Mechatronics Engineering S7 – Adaptive Automation Systems

Twenty weeks, starting on 1 September, split into two quarters of ten. Two modules run in each quarter, with roughly seven weeks of teaching; the project continues underneath and dominates the final weeks of both quarters. You study in a class of no more than forty and a project team of five to eight, with a lecturer as your student coach.

Half of your semester, 15 of the 30 ECTS, is the Multidisciplinary Engineering Project. Around half of the assignments come from companies in the Brainport region, the other half from Fontys research groups. Students recently built a fully autonomous demonstrator for Avular in Eindhoven, and companies such as Vanderlande and ASML are regularly among the clients. Some projects run across engineering programmes and are genuinely multidisciplinary; others stay within mechatronics. Lecturers form teams that mix Dutch, international, and exchange students. You can propose a suitable project of your own. Project descriptions appear in Canvas once you have been admitted; if you want to see them before you apply, contact us and we will set up a conversation.

• Mechatronic Systems (4 ECTS). Multi-physics modelling and model-based design in Matlab and Simulink.
• Design for Industrial Automation (3 ECTS). Flexible production cells and lines, weighed against takt time and machine utilisation.
• Digital Twin (4 ECTS). Virtual process models and Functional Mock-up Units in Siemens NX Mechatronics Concept Designer, building on PLC programming.
• Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (4 ECTS). From reactive algorithms to machine learning, in two applied assignments.

Masterclasses run alongside the project all semester: optional sessions on subjects students ask for, such as systems engineering or cyber security.

Half of this semester is one project, and that project is not graded with a number. It is assessed as a portfolio against three levels: Below Level, At Level and Above Level. On the Dutch national scale, At Level corresponds to a 6 (satisfactory) and Above Level to an 8 (good). The modules alongside the project are graded on the Dutch 1–10 scale, and part of the coursework is assessed as pass or fail.

At the end of the semester Fontys provides you with a Transcript of Records setting out the results you have achieved, on both scales. Depending on those results, you receive up to 30 ECTS credits. ECTS credits are recognised throughout Europe, and the agreement between your home university and Fontys usually provides for the credits you obtain here to be recognised and transferred into your home university's records.

At least three years of a bachelor's in mechatronics is the starting point, but every university fills those three years differently,  and some modules here assume experience that not every curriculum offers. So instead of a checklist, we prefer a conversation. Contact us before you apply and we will go through your background with you and say honestly whether this semester fits. It is also the best moment to see the current project descriptions. The working language is English.