Long time since my last post, although i have been following I’ve been really busy with college applications and school to get too involved with robotics. Some really cool stuff going on.
I just came to you for some opinions on what you think i should do as a major. As of right now i’m looking at EE and ME as a double major or EE Major with a minor of ME. I figure these are what I would need to follow into the field of robotics but I’d just like some of you’re professional opinions. Thanks
-Jared
Edit:: Incase someone doesn’t understand the EE and ME it’s Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, respectively
I’m at a little bit of a dilema. I’d like some more opinions on what I should do. If you guys don’t mind
I’ve been looking at WPI (Worcester Poly-Techincal Institute) as a first choice school. It’s because they offer a degree in robotics. However. it’s only an undergrad degree (bachaleors I think) and im wordering whether I should take that approach and get a robotics degree or if I should go for a Graduate (masters, PH.D, Docterate) in EE or ME. I feel as if I could do the graduate approach and and possibly move into the robotics field. But with a robotics degree I could get an excellent base in ME, EE and CE (computer engineering) I’m really in a tight descision, so any input is appreciated.
I earned my EE degree from ITT Technical Institute in Indianapolis. It’s an Associate degree, (2 years). I hate school by the way. lol They offered a Bachelor degree with just one more year but I opted not to do it. You get out of school what you put into it. But you generally can earn a great deal more with a Bachelor degree. Personally I like the tech school approach as it focuses your learning on the technical stuff you want and need to know. That’s just this old guys opinion, ymmv.
I am not sure how much I can help here. Back in the ice age, I received a BS in Computer Science in 1979 as well as a Masters in 1983. The computer Science degree back then was very much tied to the math departments, but did include a few electronics courses. I know that these programs have changed a lot since I was in school. For example the school now also has a Computer Engineering major and looking at a few other schools it looks like they more or less merged the computer science and EE degrees into one school.
The field of robotics is a rather large area, where you could easily specialize doing software, electronics, hardware, or integration. So what school and/or what major may depend on what areas that you have the most interest in. As for BS or MS or PHD, that is hard to say. Some of the best people I ever worked with had no degrees…
My personal advice is to go to a school that has a very good employer recruiting program especially including internships. I know for example MIT has a great program for that. I would then highly recomend that you try to become an intern each summer. In this way you will get a lot of hands on experience, which may help you learn where you would like to specialize as well as to give you several contacts for possible employment.
WPI is a good school, it was on my list 25 years ago although I went the state university route due to $$$, and they have a somewhat unique approach to running classes. One thing to consider there was no campus housing after freshman year… not sure if that’s still an issue or not.
Whether to go after a specific degree type or not is a tough choice. The BS EE/ME double major you were talking about has tremendous opportunities but it is a massive amount of work… probably on par with a chemical engineering degree in my opinion. I have a friend in the Indianapolis area who went Industrial Robotics degree and he is seeing some success with it I guess. Personally, that is my opinion, I would be less inclined to specialize in the BS degree, and then if you decide to go after the MS it should be more obvious what to specialize on. It is difficult to predict how the job market is going to be 5 years down the road, especially these days where so much consolidation is occuring and even a lot of design work is being pushed off-shore. EE/CE also has a lot of value by the way, a lot of the courses are similar, and if robotics were my desired goal I would be strongly considering it as an option as well since it leaves many doors open.
Majoring in EE is perhaps a better choice since robotics is heavy in this area and its’s the one limitation everyone is working on to improve with robotics AI, and motion control.
ME is just as important but electronics to drive the hardware/software has room to grow. According to my Electronics magazine, consumer demand for electronic devices is steady on the rise.
You know better than anyone else what interest you the most, so the question is what do you enjoy the most?
Good news everyone. I think I’ve decided on a school. WIT, or Wentworth Intitute of Technology. They have the perfect field and they are one of the only ones who offer it in the country. Electromechanical Engineering. It’s a combination of both Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering majors, for those of us who wouldn’t be able to choose otherwise
This is a great step as 1) It’s 30k a year less than WPI
2)They offer paid co-op programs during the summer where I would start an intership at someplace after my junior year. 8)
Unfortunately it’s a 5 year program but it’s something i would be willing to deal with rather than 2 majors of a minor and major.
I mostly hated school because of having to deal with so much that just didn’t interest me in any way and seemed like it would never have practical application. So, in contrast, I have to say that curriculum looks pretty frickin cool (and challenging). Good luck with it.
Some really cool stuff going on.
