Additional Information
Robotics engineers often earn an undergraduate degree in engineering.
Others major in science, math or physics.
Your job prospects will be better with a graduate degree, especially if
you want to play a leading role in research. How much education you need
partly depends on what kinds of robotic systems you want to work on.
"It really depends on how you define robot," says robotics engineer Richard
Hooper. "Do you mean just like the robots from science fiction? The people
working on those machines are all going to be PhDs and they're going to be
working in research labs. But if you open up robotics and start including
more and more kinds of machines, then there are more and more opportunities."
Most robotics engineers have at least a four-year degree in engineering,
just like other kinds of engineers. Those with diplomas or degrees from technical
colleges can also find work in robotics, says Hooper. They do ground floor
work with industrial robots, teaching them how to do various tasks.
Robotics professor Jurek Sasiadek says you can get a bit of a background
in robotics at the undergraduate level. But you need to study at the graduate
level to learn everything you need to know.
"At the bachelor's level there's not enough really opportunities to learn
all those things, but I offer a senior undergraduate course at the fourth-year
level: Introduction to Robotics," says Sasiadek. "In order to really do the
robotics you have to [take] quite a broad spectrum of courses in mechanical
engineering, in electrical, a little bit in computer science. So that's why
at the bachelor level you don't get to fully specialize in robotics -- that
can be done at the master's level."