Do these classes seem marketable 3

[contrapunctus]

Hello all,

I am currently taking graduate level classes at the University of Florida and am asking your advice on the "marketability" of the skill set these classes are giving me. I have a deep interest in robotics and mechanatronics and scheduled these classes to comply with those interests. I'm very sorry if my request seems too quixotic or vague....

1)Computational linear algebra - standard linear algebra course with focus on computer science and engineering applications.

2) Diff EQ's for Engineers - essentially Diff EQ's 2, with explicit focus on application.

3)Integrated Product and Process Design 1 + 2 - basically is what it sounds like, many students can finish the course with patents.

4)Mechanical consulting practice - self explanatory

5)Advanced Kinematics / Dynamics of Machinery - creation of dynamic models and analysis of resulting forces.

6) Geometry of Mechanisms and Robotics - advanced mathematical theory as applied to robot design

In addition I would also like to ask if mechatronics is a viable field to enter in general. I know it is very new and quite limited so its popularity couldn't be that vast..

Thank you for reading

 

[ctopher]

You have interest in robotics and mechanatronics, but what is your goal? Are you working for a graduate degree, or taking these classes for fun? Have you discussed with a counsler or professor about the marketability?

Chris
SolidWorks 09, CATIA V5
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[ScottyUK]

The generic classes might not be directly marketable, but if you understand the maths and the underlying principles then you can tackle most engineering problems, even those which are new and unfamiliar. I think these 'fundamentals' classes have far greater inherent value than anything which is focussed on today's cutting edge, which will be out of date next year. The fundamentals haven't changed much in the last hundred years and you need to understand them as much as your forefathers did, perhaps more so.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[SomptingGuy]

There are some fundamentals missing though, like stress analysis and materials. You're unlikely to need classical mech eng courses like thermodynamics/fluid mechanics/heat transfer.


- Steve

 

[tygerdawg]

If you have "a deep interest in robotics and mechatronics" I would suspect that you'll be part of the next generation who is more involved with the blooming field of mobile robotics rather than industrial robotics. Having stated that assumption, I would offer:

(1) & (2): math classes like this would be tools in your toolchest. You'll advance your discipline of thought and level of insight, but probably would not put them to actual use unless you got involved with deep research & development.

(3): may be useful for product R&D efforts

(4): they're teaching graduate courses in this now? Cool. May be useful if you have an entrepreneur mindset. But I wonder what academics would know about this.

(5) & (6): mathematics applied to the specific field of robotics & mechanisms. Certainly useful for deeper understanding. You will be forever branded as "robot nerd" because you may become one of the 37 people on the planet who actually understand Coordinate Transformation Mathematics and that mysterious Torque / MassMomentOfInertia / Force / Mass stuff. And be able to really understand the differece between "speed" and "velocity".

Is any of this "marketable" ? Not much. THAT depends completely upon what you do with the knowledge and discipline of thought you gain, and how you market yourself to your next employer. AND the experience you gain from crashing things, smoking a few chips, burning up some motors, recovering from bad decisions, and staying up to all hours making things work.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[MikeHalloran]

Every one of those courses contains something that you will use in your career. It may take 40 years for the need to arise, and it may be for an industry that hasn't been invented yet, but it will happen.

Don't limit your options by only looking for 'mechatronics' positions. There are many sorts of machinery that could be called mechatronics, if their behaviors changed after startup. Getting them _to_ startup, and making their behaviors desirable and stable, provides plenty of challenge.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Ron]

Agree with ScottyUK...courses are generally not marketable. If you get a degree, that's marketable, then you can highlight your coursework. Knowledge gained in the courses is marketable if you prove performance with such.

 

[kelowna]

Forget about what is marketable and do what YOU enjoy. Whatever is useful right now might not be in 6 months, never mind in 20 years, and you do not need high demand for people with your skills, you need just one job.

If you do what you enjoy and you are passionate about, you will learn more and you will have more chances on getting a job in an area that intereses you and, even better, you will like your job. Believe me, that makes a world of difference.

 

[ScottyUK]

Whatever is useful right now might not be in 6 months, never mind in 20 years...

Well, some of the most important principles I learned in class were developed by Faraday and Maxwell, and they've both been dead for more than a century. That was the whole point of what I was saying: learn the fundamentals and they will last a lifetime. Learn about today's fashion and you're learning about tomorrow's history.

I fully expect when my daughter has kids that they will study very similar principles to those that I studied. I suspect mechatronics will have either changed out of all recognition or will have disappeared into the abyss.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[VTer]

I agree Scotty. It would suck if the laws of physics kept changing

"Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic! If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic — and this we know it is, for certain — then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature". – Nikola Tesla

 

[ScottyUK]

As my intrepid namesake used to say: "Ye cannae change the laws o' physics, Jim!"



With apologies to any Trekkies.

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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[kelowna]

I agree and I do not agree.

Obviously the fundamentals are esential and will not change (hence the name), but Contrapunctus is taking graduate level courses, I assume that he took care of fundamentals well before graduating (that is another discussion we can have if you want).

While there are items which will be always relevant, there are other that are not. I remember studying the logaritmic tables ages ago and I do not think many people will think they are esential now. I also remember a two hour class on some weird stuff called Quality Assurance which I never thought I would hear again and ... well, I have!

 

[SomptingGuy]

Maybe I misunderstood the terminology. The courses listed look like a subset of the undergraduate courses I took during my 2nd & 3rd year of mech eng. I can't imagine an engineering grad without 1, 2, 3 & 5 already banked.

- Steve

 

[dvd]

I agree with Kelowna. Study what you want to and then do it. There are all kinds of miserable souls out there who look good on paper.

 

[Ron]

If you followed the "study what you want and then do it" mentality, you'd spend most of your time studying the length of her legs and how to expose more of them. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not "marketable". You have to suffer through the mundane "principles" in order to understand the less mundane specialty stuff....and no, just because it's a graduate level course doesn't mean it isn't fundamental.

ScottyUK nailed it more than once in this thread....read his posts again.

 

[FeX32]

Length of whos legs?
Hopefully not anyone's mother.



Fe

 

[KENAT]

If we or any of our major suppliers were hiring you might be very marketable with some of those skills.

Semiconductor manufacturers and the like use lots of robots.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[cry22]

Get at least one course of... DRAFTING.
We get these youg engineers that cannot see a part in 2D, let alone in 3D.