Mechatronics Engineering boots up at CSUMB

By Mark Muckenfuss

Years from now, maybe not too many years, robots may be prowling the agricultural fields of Salinas and Watsonville as well as the sea floor under the nearby ocean. And it’s likely they could bear the fingerprints of students and researchers from Cal State Monterey Bay.

This fall, CSUMB welcomed its first cohort of mechatronics engineering majors. Luis Cabrales is the director of the program, one that is not offered at many universities.

“There are very few such programs,” he said. “There are only three in the CSU system.” 

He said he is pleasantly surprised by its initial reception by CSUMB students. As with a number of programs on campus, with record fall enrollment, mechatronics engineering got more students than expected.

“I was thinking we would have roughly 20 students,” Cabrales said of the program’s inaugural year. “But in our intro class, we have 44, which is great for a brand new program.”

Once the Edward “Ted” Taylor Science and Engineering building is completed in 2027, it will be home to the fledgling program, providing it with dedicated classrooms and labs. 

It’s there, Cabrales said, that students will be able to tackle some of the challenges of local industries. In addition to the marine and agricultural industries, there is also potential for students to get involved in air mobility, with the local presence of Joby Industries. 

“There is a need to create a hub for air mobility,” he said. “I think our students will be able to take advantage of that.”

Assistant Professor Prashanta Pokharel said students will get hands-on experience. 

“I like students to build systems,” Pokharel said. “I want students to learn about systems, play with them, and build solutions that can really help either improve the existing systems or develop a novel solution to improve our existing technology.” 

Pokharel is in his first year of instruction at CSUMB. He is from Nepal, and earned a PhD at the University of Kentucky in biosystems and agricultural engineering. His focus was on precision robotics and automation related to agriculture. 

In his home country, he worked in the automotive and tobacco industries. 

“I became familiar with automation and high-speed machines,” he said. “That made me interested in teaching, training and developing interesting automation.”

He was attracted to CSUMB, he said, because of the opportunity to work with local agricultural operations. 

“There’s a lot of potential to improve our existing systems,” he said. “It’s a really great place to train the manpower for that industry.”

Cabrales came to CSUMB last year after 11 years at CSU Bakersfield. Originally from Tampico, Mexico, he earned his PhD from the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute at Texas Tech. 

He sees the mechatronics engineering program tying in with marine science as well. 

“There is some industry for marine robotics,” he said, “and all the aspects of that translate to other areas. There is a lot of potential for integration with other programs down the road. There could be a lot of cross-collaboration.”

He said he is grateful for the way the program has been accepted not only by the students but by faculty and administrators. 

“There has been a lot of support from many parts of the university and the community,” he said. “We’re small, but we’re going to grow fast.”