They say time flies when you’re having fun.
Now I don’t know who ‘they’ are, but the mystery quote-sayers are right.
With only two weeks left before the academic year comes to a close (with the exception of a few weeks of exams 😱), time has truly flown. Like a bird. Or a plane. Or Superman (2025). Despite my brain rotting after exposure to extensive doomscrolling and the result of the societal ramifications of the widespread implementation of AI, I have been making the best effort to be intellectual and introspective – both for myself and for the sake of you guys, as I look back on a year of mechatronics engineering.
Let’s kick off with a super brief semester two course recap
MECHENG 222: Dynamics is a lot of theory about… 🔔🔔🔔 you guessed it: Dynamics!
In a shocking turn of events, MECHENG 211: Thermofluids is a lot of theory about… 🔔🔔🔔 you guessed it: Thermofluids!
‼️If it isn’t already obvious, semester two is a lot more pen-paper-laptop-based as opposed to semester one where we got to build and program robots.
ENGGEN 204: Professional Skills, Communication, and Collaboration is where things get interesting again.
- You’ll work in a group of 7-8 PII engineers from across all specs on projects like creating an entertaining educational video, giving a presentation, and writing a formal report.
- Despite the engineering cohort comprising hundreds of students, the lecture attendance dwindles in the lower double digits.
- This is the only course where 2% of your grade literally comes from having a debrief with your friends (or enemies if that’s the route your group ends up going)! Like it’s so fun and silly I promise (unless your team sucks, which I fear is a university canon event sorry).
- OVERALL: If your group is competent, this will be a chill and fun course.
Finally, there is MECHENG 270: Software Design which is the only course in PII that belongs solely to the mechatronics students. You know how software, compsys, and compsci people say made-up words like “GitHub”, “Repositories”, and “Binary Search Trees”? Yeah, this course is where you learn all of that. Don’t mistake this for a simple ‘coding class’ though, because although you do learn more coding concepts, you also learn about the software itself and how things are implemented behind the scenes, which is arguably cooler. The learning curve might be difficult at first, but the lectures are chill and the assignments are really fun – which is why this is my personal favourite class this sem.
My thoughts on mechatronics two semesters later
When I picked mechatronics as my spec in first year, all I knew about mechatronics was that it had robots and was a cooler version of mechanical engineering. So was it what I expected? Well, yes! The courses are actually exactly what I imagined to be doing: some robotics, some electronics, some control systems, some coding, some statics, some dynamics, and some fluids. I wanted to learn about a broad range of topics, and that is exactly what I got.
A common realisation that a few people around me have been having is that they don’t actually know much about the other specialisations and what they do, even those specs that are closely related to their own. Personally, I only really considered mechatronics and mechanical as my top spec options, but if I knew what I now know about the other specs, I think I would’ve considered more options. With spec choices coming in reeeeally soon, now is a good time to refresh y’all’s knowledge on- PLOT TIWST! Not mechatronics, but the specs adjacent to it.
Tron’s cousins explained
Mechanical Engineering: Using physics, math, and materials science to analyse and design devices, machine components, and systems. Has lots of CAD and mechanics. If you want to do these things AND integrate them with fields of electronics and software, consider mechatronics instead.
Computer Systems Engineering: Learn about digital systems, electronics, microcontrollers, and software – just like a mechatronics student, but without all of the mechanical engineering knowledge. It is essentially a combination of electrical and software engineering. Highly customisable specialisation because you get 9 electives over your degree. Has a heavier focus on software and developing microcontrollers and embedded systems compared to mechatronics. If you would rather go straight to integrating (rather than developing) these components into automated and robotic systems, consider mechatronics instead.
Electrical and Electronic Engineering: Very adaptable spec that covers electronics, instrumentation, electric power systems, signal processing, and more. If you want to focus on computers and combine this knowledge with software, consider computer systems. If you want to study electronics AND software AND mechanical, consider mechatronics.
Software Engineering: Design, develop, and test software. If you want to focus solely on coding and software, software engineering is the place to go. If you are also interested in microcontrollers, hardware, and electronics, consider computer systems.
Biomedical Engineering: Blurs the lines between biology, physiology, mechatronics, software, and product design. If you’re passionate about both engineering and the medical field, consider biomedical.
Time flies, and so does Krypto the dog from Superman (2025), but I hope that as you look back on this long year, you are filled with joy at all the new experiences had, memories made, and times integrated with respect to. Although your flabbers may feel gasted at times, and your bams might even be boozled, keep on going! Because in a few weeks, summer will be calling your name 😎👍
I’ll see you there 👋☀️