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  #31   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 22-01-2008, 02:37
Garth1388 Garth1388 is offline
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has a massive Enginering program. While there is no robotics major, there is Mechanical, Electrical, Materials, Software, Aero Engineering, etc. All of these disciplines definitely contribute to Robotics. There are also a few Robotics clubs.

While you won't get the kind of education you can at MIT, you will get hands on experience right from your first quarter. As a co-worker of mine said, "At most schools, they teach you about engineering, but at Cal Poly, you learn how to be an engineer."

check it out
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Unread 22-01-2008, 07:31
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

From the point of view of someone at a robotics company...

I know places like WPI are starting robotics majors now (and yes I am jealous), but to be totally honest, I've been involved in a lot of hiring my company has done, and I don't know what we'd do with them. What we would probably do during an interview is sit down wit them and ask what they're best at/like most: EE, ME, or software. Then they would be put into the right department. It makes our jobs easier if it's a degree name that matches one of our departments.

There are a few caveats, though. Our company (and many like it) have systems engineers, which is what I am, and which I think the robotics engineering majors might ultimately be suited for, but which tends to be a more experienced position (we don't hire entry-level systems engineers... I had to "do time" in other departments first). These positions might match up well with robotics engineers, but the job is basically technical management: how do the customer requirements translate to technical requirements? How can you make sure what the EEs build fit into the boxes the MEs are building? Did anyone bother asking Software what information they need to write the control code? How/when are we testing this stuff? WHY ISN'T ANYONE DOING ANYTHING? Etc... Basically, you have to have that high-level view of life, the universe, and everything, and be able to coordinate it effectively.

Also, some much smaller companies tend to hire people named "robotics engineer" or "robotics researcher" or "electromechanical engineer" or things like that. I don't know enough about what those jobs do to compare them to a standard ME/EE/SW job, but I know places like Vecna, Sarcos, and others have posted openings like that.

And finally, even though I don't know what we'd do with a Robotics Engineer now, that's not to say we'd never know what to do with them. We definitely need well-rounded people at our company, but right now we're still only putting people into individual departments. I think iRobot is the same way from what I remember talking with them. Personally I think industry should definitely change a bit to accommodate these new awesome engineers, but unfortunately I'm not in charge Yet!

So in conclusion: this was my long way of saying, it doesn't really matter what your degree is. What I think you should ABSOLUTELY do is find a school that has COOL research. Not just "good" research, COOL research. Find the prof(s) who do robotics and get talking to them. See if they let undergrads help out. That's what is most important to a company like mine, not which degree you have. Get whatever experience you can and then whether you're an EE or RE, you'll have an awesome job waiting for you!
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  #33   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 23-01-2008, 14:55
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

While at Carnegie Mellon 98-02 I'm not sure we had an undergraduate Robotics Major, but there were many robotics related classes that you could take. There were also many undergraduate robotics research opportunities and also opportunities to work at the NREC (National Robotics Engineering Consortium) as well as other robotics companies in the area. I would highly recommend Carnegie Mellon if you are seriously interested in a future in robotics.

I had a great experience there, and while not a robotics major of any sort worked within the field on many occasions.

That all being said, I'm sure there are many great programs at other schools as well. I only mention Carnegie Mellon because I have experience there.

Btw, please excuse me if I got the acronym for the Consortium wrong.

-Ray
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Unread 07-02-2008, 01:10
Conor Ryan Conor Ryan is offline
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

As a current undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering, I'll tell you one thing, Mechanical, Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as (but very limited) Computer Science, get a lot of experience with the concept of robots and automation. As far as a program that specializes in rolling everything into one nicely named major, it happens but it is rare. Pretty much a Robotics major would have almost an identical course load to any Mechanical, Electrical or Computer Engineering major. The concept of having a major that specializes in combing all of them into one would in reality only do some educational justice if you were in school for about...6 years. And for that reason, it is primarily a graduate degree. One program that is worth looking into is Mechatronics offered up at the University of Waterloo, pretty much it's a Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering hybrid.

Anyway, I'm not the one to ask about Mechatronics degrees, I am however a person to talk to if you are interested in the University of Dayton, I am a tour guide and I specialize in Prospective Engineering Students... Good Luck!
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Unread 07-02-2008, 10:00
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

I would reccommend going to a 4 year engineering degree college and getting a degree in electrical engineering or a related field. You can specialize in robotics or something similar if wanted. I am going to Alabama for electrical engineering. I do not know of the engineering colleges in your area but they should be easy to look up. You can take a grad program later for robotics but for undergrad do something more broad.
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Unread 21-04-2011, 10:52
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

WPI has an undergrad major in robotic engineering. They claim to be the only school to offer such a major to undergrads.
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Unread 21-04-2011, 11:46
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Re: what colleges have good robotics majors

Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan has a very good engineering program. They have all kinds of different programs to get into, with an option to minor in robotics. There's an annual job fair to help graduating students find a job in the field. There's also a FIRST team to mentor if you want to do so. While you're there, if you decide engineering isn't for you, they have all kinds of other programs to choose from.
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