AbstractFast‐paced industry technologies originally demanded more of a mechatronic education than the academic arena was easily and comprehensibly able to provide: Traditional curricula in mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering are mutually exclusive, and within these disciplines the area of control system design is largely split among them, resulting in either a highly specialized or disparately bridged educational experience. However, emerging technologies increasingly demand conceptualization, communication, design, and fabrication skills in each field simultaneously. As a polytechnic institute, Rensselaer is meeting this challenge by augmenting students' educational experience with the necessary principles of mechatronic design and recruiting industry to provide direct motivation through interactive collaboration on relevant, current‐day problem solutions under the mechatronic paradigm. In this article we present some of the tactics and examples we have successfully used to extend the practical knowledge and skills of our graduates to fluency and proficiency in synergistic, mechatronic design. © 1996 John Wiley&Sons,