Picture walking into a grocery store.
Often, an infrared light hits you, causing a sliding door to automatically open. You’ll get hit with a blast of air — detected by a control system — before a second infrared light opens another door set.
Exhaust fans push the air, and possibly germs, outside as you walk in.
“You’re part of their food safety… control system and you don’t even know it,” explained Kevin Rogers, the academic chair of Assiniboine College’s new mechatronics program.
Mechatronics is becoming a buzz word among Manitoba post-secondaries. It’s where mechanical and electrical engineering meet computer science.
Mechatronics focuses on automation, robotics and control systems — systems like those found in a grocery store entrance. Or on manufacturing floors, or in farmers’ fields as they increase technology use.
Assiniboine College announced Thursday it’s creating a mechatronics engineering technology diploma program to begin in September 2025.
Meanwhile, Red River College Polytechnic is gearing up for its own mechatronics diploma offering. The first batch of students will start lessons Aug. 26.
Canada is “way behind in adopting automation and manufacturing in robotics,” said Vikram Banthia, director of the Price Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics at RRC Polytechnic.
He pointed to a 2022 Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) labour study. The report found Canada lacks the required skilled labour force.
As a result, the CME estimates it missed nearly $13 billion worth of business in 2021 from lost sales, late delivery penalties and cancelled investment projects.
“If we can adopt more technology in our production, we will be more effective cost-wise and we’ll be faster,” Banthia said. “In return… we will be more competitive globally.”
There’s an opportunity for increased automation in mass production, Banthia continued. Manitoba’s advanced manufacturing sector shipped roughly $24 billion worth of goods in 2022, according to the province’s public statistics.
RRC Polytechnic advertises its mechatronics program as producing graduates to enter fields like automation engineering, robotics engineering and mechatronics system designing.
It’s a post-graduate affair: students must already have work experience and a degree or diploma in a relevant field, like engineering.
Sixteen students at a time will be accepted to the hybrid program. Courses can be done on a full-time basis, ending in eight months, or part-time to a maximum four years.
Pupils will work with Manitoba firms like Price Industries and Buhler Industries on real-world problems, Banthia said.
Assiniboine College in Brandon is accepting Grade 12 students who’ve taken applied math for its three-year diploma. Courses will be laden with agricultural examples, noted Rogers.
“Farms are getting smarter, they’re getting more technically involved,” he said. “Having a workforce that’ll support that is important.”
The goal is to produce students who’ll build circuits like humidity control in a greenhouse and fix systems, Rogers relayed.
“It’s going to be the person who takes care of the traffic lights,” he said, highlighting intersections that cycle lights by traffic volume.
Mechatronics is “growing in front of you.”
Both post-secondaries have partnered with the Siemens Mechatronic Systems Certification Program. Siemens, a global technology company, teaches instructors about mechatronics, which trickles to students’ curriculums.
Partner colleges can certify their pupils through Siemens. Around 20 Canadian post-secondaries are participating.
Siemens began the initiative more than a decade ago because its manufacturer customers were calling for skilled labour, according to Joris Myny, the company’s senior vice-president of digital industries.
Employers are seeking “technicians that can intelligently operate, maintain (and) upgrade machinery or develop machinery” — but they have to choose from people trained in mechanical or electrical engineering, or computer science, Myny said.
There’s a need for workers to have a background in all three, he added.
Siemens doesn’t interfere with post-secondary curriculum. Instead, it provides materials so instructors can develop their courses as they choose, Myny said.
Assiniboine College will accept 24 students per year, unless demand is greater. Both Manitoba post-secondaries are taking applications.
Gabrielle Piché
Reporter
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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