Engineering design and mechatronics

Many current engineering systems depend for their operation on a combination of technologies from electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and computing. In particular the design of such systems must ensure an effective `transfer of complexity´ between the individual technologies, both for individual elements within the system and for the system as a whole. Too often, however, restrictions are imposed on the final system by an approach to design and design management and product development which is technology-bound, resulting in the exclusion of solutions from other technologies. Inherent to the concept of mechatronics is an approach to the design of engineering systems which is inherently technology-independent and which concentrates on achieving the necessary integration from the earliest stages of the design process. The adoption of such an integrated and trans-disciplinary approach to engineering design in turn implies a greater breadth of understanding of the design process than is generally found in industry, or indeed in education. For mechatronics to play an effective role in product design and development it will be necessary to educate, train and retrain engineers to adopt the wider view of the design process that is needed. In particular, emphasis must be given to an ability to gain access to and integrate information from differing areas of technology and to communicate this information to individual specialists