Aerospace Engineerings vs. Mechatronics *NEED HELP*

Which unis have you applied to? The two courses can share a lot of content

I have applied to Bristol, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester and got offers for Aerospace. Leeds is the one who gave me a Mechatronics offer

I was wondering what are your thoughts on this and if you have any more information on Mechatronics?

out of those i would be most inclined to go to Bristol...but then again im a little biased because i'm also planning to apply to bristol for aerospace! >_< Just seemed like the best one after imperial anyway. I put leeds down as my 5th choice and as for mechatronics it sounds like a great course i remember thinking about going down that route after college but was put off because it seemed like it was a fairly new branch of engineering. I was a little worried it might be difficult to find a job at first. But like you said "our society is becoming more and more automated with AI and robots" so i can definitely see how people with the degree might be sought after in the future!

Mechatronics all the way.

I think people are going to start realising it's all about keeping your options broad and open and degrees like Aerospace don't exactly give you that same kind of choice to be honest. I would recommend Aerospace as an MSc if you're still keen on aircraft but do something like Mechanical Eng as your BEng.

You're right about automation and robotics being the future, I was actually reading an article today that said it will increase by 25%-30% in the next few years and that huge public service/energy companies like Lloyds Register are actually investing £12mill into safety of robotics and autonomous systems.

Thank you for your reply! I thinking that too! It's just the degree isn't particularly well known, and I'm not sure how well that would do in terms of employment, but if these big companies are investing in this technology then jobs are bound to be plentiful

Mechatronics has been around for a few years now. Automation and Robotics is a big thing in industry.

If you're really scared then I would recommend doing mechanical and then doing a specialist MSc after your BEng. I have a friend actually who has gone on to do a Mechatronics/Robotics and Automation MSc (at Bath).

He would probably be better to do Aerospace if that was his plan as you still get a fairly general education but it would be a much better preparation for the MSc as you'll cover embedded systems and other control and computer science topics.

It wouldn't give you the same flexibility as mechanical though, that's for sure!

And why I say this is like the OP, I wanted to do Aerospace myself before I went to uni, but always felt it was a bit too niche so opted to do Mechanical which was more broad. Thank god I chose mechanical in the end because during the course I found out that yes I like Aircraft but I don't really like learning about them and my interests changed throughout the degree. Now I'm about to do an MSc Subsea Engineering lol.

I think it's incorrect to say it doesn't give you the same flexibility as mechanical. It doesn't give you the entire flexibility of mechanical with mechanical careers, but you can still get 80-95% of those jobs depending on where you do your degree and what optional courses you take.

More importantly you have electrical and electronic options which is where the widening of options happens, I know quite a few people who have gone from Aerospace to work at places like NI, ARM, IBM, and some Telecoms companies.

I've also generally been told that Aerospace grads are somewhat preferred in Academia because their wider foundation means they can get involved with more areas of research.

A lot of mechanical engineering degrees have electrical and electronics modules too - I had quite a few in mine, right up to the BEng year. From having taken a random sample of aero degrees, it doesn't look like they have any more EE content than my mech degree, which I assume was average for a "pure" mech degree (rather than, say, a mechanical and electrical joint degree).

I think it's incorrect to say it doesn't give you the same flexibility as mechanical. It doesn't give you the entire flexibility of mechanical with mechanical careers, but you can still get 80-95% of those jobs depending on where you do your degree and what optional courses you take.

More importantly you have electrical and electronic options which is where the widening of options happens, I know quite a few people who have gone from Aerospace to work at places like NI, ARM, IBM, and some Telecoms companies.

I've also generally been told that Aerospace grads are somewhat preferred in Academia because their wider foundation means they can get involved with more areas of research.

I am debating what to go into. I applied to do Aerospace Engineering for my 5 choices, got 4 offers for Aerospace and 1 for Mechatronics, as the uni said that their Aerospace course was too competitive and so offered me an alternative. I have always wanted to do Aerospace, but I did some research and thought about Mechatronics, and it seems to be quite good for the future. What I mean by this is that as our society is becoming more and more automated with AI and robots and more engineers need interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. Doing a Mechatronics degree seems to fit the bill perfectly for the future, and I can also go into the Aerospace industry as well with this degree.

I was wondering what are your thoughts on this and if you have any more information on Mechatronics?

Thank you!

I am debating what to go into. I applied to do Aerospace Engineering for my 5 choices, got 4 offers for Aerospace and 1 for Mechatronics, as the uni said that their Aerospace course was too competitive and so offered me an alternative. I have always wanted to do Aerospace, but I did some research and thought about Mechatronics, and it seems to be quite good for the future. What I mean by this is that as our society is becoming more and more automated with AI and robots and more engineers need interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. Doing a Mechatronics degree seems to fit the bill perfectly for the future, and I can also go into the Aerospace industry as well with this degree.

I was wondering what are your thoughts on this and if you have any more information on Mechatronics?

Thank you!