Interesting topic

That is a very interesting question.

I work in the field of additive manufacturing and from what i can tell, the product development does change slowly but stady. The Engineers does not only use the classical Programms, like CAD Programms anymore. Rather they use alternative software to design the geometrie like nTopology or Rhino and Grasshopper. I think overall every Engineer has basic programming skills and is able to adapt the daily doings quite a bit.

Hi Monica S Spychala ;

The mechanical engineering sector is one of the sectors most affected by the digitization of manufacturing. New production means new machinery, so there will be increased demand for high-tech mechanical engineering. The transformation of this sector actually has much in common with the information and communications technology (ICT) sector because industrial design and industrial manufacturing will experience very different employment impacts. When the production of mechanical engineering equipment is digitized and other modern manufacturing processes such as three-dimensional printing are used to replace human labor, their production will result in job losses. On the other hand, jobs in industrial design and various engineering disciplines could be created as a result of increased demand for advanced mechanical engineering equipment. However, the profiles of the jobs that will be lost and those that will be gained will be very different.

With my best regards

Mechanical engineering is a royal branch of engineering. Industry 4.0 will give a major boost and support to mechanical engineering for widening the scope of mechanical engineering for welfare of the society.

Adapting to ICT.

Learning to become competitive in digital age.

One of the main advantages promised by digitalisation is that digital capture, processing and exchange technologies will provide rapid access to comprehensive data. As a direct consequence of the now good to very good availability of CAD component data, the actual project work in 3D engineering takes less time. With staff able to coordinate easily and at short notice in web conferences, digitalisation in mechanical engineering speeds up project work, often for several projects at once. Such advantages provide prime examples of the great impact digitalisation has on engineering in particular, with requirements profiles for engineers’ work changing and certain soft skills gaining in importance.

Yes mechinical engineers are keeping up. What is interesting is that Data Science if sppllied correctly can help a great deal in solving complex problems where the number of parameters are large andf difficult to track at any given time in a process or system

Ms. Spychala, your question seems to imply that I4 is a goal that is more accessible to digitally awakened people in disciplines such as electrical engineering, and that the “fairly old field of mechanical engineering” is somehow less able to master difficult and complicated I4 challenges. Putting aside for a moment the worthiness of I4 as an overarching strategy, asking if mechanical engineering has been able to “keep up” is slightly condescending. But perhaps I am overreacting to a minor issue with the assumptions of your approach. More importantly, I4 is an overreach. There are many obvious problems with it, but the critical vulnerability of global optimization and automation is lack of robustness against the unexpected. A very good example of such systemic weakness is what has happened to finely-tuned worldwide supply chains in the COVID19 pandemic.

Thanks to Industry 4.0, machines can form mechanical intersystems since they can link manufacturing processes or applications from anywhere on the planet and obtain performance data through sensors and all this in real time.

I think, addaptation is mandatory.

I wonder if we could know the eficacy and performance of this addaptation.

Hello Monica,

im an ME Bachelor student specialising Mechatronics with my degree in sight. I think if you ask ME's about their education 20-30 years ago few will confirm they took c++ courses.

For us younger engineers programming courses are often mandatory. Sensor and control technology are nearly always part of the curriculum. Of course more and more topics previously found in Mechatronics seep into the basic ME education as a reaction to the digital transformation of our work-environment.

I personally think that the universities are not keeping up with the pace of the transformation though. ICT related skills offer a siginificant edge on the job market and are in high demand if combined with skills gained from ME education so, naturally, the ME's are adapting.

There are few pure mechanical systems anymore. With interdisciplinary, international teams working on projects being the norm, interdisciplinary skills are required to at least communicate properly.

Even typical ME fields such as construction and design are affected by digitalization, be it with PDM tools, ever advancing CAD software or simulation tools. Engineers working in these classic ME fields have to keep up by taking courses and seminars, as in any other office job.

I support the views expressed by Jan-Hinrich Eymers. Mechatronics is bound to play very important role in the field of Mechanical engineering because most of the products these days have some sort of controls incorporated in it which requires knowledge (that too advanced knowledge) underlining electronics and sensors. Manufacture of sensors and electronics components like micro-memories, micro and nano components based chips are going to be challenge to the future Mechanical engineers. I am afraid pure electronics and computer engineers will find themselves inadequate to cope with this challenge. Basic knowledge of advanced manufacturing techniques (laser based manufacturing, processing of nano materials etc.) will be vital for it and a traditional Mechanical engineer will be better equipped for it provided the curriculum which he has gone through has been forward looking and has emphasized on these. Naturally the emphasis will be less on the traditional manufacturing techniques. Moreover, the data based analysis and also pure realistic analysis using digital tools like FEM will find greater emphasis. This is the same as transition from practice based Mechanical engineering of 1950-60's has been replaced by more of theoretical analysis based design and manufacturing of current era. In the same manner the Mechanical engineering of future will undergo a great teransition. The universities which do not recognize this trend and change syllabii will suffer. In fact Mechatronics will no more remain an optional subject, as of now, but it will be integrated with more and more in traditional manufacturing subjects.

As an instructor of BS in Mechanical Engineering here in the Philippines for 11 years, few universities here have adapted to the latest trend in inter-discipline and IT-infused skills in our curriculum. Just last 2018, we have adapted a new curriculum in which elective subjects in mechatronics and CAD are introduced. In the past, this skills will only be acquired once you are hired in an industry that provides trainings for this skills for it is very costly. The trainings and equipment needed for us academic institutions to be competitive is now part of our budget. Funding for us state-owned university is very competitive, but we are really catching up to be at least regionally-competitive here in southeast Asia.

As a note, the curriculum in which our licensure examination is based does not require any new skills like in mechatronics and/or programming languages for it is a multiple-choice type of test. the students will be more focused in the foundation subjects in order for them to pass, and just focus on the new set of skills once they are in their respective industry.