Purdue Polytechnic’s engineering technology faculty are anticipating that two new degrees will be added to the department’s roster in fall 2024. They will both be “Robotics Technology” degrees—one at the Masters level and one at the PhD level.
Richard Voyles and Mo Rastgaar, the two engineering technology professors who have proposed the major, have made the case that these higher degrees will meet a marketplace demand for graduates with such skills. They estimate that, for both the Masters and the doctorate, job openings for qualified candidates will grow between 11 and 12% in the near future.
Further educational programming in robotics technology will synergize with Purdue’s Institute for Physical AI, an organization run out of the innovation-minded Purdue Computes initiative. Experts in robotics can contribute to goals in the physical AI field; everything from drone technology to agriculture requires software embodied within a moving robotic framework.
In the coming years, graduates of such programs will be in a position to design such devices which could ultimately revolutionize how critical activities—from search and rescue operations to crop harvesting—are done.
Additional information
- Robotics engineering technology undergraduate degree page
- Purdue Polytechnic join Senate AI Caucus for robotics showcase (Purdue Polytechnic newsroom)