The Temple Mechatronics Lab supports teaching across the mechanical engineering curriculum with a focus on practical design and experimentation. The lab contributes to MEE 1117 Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design, where students build CAD and 3D modeling skills as a foundation for modern product development. It also plays a central role in MEE 2305 Instrumentation and Data Acquisition Lab, where students program and experiment on a crank slider setup and are introduced to core mechatronics concepts. At the upper level, the lab leads the Mechatronics Design track of MEE4177. In this course, student teams design and prototype a complete electromechanical waste sorting system aligned with the ASME Student Design Competition, gaining system level design experience and learning to make engineering decisions under real performance constraints.
The Mechatronics Lab fosters active learning and classroom innovation by integrating hands on learning kits, open ended design challenges, and many opportunities for student creativity. A key mission of the lab is to use artificial intelligence to deepen, not replace, student thinking. Teaching activities include AI supported evaluation of open ended projects and exploring how generative AI can foster interdisciplinary research on complex, open ended problems among undergraduates. Through this, students practice explaining and justifying their design choices to AI systems and to each other, which strengthens their critical thinking. In short, we use AI as a tool to teach critical thinking, helping students reflect more clearly, reason more carefully, and connect their engineering work to real world impact.
Teaching News
- Mechatronics Design Track for Senior Engineering Students at Temple University
- Innovative Teaching Grant to Advance Hands-On Learning in Engineering
