Mechatronics Engineering

Ivona Grzegorczyk & Michael Soltys Math & Computer Science

December 1, 2015

• A short form for Engineering was started around 2007, and the program was approved by the Campus & Chancellor’s Office for 2011.

• We now have submitted a long form to Curriculum Committee, and we have updated the name to reflect the current changes and development of new technologies: Mechatronics Engineering

• Mechatronics is a modern multi-disciplinary field of Engineering, combining Computer Hardware, Electronics and Mechanical Engineering in one.

A lot of Employment Opportunities!

• Since we do not have Engineering at this point, Ventura county students go to other campuses or change their majors.

• VC Community Colleges have engineering programs; their students would like to transfer to CI!

• Employers complain of shortage of engineers in Ventura

• As we have almost 70% of female students, this will be an opportunity to attract women to a predominantly male field.

• Mechatronics is in high demand, but very few places offer an accredited program (CSU Chico is one of only 9 such places in the nation). Local business such as: Haas, Raytheon, Vector, Hughes Aircraft, Lockheed Martin, Aerospace Corp. ) and Navy research groups have great interest in this program.

We are collaborating with• Navy: Bill Cunneen, Tom Nielsen, Greg Wakatsuki,

Cameron Bruce, Silvia Faulstich

• VCCC: Michelle Millea (Eng), Jeff Woods (Phy), Alex Kolesnik and Lydia Morales (Math), Rebecca Chandler (Career Pathways), Tim Harrison (Dean), Hilary Howard (STEM Pathways)

• CSUCI: Ivona Grzegorczyk and Michael Soltys, with support from Gayle Hutchinson (Provost) and Karen Carey (Dean)

• VCOE: Tiffany Morse

• We have the support of the CI administration, and we have secured financial resources (1/2 million) from the State, earmarked for Mechatronics. We also expect industry funding & various grants to come in once the program is approved. We will use existing lab space in Sierra Hall.

Nr of Faculty

Faculty Salary w Benefits

Startup Costs

Lab Support /

OtherTotal

First Year 2 $300K $100K $100K $500K

Second Year 3 $435K $30K $25K $500K

Following Years 3+ $435K

Depends on further

hires$65K $500K

Mechatronics Program• First two years of study are common with other

fields of Engineering, and include Calculus, Computer Science, Chemistry, and Physics.

• We already cover a substantial part of curriculum, so enough to hire 2-3 faculty.

• We will propose a General Education hands on Introduction to Engineering course.

Our Focus: Small Robotics

Thank you! Questions?