Utvecklingen av mekatronikämnet på KTH : – anställningsbarhet, forskning och innovation

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines history of the subject of mechatronics and innovation. The main reason to study mechatronics from a historical point of view is that it has never been done to a greater extent before. An overview is justified because various definitions have been used over the decades, but nowadays the subject has become more established. Focus in this thesis is mainly on development of the subject of mechatronics at Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Innovation is the other aspect of this thesis. Engaging in product innovation is the only way to create new job opportunities and become more globally competitive in industrialized countries today. Characteristically for mechatronics is the focus on product innovation. Prerequisites for innovation as well as innovativeness of mechatronic graduates are studied in this thesis. Mechatronics is defined as the synergistic integration of mechanical engineering, electronics, control theory and computer science. The word mechatronics was first coined in Japan in 1969, but mechatronics as it is defined above exists almost exclusively in Europe. In the rest of the world certain applications of mechatronics are dominant. Some of the trends in mechatronics that could be distinguished over the years are servo technology in the 1970s, information technology in the 1980s, communication technology in the 1990s and more recently real-time systems, distributed systems and design methodology. Main prerequisites for innovation are multidisciplinary knowledge and a problem-based approach. Great opportunities for innovation can be found exploring intersections between different disciplines. All of these prerequisites are fulfilled in mechatronics education at KTH. Yet the students are not being innovative in educational projects. This is mainly due to the fact that project requestors usually have a more or less finished concept that students are to implement in a limited amount of time. Students thus miss out on all creativity in the problem formulation process. Creative coachning and the national program PIE-p are some of the measures to be taken in order to educate students to be more innovative. In their working lives mechatronic graduates from KTH are innovative nevertheless. The survey results show that 40% of all respondents have been innovative, which is high above the expectations. Survey results also show that those who combine knowledge from several fields of mechatronics are more innovative than those who choose to specialize in a certain field.