The New Robotics Engineering Bs Program At Wpi

Abstract

In the spring of 2007, Worcester Polytechnic Institute introduced a BS degree program in Robotics Engineering. The degree program is a collaborative effort, involving faculty from the departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The motivation for establishing the program is two-fold: needs of the rapidly growing robotics industry and student interest as demonstrated by numerous high school robotics competitions. The program relies in part on already existing courses, but the core curriculum consists of five new "unified robotics engineering" courses. Although Robotics Engineering is not recognized as a distinct engineering field by ABET, the program is designed to be accreditable under the "General Engineering" ABET criteria. While the program is less than a year old, there is already significant student interest.