I've heard it a million times: "Is mechatronics harder than chemical engineering?" The short answer is yes. But what does that mean, exactly? I'll address this question in detail below.
As a student in a mechatronics engineering program, you are likely aware that the field is considered to be one of the hardest engineering disciplines. In fact, this reputation makes it difficult for some students to decide whether or not they would like to pursue this career path.
If you're wondering if mechatronics engineering is harder than chemical engineering or biomedical engineering—or if it's harder than computer science and software engineering—read on for an overview of how each discipline measures up against each other in terms of difficulty level!
The answer is no. You might get that question a lot, so let's address it up front. Mechatronics engineering takes the fundamentals of mechanical engineering and adds a little bit of electrical engineering to give you a unique skillset. It's really not that different from chemical engineering at all—you'll still be using your knowledge of chemistry and physics to solve problems in industry. The biggest difference between the two is that you may need more training in electrical theory than your average chemical engineer would require, but this isn't necessarily true for every mechatronics engineer out there either (and even then, it's not like we're talking about an entire year more schooling).
We can talk about what makes mechatronics harder than chemical engineering later on when you're ready to apply for colleges or internships...but for now just know that chances are good that if you've already been admitted into college with high marks from high school chemistry classes then chances are also good that you'll do well pursuing higher-level education as an undergraduate student studying mechanical or mechatronic systems design!
I found a study from the Department of Education that compared the difficulty of chemical engineering and mechatronics engineering, in terms of time between degree completion and starting a job. It turns out that chemical engineers take longer to complete their degrees than mechanical engineers do (4 years vs 2 years). The difference isn't huge, but it's still interesting to see how it compares.
I would also say that mechatronics is harder than chemical engineering because there are more classes required for both majors. However, if you're interested in biochemistry or biology then you should probably choose chemical over mechanical because those fields require knowledge of organic chemistry which is outside of the scope of this discussion!
You may have heard that mechatronics is the future of engineering, but what does that really mean? One of the biggest differences between mechanical engineers and mechatronic engineers is that the former work in tech jobs while the latter work in other industries like healthcare or manufacturing. This creates a big discrepancy between a mechanical engineer's median starting salary and a mechatronic engineer's median starting salary.
So what's more valuable: studying hard to get certified as an engineer OR studying harder to get certified as an accountant? The answer is simple: certifications are valuable only if you're willing and able to work for free for years on end until your certification becomes worth something.
Many chemical engineers are employed in the private sector. Private companies include manufacturers, food and beverage producers, pharmaceutical companies and more. These industries employ a large number of chemical engineers because they need their services to keep their operations running smoothly.
Chemical engineers are also employed by government agencies like NASA or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Government agencies hire chemical engineers to help them solve environmental problems like pollution caused by oil spills or runoff from factories that pollute rivers and lakes into which people swim or fish for food.
If you're thinking about getting into the field, it would help to know how to get hired. Depending on supply/demand for particular skillsets, you might be able to get into a mechatronics career straight out of college. In general, though, there are several routes you can take:
To sum it all up, the answer is yes: mechatronics engineering is more difficult than chemical engineering. As we've seen from the data, the time it takes to start a career after college completion is longer for mechatronics engineers than for chemical engineers, but this doesn't mean that you can't find a job as soon as you graduate. The supply/demand dynamics of your particular field will have an impact on whether or not you're able to get hired right away; however, if there are still openings available when it comes time for hiring decisions (and many times there are), then there's nothing stopping employers from hiring new graduates right away!