Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and software engineering. Mechatronics serves the purposes of controlling advanced hybrid systems and has been associated with many different areas, encompassing manufacturing, motion control, robotics, intelligent control, system integration, vibration and noise control, automotive systems, automation technology, modeling and design, energy management systems and micro devices. To sum up its purpose and value, Mechatronics promotes and fosters innovation through integration. The Engineering of Engineering Technicians (E2T) at VWCC addresses the student deficiencies entering this growing interdisciplinary engineering technology field by building synergy between industry, community college faculty, and secondary career and technical education (CTE) entities to streamline a career pathway in Mechatronics. The project has three major goals: 1) to implement industry driven project based learning (PBL) modules created by secondary and post-secondary faculty in the summer institute; 2) to enhance project based activities for students by expanding summer Mechatronics and pre-engineering camps, the annual Technology Summit, and STEM Career Exploration events for underrepresented student populations; and 3) to increase the Regional Academy in Advanced Technology enrollment of underrepresented populations. An additional project objective is to enhance the ability of secondary technical education and pre engineering teachers to implement PBLs that ultimately lead to elevated proficiency in problem analysis, self-directed learning and solution based learning in the classroom with particular focus to recruit students from underrepresented populations into the Mechatronics field.
