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Mechatronics in Bangledsh

Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia, defines Mechatronics as below:

Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of mechanical engineering ("mecha" for mechanisms, i.e., machines that 'move'), electronic engineering ("tronics" for electronics), and software engineering. The purpose of this interdisciplinary engineering field is the study of automata from an engineering perspective and serves the purposes of controlling advanced hybrid systems.

Synergies may be in terms of performance, physical dimension, cost, power efficiency, time for development, dealing with complexity, and so on. Industrial products are becoming more and more sophisticated and complex, and industry must respond to the needs of market and society with high-quality products in a timely manner. Thus, mechatronics has made major impacts in a variety of industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, biomedical and robotics/automation. At the same time, mechatronics has become popular at universities worldwide from the viewpoint of research as well as education. Research topics relevant to mechatronics are diverse and include actuators/sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), mechatronic devices/machines, control of mechatronic systems, human-machine interface/haptics, embedding computing and software engineering and design/integration methodologies for mechatronic systems. Research has been active on specific engineering systems to which mechatronics play key roles: automotive systems such as suspensions, power trains and steering systems, mobile robots and precision motion control systems to name a few. Some universities have established a mechatronics program, a mechatronics option or even a mechatronics department in their undergraduate and/or graduate engineering curriculum. Regardless of whether mechatronics is explicitly mentioned, almost all engineering schools have given serious thoughts and enhanced their programs so that their graduates are ready to successfully face today's industrial challenges and practice mechatronics.

Having realized this need, some professors in Bangladesh started thinking of incorporation of mechatronics course at engineering universities in the country. Among these professors Prof. Dr. Fazle Elahi from IIT (Now IUT), Prof. Dr. Taher Ali from BUET et al are forerunners. They held many seminars for advocating the importance of this multidisciplinary engineering field of study. At length, BUET introduced mechatronics as a 3 credit-hour course in undergraduate mechanical engineering program in 2000. The aforesaid two professors also taught the undergraduate students this subject. From then on, BUET is continuing with its efforts to educate the students with this state-of-the art engineering field. Today, BUET students are taking part in many mechatronics projects, many of which are held abroad. They are proving their talents by winning international recognitions. Prof. Zahurul Haque has played a colossal role in this journey.

Following the foot steps of BUET, other engineering universities have also emphasized the importance of this field. CUET now teaches mechatronics in its undergraduate program. WUB is awarding a Bachelor degree in mechatronics (B. Sc in Mechatronics). Many students are now heading towards WUB in order for obtaining a degree in Mechatronics.

WUB has recently organized an international seminar on mechatronics. Prof. Hubert Roth of University of Siegen, Germany was the chief guest of this conference.  Khondokar Md. Zakir Hossain has conducted this conference. It was a huge success- most of the television channels and national dailies have covered this seminar. Participation in this seminar from the noted industrialists was really noteworthy. 

 

 

 

 

Prospect of Mechatronics   Education in Bangladesh       M. Murshed, Z. Haq, BUET