Mercedes-Benz Advanced Diploma in Mechantronics: Up-skilling students for the global stage

Mercedes-Benz introduced the Advanced Diploma in Mechatronics (ADAM) back in 2006. Designed by the Mercedes-Benz Global Training Centre, ADAM is a unique public-private partnership initiative, aimed at developing vocational competence and knowledge base of advanced mechatronics technology to boost employment opportunities for the youth.

What is ADAM?

Designed in collaboration with various engineering colleges and using Mercedes-Benz cars for the learning and training purposes, the ADAM course provides an expertise and hands-on experience of the advance technology in mechanical and electronics skill set for the students enrolled for the course. The students are able to enrich their learning and enhance their technical skill-set to get familiar with the latest automobile technology.

Where are the ADAM centers?

Mercedes-Benz has a total of nine ADAM centers in the country, out of which five are supported through CSR. The tenure of the course is one year which has trained a total of 1240 students till date. Institutes offering ADAM courses are G.B Pant Delhi, NIET Noida, KIET Ghaziabad, KIIT Bhubaneshwar, GP Pune, GP Aurangabad, MKSSS Pune, GEC Trivandrum, RVCE Bangalore.

Going one-step ahead and inviting women aspirants

In 2018, Mercedes-Benz extended its commitment to promote diversity and open the doors of automotive mechatronics to women aspirants. As the leaders in the luxury automobile industry, they wanted to break the stereotype associated with women in this sector and are looking at incorporating more women to join the workforce. The company is witnessing an increase in the number of women customers as well in our portfolio. Only 20 students qualify to take the course every year and since its inception, over 600 students have successfully completed the programme.

Shekhar Bhide, Head, CSR division, Mercedes-Benz India, also gave us a few insights on the Advanced Diploma in Mechatronics course. 

Q. Are students given a hands on approach in the daily operations at the factory and dealerships?

A. Yes, we provide hands-on experience for all the students in the first and second internship program at our dealerships.  In the second internship, when the course is about to get completed, the students are expected to work with 80% efficiency. They conduct all scheduled services and some Preventive Maintenance and General Repair (PMGR) jobs too.

Q. How many students from the course are inducted in Mercedes-Benz’s India operations?

A. Mercedes-Benz India facilitates the employment by providing information of ADAM (Advanced Diploma in Automotive Mechatronics) students to its dealer network.  However, the company does not directly provide employment to students. Most of the students have got absorbed into various automobile dealerships and OEMs.

Q. With the brand now admitting women aspirants, is there any change in the number of students admitted?

A. With women aspirants, there is no change in the admission numbers or structure or with the admission methodology. There is no relaxation provided to woman candidates because we believe that women candidates are at par. As a matter of fact, they are observed to be superior to male candidates at times.

We also had the opportunity to interact with Shivleela S. Angadi, one of the students who benefitted from the course. She said, “I completed the ADAM course in December 2019. This course helped me in clearing all the basic concepts by electronic and mechanical POV. The most important feature of this course is that, it is a ‘Self-reliant’ course. As we have to learn many things on our own, it helped in building our skills. The course includes two ‘On Job Training’ of 15 days each, which helped in increasing practical knowledge related to the maintenance of a car, of all the features of the car, and the working of the systems. Learning all these things is very fascinating.”