Turning Students into Full Stack Roboticists

Damen Provost, Managing Director of the University of Michigan Robotics Institute

The University of Michigan is the first top 10 engineering school in the U.S. to launch a Department of Robotics. With its hands-on, innovative approach, the university is preparing today's students to become tomorrow's roboticists.

We sat down with Damen Provost, Managing Director of the U-M Robotics Institute to talk about the exciting field of robotics and the cutting-edge research being done in Michigan.

Roboticists

What is a roboticist? From industrial robots, to bipeds, to aerial drones, robotics is a broad field with endless potential. Damen helps us understand the 3 fundamental capabilities of these smart machines and what it takes to be come a "full-stack roboticist".

This episode is a great crash-course in the world of robotics research delivered in an accessible, easy to grasp way. You'll learn about how robots interact with the world around them, different research applications, and the types of smart machines classified as robots we can find in space, in the air, on the ground and underwater.

Partnering with Real Roboticists

U-M has developed strong partnerships with Ford and its team of 100 roboticists. With their new facility, students are able to learn and do research in the same building as the Ford roboticists.

Hear more about the industry-education collaboration and how its impacting students at the university.

Democratization of STEM Education

To enable more students to pursue STEM pathways, U-M has made some of their curriculum accessible to other universities, schools and students. By open-sourcing their courses, students in states across the U.S. are able to learn from U-M's experts. It's also been an incredible advantage to districts in underserved communities where their resources are limited. In these situations, students are getting the exposure and knowledge they never would have had access to, enabling them to pursue a robotics career if that's what they're interested in.

The more educators work together, the greater the benefit to all students, no matter their socioeconomic background.

Access the 5 open-source courses here: https://robotics.umich.edu/academic-program/courses/online-courses/

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