Feedbacks for those that are currently in the program? Please state your current year.

Those with co-op experience, was it difficult to obtain a position?

How hard is it to get into this program?

Its hard to give unbiased feedback seeing as I havent taken any other Eng but I will attempt. It gives you a bunch of different courses from Eng Phys to Mech to Software to Tron courses. Some courses feel like filler courses and can be totally review (3N03). I like the program dont get me wrong, but there are some things that could be fixed. Tron is a newer stream of Eng so it is changing all the time. You do get some electives in fourth year but a lot of them seemed to conflict. I'm in fourth year

I wasnt in coop so I can't comment.

Also can't comment on how hard it is to get in as it was my first choice.

Tron accepts about 60 people every year. So yeah, if a lot of people want to get in you have to have your marks above average.

I don't remember exactly, but you either have 60% of software engineering program courses, or 60% of your total courses in the degree are made of software engineering courses. Either way you want to be friends with programming.

In the second year tho, you have the smallest flux of software engineering courses. You some civil stuff, some mechanical engineering stuff, some programming, some engineering physics, math etc. So they basically pack as many topics from other engineering fields as possible in the second year, and because of that don't count on those classes being easy and basic.

3rd year+ you take embedded systems, software with mathematical application (not just punching in code), application of control to physical systems, some mech eng, math. Also there are some boring stuff like economics and public responsibility crap.

In Tron and Management, some of those boring courses and electives are replaced with economics (not the eng kind), marketing, commerce.

EDIT: Also be advised, tron is a relatively new program, and as it gets older there are more specified work placement available for tron engineers, which means more and more people will try to get in the future.

I am a recent graduate of the program so I'll try to give you my take on it. Also, like Ryan said, its hard to give unbiased feedback since I haven't completed any other program so keep that in mind.

If you are someone who enjoys learning a variety of different subjects such as mechanical, electrical and software then Mechatronics is definitely a program to consider. This was the main reason for me in choosing Mechatronics. I was still kind of unsure of what program to choose in first year and didn't have any strong feelings towards any one discipline of engineering, so naturally a program that allows me to learn the fundamentals of three disciplines appealed to me.

Ryan brought up some good points as well. The program is still fairly new when you compare it to other disciplines so it is constantly being reviewed. You will have a few courses which overlap quite a bit in material and maybe one or two others will have you scratching you head as to why the course is part of the program. The CAS department as far as I understand is aware of some of the complaints from students, 3N03 for example, and is trying to find alternative courses, but it takes ages to actually implement.

It terms of material the program is much more software heavy in terms of the trio which make up the program (mechanical, electrical, software). Second year I found to be very similar to first year engineering. It had lot of theory and not much hands on projects. Third year is when things got interesting for me. My favorite courses of the program, apart from CAPSTONE, were Embedded Systems Design I/II (3TA4/3TB4), both of which are third year courses. The labs are were you really bring everything together especially your electrical circuits and software knowledge. One simple lab involved turning a computer fan on/off depending on a temperature sensor reading using a microcontroller. In fourth year you have your capstone project and in my year at least there was no choice in it. We had to design an autonomous car which navigates a course with obstacles. It was incredibly fun and I heard from many other students in other programs that ours was probably the coolest one they've seen. Also in fourth year, 4 of your courses are technical electives which is pretty much the only opportunity to learn about other things you didn't have the chance to with the mandatory courses.

Overall after finishing the program and looking back I feel I made the right choice! Sure the program had a few problems but the pros greatly outweighed the cons. I'm able to work in many different areas which is a great asset to a company. Being able to see the 'big picture' and how everything will come together is a good thing to have.

In terms of coop many of my friends successfully landed internships/coops. I never did coop myself for various reasons, but I heard (read: take with grain of salt) that Tron had the highest success rate in terms of landing those positions.

In terms of difficultly getting into the program it is very hard to say. Each year is different. In my year there were 50 seats available. In the coming years I would imagine it would be slightly harder since more and more students are enrolling into post-secondary schools so the pool of applicants increases.

Good luck with your choice! FYI there is also a Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/mactron/

So yeah above is me thought I logged in haha. I managed to royally mess up the post as well by repeating myself. If a mod could fix that up that would be great. Cheers!

Are you currently employed now that you finished? What and where are you working now?

It said that Mechatronic can work in power generation, so that means you can work in OPG once you are done? Or do they favor electrical engineer more?

A large majority of mechatronics engineers end up in software development of some sort. After second year, software engineering and embedded systems and mechatronics are almost the same program.

So does that mean it is more likely that we work in Google? Caused I will settle for Google instead of OPG.

if its the same program, then whats the advantage of taking mechantronic? especially since it seems like to be a newer stream, would employers even know the details about it or do you just have to mentioned its bsically a software eng degree?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So does that mean it is more likely that we work in Google? Caused I will settle for Google instead of OPG.

That's really up to how much interest you have. The mechatronics program at McMaster won't make you a good programmer - it'll just expose you to it. Lots of people manage to graduate with basically zero skill.

Google looks for people who go beyond school and learn about programming/computers themselves.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

if its the same program, then whats the advantage of taking mechantronic? especially since it seems like to be a newer stream, would employers even know the details about it or do you just have to mentioned its bsically a software eng degree?

Well, mechatronics is kind of in a weird state now where the program hasn't really solidified in terms of what it wants to be yet. Ideally, the program teaches you how to make robots. That's what every single mechatronics engineer will tell you they do, but at the moment - they don't. That's actually more computer/electrical engineering from what I can tell.

The advantage is mechatronics engineers learn more about mechanical/civil related engineering stuff. At the moment though, they just learn the absolute basics and do no practical work with it.

Personally, I would only recommend mechatronics if you're interested in robots and stuff like that, but are cool with only really learning practical software/electrical/computer engineering material in the end.

Mechatronics is part of the CAS department (computing and software).

Think of it as a software engineering degree with sampling from other streams thrown in.

That's the thing about mechatronics, its new. Software eng was made in the 90s, only by the end of 90s there was a solid market for it.

he advantage is mechatronics engineers learn more about mechanical/civil related engineering stuff

Dude, the only course that has anything to do with civil is 2p04.

but at the moment - they don't.

That is true, but again, I think it's because it's new and it's not supported by the university, at all. Like there's no club or project where tron students can show their skill.

Originally Posted by AngryBean

Dude, the only course that has anything to do with civil is 2p04.

lol, one course is still more than software :p.

Thank you for all your honest replies. I don't wanna take a risk by entering a sub-par and underdeveloped stream. I think I'm going to pick something that has better foundation and structure.

lol, one course is still more than software :p

English please.

He means one civil course taken in tron is still more than the amount of civil courses taken in software.