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What is Mechatronics? Inside the program at Richmond Community College

A four-wheeled cart with many circuit boards and wires
This cart, built by mechatronics students at Richmond Community College, can use AI to follow a line on the ground. It uses Arduino and several other controllers. Robert Kinlaw/EducationNC

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Mechatronics can be described as a mash-up of mechanical and technological engineering. But I like to think of it as programming, engineering, and elbow grease coming together in perfect harmony.

These engineers have to be just as good with a keyboard as they are with a wrench.

In the mechatronics associate degree program at Richmond Community College, students become experts on automation and robotics. They learn how to build, wire, program, and troubleshoot such systems. And after graduation they can join the workforce as engineers or technicians.

Amir Niczad, engineering chair at Richmond Community College, took the time to speak with us about the mechatronics program and show off some of its industrial gadgets. See them here: