The University of Michigan now offers an undergraduate degree in robotics, the first top 10 engineering school to make the minor or major available.
Students enrolled in the University of Michigan’s Engineering school now have the option to earn a degree in robotics. This is the first robotics undergraduate studies program to be offered among the top 10 engineering schools. The school unveiled its news after getting approval from the Michigan Association of State Universities.
“As our society grows, there’s an unmet demand for people skilled in robotics, and Michigan Engineering is poised to help fill this void as a leader in this space,” said Alec D. Gallimore, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan. “The college’s Robotics Department will produce deeply trained roboticists who put people first, collaborating across disciplines to solve complex issues affecting the state of Michigan, our nation and the world at large.”
The announcement is especially timely considering that robot sales increased 28 percent during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021. With growing adoption of robotics across industries, including manufacturing and warehousing, a new wave of innovators will be needed as the field continues to grow.
U-M hopes to fill this need with its robotics program, which will have offerings covering all forms of robotics, including wheeled, underwater, flying, legged and medical robots. Students in the program will call the campus’ 134,000-square-foot Ford Motor Company Robotics Building home. Opened in 2021, the four-story complex includes space for various types of robotics development, including a three-story fly zone, outdoor obstacle course, high-bay garage, rehabilitation lab and a maker space.
For students in the program, it will continue to be an interdisciplinary field.
“Robotics has so much potential because it really brings together so many different engineering disciplines—biomedical, computer science, electrical, industrial, mechanical, aerospace, and naval architecture and marine engineering,” said Dawn Tilbury, associate vice president for research-convergence science. “Michigan roboticists will possess the knowledge and skills to develop robotics that help people across a multitude of arenas, whether that is within their workplace, home or community.”
The program has more than 30 course offerings. The beginning classes are designed to provide quick exposure into the field—from the fundamentals of robotics to computational linear algebra, coding and artificial intelligence. With an arsenal of tools available—including 3D printers, CNC machines and laser scanners—the university hopes to help students find their robotic niche. The courses cover essential robotics focus areas, including:
- Artificial intelligence
- Autonomous vehicles
- Deep learning
- Human-robot interaction
- Legged robots
- Manufacturing
- Motion planning
- Rehabilitation
- Perception & manipulation
- Teams & swarms
- Simultaneous localization & mapping (SLAM)
- Safe autonomy
U-M’s Robotics Department will also focus on the social aspects of earning a degree. The university believes that future technologies need to be developed without bias to ensure that discrimination is no longer part of any equation. The department has already developed an outreach program to ensure that historically excluded populations are no longer included. Its Robotics 101 course is offered to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Morehouse and Spelman colleges, who are seeking to receive a U-M engineering degree while Robotics 102 has undergrads at Kentucky’s Berea College, which primarily serves Appalachian students.
“I know that if we don’t have equitable representation in our research labs and classrooms, we won’t have equitable representation among our development teams, executive suites and policymakers who are thinking about these life-changing technologies,” said Chad Jenkins, associate director of undergraduate programs at the Michigan Robotics Institute and a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. “We just want to do right by the people who are on our campus and across the country so we can help extend the ladder of opportunity.”
