Looking for a college major

[Tom Line]

Unfortunately, it's VERY confusing. Even in the field, you'll find a slew of titles to go along with someone whose responsibility is mainly programming and logic for robots.

There are a large number of companies who specialize in robots. ABB, Fanuc, and a number of others. I'm 100% certain that we have folks in this forum that work for those companies. Tell them what it is you want to do, and ask them what type of degree they look for when interviewing.

Heck... there's some guy... ex-mentor for the Thunderchickens, now he belongs to the robo-somebodies... I think he wears flourescent green shoes alot....

You might want to ask him.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Brandon,
If I were you, I would truck down to the college placement or career office in your school and tell them you are unsure about your future. There are tests that can help you decide what you are really, deep down, interested in. When speaking with an entrance counselor at Bradley a few years ago he told my son "Our average entering engineering student has a 25-27 on the ACT with a 27-29 in math and 23-25 in English." If you need to go to community college for financial reasons that is fine. If you are worried about grades, then you need to ask to be sure. The perfect school is the one where you will be happy and learn.

[JamesCH95]

It sounds like you want to do Electrical Engineering in a Programming track (rather than a hardware track). Any major is going to have some classes that won't be terribly exciting for you, but you'll probably find use for most of them. For two robotics classes in college I made sure to get a programming track EE on my team. They were able to take care of the electronics and programming in each robot with good proficiency. Check out other colleges too, different colleges will have different EE-related tracks that may be more what you're looking for.

To be honest I never would have considered Cooper Union on my own, I just checked it out because my Mom was bugging me about it, I applied and considered it my 4th or 5th pick school. Turns out it was a perfect match. Go figure.

[IKE]

You may also want to check out Engineering Technology programs. These tend to be a bit less theoretical and a bit more hands on. Many students find these programs to be a better fit.

[artdutra04]

WPI has a Robotics Engineering undergraduate and graduate program with concentrations available for mechanical, electrical, or software.

[Joe Ross]

My recommendation would be to try not to specialize too early. At this point, robotics may be what you're most familiar with, but there's a lot of things out there. Get a degree in Computer Science, and try out a variety of classes. If you find something else you're interested in college, that's great. If robotics is still something you're interested, get a masters degree from a university that has specialties in robotics (eg Carnegie Mellon).

In the long run, your undergraduate university won't be as important as your graduate university, so you can make your mom happy and stay close to home.

I went to a community college for money reasons, and then transferred to a private school. Overall, I saved around $30k. My student loans are almost payed off, compared to many of my coworkers who still have a long way to go.

[JamesBrown]

For what it is worth.

I have the same interests academically and professionally as you do. I am at RPI for Computer Systems Engineering (Usually just called Computer Engineering at other schools) I love the program and have had tons of opportunity to do Robotics programming. I will be graduating in December and already have a job doing "Embedded Systems Design and Robotics Control Programming" for robots that inspect nuclear power plants. Basically I will be working with high level electrical hardware (FPGA's) and Low level control software.

I started as a pure Computer Science major but found the classes to be too abstract for my liking. However that may vary by school, my schools CS department tends to hire professors with concentrations in more abstract parts of CS like pure Algorithm Design.

The best thing you can do is talk to students and professors at the schools you are looking at. As others had mentioned it is also a good idea to avoid a very specific concentration. While I was fortunate to find a job doing exactly what I wanted to do you can't always count on that. I also applied to Software engineering positions and had offers to fallback on if I didn't get the job I wanted.

It may be looking into Automation, Embedded Systems, and Embedded Control, all of these things are essential the same as robotics but are the terms used in industry. For example the lab I worked at at RPI was the Center for Automation Technology, which may or may not show up in a search for robotics programs.

[SteveJanesch]

Hi Brandon,

In addition to seeing what's available at your school's counseling office now, I suggest going to a few universities with ECE or ME departments and talking to people there. Most universities have open houses several times a year, but to really get a handle on things, call the main phone number for the department in question and say "Hi, I'm interested in studying [something] at [your college] and would like to talk to someone in the department about your program." It's a great way to learn about the school, the major, and how you might fit.

While doing this for my own kids over the last three years, I learned that (as others have said) the things you've described are probably a good fit for the Computer Engineering department, if it's separate from the EE department (assuming there's no Mechatronics or Robotics program). One challenging thing about controlling things with software is that it helps to know about the mechanical properties of the things you're controlling, the electromechanical properties of the sensors and actuators, and the electrical behavior of the controller, and the math that ties it all together. It does smear into ME and EE programs a little, but you'll probably find that the math and physics foundations are the same.

Since you're staying local this fall, you've got more time to explore your options before deciding on a university. It sounds like you enjoy a variety of things and that's great. The most important thing is to find something you enjoy doing in an environment where you're comfortable. And even after you've made your initial choice, you're always free to change majors. I took a non-traditional route - I started out as an ME, switched to EE, then transferred schools, later on worked for a semester, and graduated in five years. I've been doing circuit design for the last 25 years, I think it turned out okay.

Really, talk to people in the departments of the schools that interest you. You'll learn a lot.

Cheers,
Steve

[Portnoy]

My major is e-commerce,at first,i really didn't like it at all,but now,when i about to graduate,i think it's a good major,and i love it!

[Mcninch]

Just choose what you like!

[Matt Howard]

Before you even step in the direction of a college, it may be wise to try out some of the fields you think you might be interested in. Even this late in the game in school, internships as well as part time jobs are available with major government contractors/ "high tech" companies. This will help you determine what fields really interest you. Who knows, maybe you'll find one that you didn't even know existed!

Another thing to consider is the Air Force/ Navy. I'm an ET NAV in the Navy, which specializes in all Non-Nuclear electronics, as well as Navigation and Tactical Computer Networking. My job school totals out to just under 2 years before I even get sent to my first Squadron. Depending on what college I take my Naval transcript to, I can get almost a year and a half's worth of courses waived, towards a degree in Electrical Engineering. Not a bad deal at all in any sense. Another huge bonus of this, is that if money is tight you don't need to worry about paying for any of it (MGIB/ P-9/11GIB) I already had 2 years of College competed when I enlisted, combined with my job school, I'll have under a Bachelors in under a year.

My LPO has a Masters in Physics that he's completed over the course of his first 2 enlistments, and my LCPO has a Doctorate in Applied Mathematics.

Just my .2

[Zachary Pilarsk]

it might be worth checking out controls engineering

i did an internship over the summer with a control engineer and we worked on programming the automated robots in manufacturing plants although you lose some of the focus on electrical I think you might enjoy it

[NullEntity]

I'm looking for something similar. I think I'll double major in software engineering and electrical engineering. I have a bit more of a general interest in electronics, robots, and programming, so I think it'd work for me.

[ShotgunNinja]

Originally Posted by NullEntity

I'm looking for something similar. I think I'll double major in software engineering and electrical engineering. I have a bit more of a general interest in electronics, robots, and programming, so I think it'd work for me.

If you're interested, MSOE has a great 4-5 year program for SE/EE (aka S-Triple-E), and since you're in the area, you should definitely consider us for your college of choice. For one thing, we are one of only 12 colleges in the country to be taking part in NEAT, a pilot program for what we hope will become a FIRST College-Level Robotics program by next year. Come check out our booth in St. Louis this year if you are able, as it will be operated by active MSOE students and members of our NEAT team, S.C.O.E. Robotics. If you aren't able to make it to that, send me a message and I can get you in contact with Dana Grennier or Laura Schumacher, two of our admissions officers, or I could try to get you in contact with one of our professors or students. Please let me know if you are interested in attending MSOE, as I feel it's the perfect place for FIRST alumni such as myself!

EDIT: One thing I've noticed from other posts is the emphasis on Computer/Software/Electronics/Mechatronics related degree programs. The thing is, though, a Computer Science degree from a technical academy or state college is NOT a Computer Science degree from MIT, Carnegie Mellon, or UC Berkeley. Or MSOE, for that matter! The two most important things that I've seen when deciding upon a college to attend were the following: (A) Find a college that offers YOU the things that YOU want to take away from it, and (B) Take progressive steps to make sure that YOU are getting the most that the college has to offer. I was disappointed last year that my school's FIRST Support Organization, formerly headed by the legendary mentor Kevin Kolodziej, had disbanded. So, this year, I started my own, with the help of some of the hundred or so FIRST Alumni that I have met throughout my time here so far. Maybe you can get involved too!

~ Nicholas A. Iannone
~ Sophomore, Software Engineering
~ Vice-President/Co-Founder, FIRST Collegiate Robotics Organization
~ Milwaukee School of Engineering
~ E-Mail: iannonen@msoe.edu

[Josh Fox]

Reported.