Mechatronics Research And Educational Initiatives At Louisiana State University

Abstract

Louisiana State University's (LSU) Mechaponics Engineering (MTE) initiative is an effort to improve engineering education and research at LSU. MTE brings engineers of various fields together to design and build the next generation of innovative quality products. To accomplish this task, we must better educate all engineers in systems design, group work, and effective communication of ideas. We must also train a new type of engineer who is capable of supervising and coordinating the activity of an MTE team. The LSU approach incorporates: concurrent engineering; computer aided engineering and manufacturing; product life-cycle analysis and design; automation and robotics; mechanical-electrical integrated devices; human interactions with machines; and chip level assembly and design. LSU believes that our MTE education and research initiative will provide both the engineers and the new ideas needed to design highly integrated and intelligent products. In this paper, we present the LSU initiative as an example for other universities and colleges.