Expert: Daniel Mazur - 3/14/2008

Question
QUESTION: Greetings sir. Im a high school senior doing my final year in South Africa and wish to pursue a career in terms of science and technology. I just want to know what does it take to become a mechatronic engineer? The univesities do offer it and I just  need to know the basic criteria needed for this job.Is it possible for me to branch off into nanotechnology whilst being a mechatronic engineer?My ultimate goal is to design new and more efficient technology either for consumer products or develop better machines for industries and scientific research. Sadly, I have not met another sixteen year old female wishing to follow the same career path, therefore I appreciate whatever information you can provide me with.

Thanks!:)

Regards,
Bhavani

ANSWER: Dear Bhavani,

I apologize very much for answering this late. I am now at a conference in New Orleans and am almost constantly offline.

To be a mechanical engineer, at first, you will need to exhibit the same skills as a physicist, although at a slightly light-weight level. To be excellent in physics and maths at the high-school level is pretty much essential, that's something we "are born with". Then while physicists take classical mechanics for one semester and then retake it in an advanced course, when they have learned the necessary advanced mathematics, an engineer is likely to keep taking courses focused on mechanics and rheology, courses on descriptive geometry, finite element analysis (that's a numerical tool to calculate stresses and strains in static elements), 3D design and modeling and others, which physicists hardly ever see. You probably will have to take courses in all classical physics - like electrodynamics - and basic materials science, which is a modern topic involving quantum mechanics. It is essential for an engineer nowadays to at least be told about quantum mechanics, even if you don't really apply it in your profession, if is more about knowing, what the state of our knowledge is.

If you wish to get into nanotechnology, mechanical engineering is not too bad. Even now people are trying to design engines of submicron dimensions and many such patents have already been registered. There definitely is a market of jobs in the development of new and better instrumentation. I am right now involved in a job like that, in a team of 3 physicists and one mechanical technician, developing a Scanning tunneling microscope. An intricate tool, which requires a sensible design on the outside (for human interface) and submicron precision at the very core. I needed to learn bits of the engineering needed for that on the go and I did. I am sure engineers learn enough science the same way, when it is needed for their job.

Concerning the last point, it is difficult to advise on the female companion choice ;-). But you need to take it as a fact that engineering and especially science attract much less females than some other careers (like health care or economics for example). It is a small fraction of female population that take this path and you need to count on that they are not the ordinary sort in many more ways than one. You shall find out in due course. I am not sure, if it is so crucial to worry about finding a companion at this stage of your life, if you have ambitions of graduating a university. I chose to postpone it until after a doctorate degree and I find it mostly OK. To be already out of school, mature and so all has its merits where ladies are concerned. So, try to choose wisely:-)

Good luck!
Daniel

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks sir!Lol, although I think you misunderstood me. I AM a female high school student. There are not many girls out here who wish to following the engineering path, and Mechatronics is a discipline very much unknown amongst them and even most of the guys!I wasn't talking about matrimony:) but because i had nobody to talk to-because I was the only female- I decided to follow this up on the net (AllExperts) and this helped!:)
I suppose mechatronics is more computer science inclined than mechanical  engineering and nanotechnology is a possible route, (as you have made that clear). Thank you very much for your help!Hopefully I can be different and start something!

Regards,
Bhavani

Answer
Hi Bhavani,
yes, indeed I misunderstood. :-) I am not at all familiar with male and female names in your part of the world, so unless one specifies it, I get easily misguided.
A little bit of it applies to you anyway, I think you see that. As you are a young lady with the unusual inclinations, you will be hard pushed to find another female of the same age to form a "team" with, to really face the same questions at the same time. If you are looking for advice, I suggest you try to find a female university professor. Searching the internet you ought to find a mechanical/cybernetics department with female member of faculty. I am confident any she will be happy to advise you, if you write to them.
In case of mechatronics, I am guessing it has a lot of mechanical engineering in it. But it is, as you pointed out, mixed with computers... Not so much science, more with computer engineering, as the focus will be to make something work the way you want by computer control (engineering) and not so much discovering new algorithms and more abstract laws governing the systems of your study (science). I might be wrong in this, it is not my field after all.
Well, good luck to you! Any more followup questions will be welcome.
Daniel