Mechatronics Education Community Update

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Hello Mechatronics Education Community members,

 Thanks again for joining us! Here are some highlights from the recent activities:

New Forum discussions:
There are several new discussions on the Forum. Share your thoughts on these and other topics, or start a new conversation. Please note you need to have a Forum account in order to comment or to add a new discussion.

  • What mechatronics textbook is the best? (posted in the Mechatronics Curriculum category): Tell us what is your favorite mechatronics textbook and why.
  • Mechatronics-oriented mathematics homework (posted in the Mechatronics Curriculum category): How about giving access to a simple DC motor, through IoT, to undergraduate students taking differential equations and linear algebra courses?
  • Managing complex systems (posted in the Mechatronics Curriculum category): Any suggestions or examples of courses that could be incorporated into mechatronics curricula to prepare students for managing complex systems?

New in the Shared Resources repository

  • Student projects at Lawrence Tech: In a dual-level (senior/graduate) mechatronic design course, students are tasked with designing small robots to complete a simple task. The experience is wrapped in a real-world problem and a structured lecture and labs are provided to guide the process. Find more about the course in the paper presented at the 2015 ASEE conference, as well as the course hand-outs from Fall 2016 - materials shared by Dr. Mynderse from the Lawrence Tech are posted in the repository's Student Projects folder.
  • Preparing Undergraduates for Ambitious Engineering System Design through Mechatronics (webinar recording): How do we close the gap between introductory mechatronics concepts based on hobby-grade embedded platforms and advanced methodologies required to perform modern mechatronic magic?

Share your resources with the community - send us your program's curriculum, project ideas, demo videos, and other materials that would be helpful to mechatronics educators building or revising their mechatronics programs and courses. You can email the materials directly or send a link to downloadable files to connect@mechatronicseducation.org. And tell us what other types of materials would you like to find in the repository.

A Token of Appreciation
This month, we would like to reward Dr. Mynderse for his contribution, sharing materials on the student projects at Lawrence Tech. We hope the laptop backpack will come handy when traveling to the next mechatronics conference, or to carry the gear around the campus.

Community Meetup
If you are attending this year's American Control Conference (May 24-26, Seattle, WA), we would like to invite you to an informal dinner on Wednesday, May 24 (time and place to be confirmed). Please email us at connect@mechatronicseducation.org and let us know if you are interested in networking with fellow colleagues from the mechatronics community.

We are looking forward to seeing you on the Mechatronics Education Community often!

Sincerely,

Nima Lotfi, Ph.D.
Mechatronics Education Community Ambassador
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Zuzana Fabusova
Mechatronics Education Community Coordinator
Quanser