL working on things like the mars rover and related things to that. Do you guys think I should do straight up mechanical engineering or do mechanical and electrical inter grated engineering (mechatronics) because that seems like what would be ideal for space robot kind of stuff but at the same time you would probably have electrical engineers and mechanical engineers on that project rather than people that do both. Is doing mechatronics limiting me as if I was just doing mechanical I could go anything from cars to planes and submarines, so just robots and stuff may be not wise.</p>
<p>Thanks George</p>
<p>Start in ME (lots of breadth at the beginning) and then follow your interests once they evolve.</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>What eyemgh recommended is exactly what my son did. He started in ME and then went into mechatronics. For him, it was easy as the mechatronics group was a specialization within the ME department. He got his BS and worked for a small company until their business dropped off and he was let go. He was able to find another job quite quickly. The mechatronics seems like a good field right now.</p>
<p>One caveat: What is a good field now might not be so good 4 years from now. Freshmen see the current job opportunities and flock to the field. Four years later, when all those freshman graduate, there are too many for the number of positions and it is not such a great place to be. I don’t see this happening to the field of mechatronics, but you never know. Watch the job market while you are in school and adjust as appropriate.</p>