Marci Gale

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT MARCI GALE

Mechatronics, in name and discipline, is a mashup of mechanics, electronics, robotics, and IT. The field addresses today’s highly automated production environments. Another name for it is Advanced Manufacturing. The pandemic will hasten the rate at which our world will become automated. Any process that is repetitive, no matter the complexity, will become automated at some point. I tell my students that the way to guarantee that you are the robot overlord, is to come to the Mechatronics program! I began my career many years ago as an electrical engineer. I worked in the communications industry with an engineering department sitting on the second floor, and a production factory on the first floor. I spent time in both areas and became keenly aware of how engineering decisions have consequences in the production environment. After the birth of my third child, I decided to take a break from my career and stay home with them. I spent 20 years homeschooling all three who are now successful adults. When I ran out of people to teach at home, I had to make a decision whether to go back to the world of engineering or stay in the world of teaching. I decided that if I could help people have better lives by teaching them some of the random stuff I knew, that would make me happiest! I entered a CTE master’s program while teaching as an adjunct professor, and was hired as a full-time faculty member upon my graduation. The first thing I was tasked with was establishing the Mechatronics associates degree at CVCC. My experience in both industry and teaching have been invaluable in creating a program driven by local industry needs and support.