The Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) Department now offers a five-year master's-level robotics engineering program. Students may earn both a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Engineering degree that focus on robotics. Robotics engineering is a promising field that provides graduates with a variety of career options from designing national defense and security systems to developing automated assistance technologies for the elderly.

UDM students designed and built Thor the robot to compete in the annual Intelligence Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). The UDM team won the IGVC Grand Championship in 2008 and 2009.

The program begins with a redesigned undergraduate curriculum. In 2003, the department received a $100,000 National Science Foundation Department Level Reform Planning Grant to support this initiative. It in part allows the earlier introduction of concepts traditionally reserved for later, more specialized courses in the curriculum. The new curriculum incorporates an embedded systems emphasis complemented by an extensive series of robotic project and design platforms from freshman through senior years.

The master's-level robotics program builds on this "spiral curriculum" by providing state-of-the-art instruction in robotic perception, computational intelligence and robotic system design and control. It also incorporates several new courses in mechatronics systems that were jointly developed by the ECE and Mechanical Engineering departments with two National Science Foundation Grants. Regular participation and success in the Association for Unmanned Vehicle System International's Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition is an example of UDM's robotic systems focus.

The graduate program provides two paths for degree completion. The first is via the College's fifth-year Master of Engineering program that extends a student's undergraduate financial aid package to cover the master's degree (open to UDM undergraduates in electrical and computer engineering with a strong GPA). Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering majors may apply for the fifth-year program but may need to complete additional coursework.

"The second degree path for robotics study is via the College's two-year Master's of Engineering degree," says Mark Paulik, ECE professor and chair. "This course of study will be an ideal choice for those from a broader group of majors. All graduate courses in the program are offered in the late afternoon and evening to accommodate those already in the work force.

"The robotics program is supported by the College's Advanced Mobility Laboratory, a facility dedicated to research in intelligent robotics, transportation systems and unmanned vehicles," he continues. Funding agencies include TARDEC, MIOHUTC MDOT, Denso, Chrysler and Ford, among others.