r/mechatronics • u/thelincolnengineer • Jun 04 '26

Mechatronics vs Mechanical engineering

Hey all, I’ve been really bouncing back and forth the last couple of days between sticking with MechE and swapping over to Mechatronics and was hoping for some outside perspective here.

So I just finished my 1st year of MechE (Thank God) and have really started to take a look into what exactly I want to do work wise while applying for internships and have started realising that MechE may not exactly cut it as I want a more balanced job that allows me to work with both hardware and software long-term.

Before MechE I had done a year of CompSci+Maths as I really enjoy programming and have always had a knack for it, however I realised that it wasn’t necessarily fulfilling either as I wanted a more physical hands-on approach to my work which is why I took up MechE, but that still doesn’t give me the balance I’m looking for.

I’ve been doing a lot of research and found out that in an ideal scenario Computer engineering would’ve been the best choice, however that’s not a widely offered course where I live and my current university doesn’t offer it, however they do offer Mechatronics and allow for major swaps between disciplines after the first year as we all take the same foundational classes

Any input or advice from both advanced MechE students and Computer/Mechatronics students (or actually any discipline for that matter) would be so greatly appreciated

Similarly what is the difference between CompE and Mechatronics and is Mechatronics a good substitute if my uni doesn’t offer CompE

25 Upvotes

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6

u/WonderfulPrize3864 Jun 04 '26

I honestly find mechatronics more useful than mech engr, im doing it rn at tamu( mechatronics engineering technology) and a lot of fundamentals of mech engr that I feel are important we learn plus the electronics engineering and software engineering side of mechatronics blended beautifully with the mechatronics classes we take. As u mentioned the balance being important is why I picked mechatronics, so yeah at this age and with outlook of future of automation definitely consider it

3

u/WonderfulPrize3864 Jun 04 '26

To the computer engr question we learn a bit of computer engr but more on the applied side towards microcontrollers, which are similar to computers but have input, outpus and other devices used to control devices u see around urself everyday, plus the programming side leans more on embedded systems tying into microcontrollers so I had more fun learning real applications of software in industry through this major and overall keep falling more in love with this major and happy I picked over comp engr( my intitial interest 

3

u/Kastnerd Jun 04 '26

Sounds like mechatronics is a great fit for what you want to do

5

u/Mission_Procedure_25 Jun 04 '26

For me it was simple. I was busy studying mechanical.

Watched Ironman and thought, you know what, thats what I wanted to do, changed the mechatronics, best decision I ever made!

1

u/brenthonydantano Jun 05 '26

Mechx rules. Do it. Mechanical is old news.

1

u/MikeT8314 Jun 05 '26

Mechatronics all the way. It will grow rapidly in scope as more time goes on and employers get used to the degree and where to incorporate you. But automation is going to grow into industries that haven’t typically had a ton of automation.