Mechatronics - The Evolution Of An Academic Discipline In Engineering Education

Mechatronics 15 (2005) 179–192

Mechatronics—the evolution of an
academic discipline in engineering education
Martin Grimheden *, Mats Hanson
KTH Machine Design, Mechatronics Lab, Royal Institute of Technology,
Brinellvagen 83, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
¨
Accepted 29 July 2004

Abstract
In a didactic approach to mechatronics, the academic subject can be defined according to
fourdimensions: identity, legitimacy, selection and communication. A result of defining the
legitimacy of mechatronics as functional is that the ultimate identity can be viewed as thematic. Following this, a model is proposed to describe the evolution of mechatronics, from
a disciplinary identity towards a thematic. The move from a disciplinary identity to a thematic
is divided into six stages, eachrepresented by a characteristic view and academic practice of
the subject. To further illustrate this evolutional process examples from various universities
in northern Europe are given. The universities analysed for this purpose presents examples
for stages 3–5 in the model; stages represented by a change in courses (stage 3), a change in
curricula (stage 4) and by a change in organization(stage 5).
Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Mechatronics evolution; Education; Didactical analysis

*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 8790 7797; fax: +46 8 20 22 87.
E-mail addresses: marting@md.kth.se (M. Grimheden), mats@md.kth.se (M. Hanson).

0957-4158/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2004.07.010

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M.Grimheden, M. Hanson / Mechatronics 15 (2005) 179–192

1. Introduction
The aim of this paper is to describe the ongoing process of establishing mechatronics as an academic discipline with examples from northern Europe. A theoretical
model illustrating this process has for the purpose of this paper been developed, and
will be applied to the examples under study in this paper as a means ofillustration
and classification.
1.1. A didactical definition of mechatronics
A didactic analysis of an academic subject, as defined by Dahlgren [1], can be
illustrated with a set of four questions that is applied to a subject (X).
1. Identity (What is X?)
The identity varies from disciplinary to thematic.
2. Legitimacy (Why should X be taught?)
The legitimacy varies from formal to functional.
3.Selection (Which X should be taught?)
The selection varies from a horizontal representation to a vertical exemplification.
4. Communication (How should X be taught?)
The communication varies from active to interactive.
An attempt to define the identity and legitimacy of mechatronics has been presented in an earlier study by Grimheden and Hanson [2], as well as the implications
on the academicsubjectsÕ selection and communication. In short this definition is
based on the notion of regarding the identity of mechatronics as the ‘‘synergistic
combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronic control and systems
thinking in the design of products and manufacturing processes’’ [3] rather than
the earlier descriptions of mechatronics solely as an interdisciplinary subject, asthe union between mechanical- and electrical engineering, control theory and computer science or other combinations of traditional disciplines within an engineering
sphere (see Figs. 1 and 2).
The definition of mechatronics as with a thematic identity (the theme is related to
the concept of synergy) according to the above is in unison with the legitimacy of the
subject. In a choice between aformal or a functional legitimacy mechatronics is
mostly regarded from a functional point of view; the demands from the society
and/or the industry are rarely formal but mostly functional, i.e. the demands from
the industry are rather functional skills than formal knowledge, which is also reflected in the selection and communication of the subject. (What is taught and
How itÕs taught.) To...