Introduction to Mechatronics Department

Introduction:

The department of Mechatronics was established in the Engineering

Faculty of Herat University in 2011 (1390 Hijri). This department was
established in the wake of the industrial and technological development
and was settled in association with Hartford University, USA.

Experienced instructors having their master’s degrees work in this

department, and the facilities include equipped electronic laboratories, a
fluid mechanics lab, and a computer lab. Students of this department work
in projects related to solar energy, wind energy, automatic systems, and
electrification of the city, computer-controlled machines, and building
safety systems during their course. Mechatronics department accepts
students from the annual Kankor exams and also from technical institutes.

Presently we can rarely find an industrial product which is not a

combination of different engineering categories. If we see around us and
focus, we see that products ranging from a digital watch to the car that we
utilize for going to work, printers and scanners, refrigerators, and air
conditioners all of these are made by combining different classes of
engineering, especially mechanical and electronic engineering. If we are
acquainted with modern industrial equipment, we can see the collection
and combination of software, hardware, and computer in most of them
such as automatic cameras, industrial robots, automatic industrial devices,
mobile phones, modern defense equipment, and medical equipment. All of
these are examples exhibiting the combination of different engineering
branches such as mechanical, electronic, and computer engineering.

1
Introduction to Mechatronics Department

The growing development of information technology, electronics, and

smart systems along with increasing demand for industrial products
with better quality, lower cost and shorter production period has brought a
new horizon in designing and building electromechanical products. This
technology uses the combination of mechanical engineering, electronic
engineering, computer engineering and control engineering is called
mechatronics. In reality, mechatronics is a new concept in designing and
building industrial products which enable the engineers to integrate the
aforementioned engineering branches from the first phase of production in
order to make products with higher quality, higher dependability, lower
cost, and lower production period.

The purpose of this academic discipline is to train and nurture professional

engineers who can design, supervise, calculate, administrate, and execute
different types of engineering projects such as electronics, renewable
energies, mechanical, HVAC systems, industrial, power systems and other
electromechanical projects.

The Viewpoint of the Mechatronics Department:

Elevating the educational and professional engineering standard in

the field of mechanical, electrical, and automation, so as to satisfy the
future professional and investigative needs of the country and evolve into
an advanced and trusted center of sciences and technology on a regional
and national scale.

2
Introduction to Mechatronics Department

Mechatronics Department’s Mission

Providing standard educational facilities for all those who are eligible
and also creating the academic environment which includes excellent
teaching facilities, research facilities, and other quality services in order to
give graduates who have the potential to compete in the job market of
mechanics, electricity, and automation to society. These engineers must be
able to satisfy the needs of society and even resolve the professional and
particular demands of the country.

Learning Objectives

 Training technical and professional experts in automatic control

systems
 Familiarizing students with the novel knowledge of mechatronics
 Creating the ability to work in team projects of electricity and
mechanics of a building
 Standard introduction to the knowledge of renewable energies (wind
energy, solar energy, hydroelectric energy ……)
 An acquaintance of students to the novel knowledge of industrial
equipment
 Analyzing and designing HVAC systems for buildings
 Introducing students to high voltage electricity (generating,
transferring, and distributing electricity)
3
Introduction to Mechatronics Department

 Utilizing programming software to program the IC’s

 Simulating the behavior of electrical and mechanical systems
 Introduction to project management principles

Expertise of Graduates

Modern-day life needs facilities, and these needs require modern

technology to be used in a desirable manner. It is mechatronics
engineering which has provided these facilities some of which will be
mentioned below. In Afghanistan, the vocational domain of mechatronics
includes industrial machinery, building residential and commercial
buildings with modern facilities, and also in the field of modern defense
systems. In addition to that, mechatronics engineering has considerable
applications in the renewable energy sector, industrial towns, city traffic
management, buildings, and electricity distribution departments. Other
products such as automatic sensors, industrial robots, and smart appliances
have had immense influence in reducing costs, production periods and
increasing the quality of the products.

Studied Contents

The mechatronics department is considered one of the exemplary and

successful departments of engineering faculty. Courses are taught during
the spring and autumn terms and the classes start on the 5th of March
(15th of “Hoot”) and are continued until late December (5th of “Jaddi”). This
period also includes the exams in between. Every semester has 16 weeks of

4
Introduction to Mechatronics Department

classes and every credit or class is 50 minutes. Every semester has around
17 to 20 credits which add up to 148 credits.

The fundamental program of the mechatronics department is focused on

training and nurturing a cadre of specialist mechatronics engineers.
Fulfilling the educational curriculum in this department is done during 8
semesters and 4 years.

The structure of the educational curriculum according to the subjects and

their importance in the department of mechatronics is as shown in the
table below.

Type of subject Credits Percentage

University Inclusive 18 12.2
Fundamental 44 29.7
Exclusive 83 56.1
Optional 3 2
Total Credits 148 100