An extensive degree across hardware and software
The Michigan Robotics graduate program consists of three main technical areas, which converge as students produce functioning robots:
Sensing
of the environment, external agents, and internal information to determine state.
Reasoning
with that information to make decisions for guidance, control, and localization.
Acting
upon the body and environment to enable locomotion or interaction.
Each of these areas may be considered a subplan for coursework and research study.
Our students come to the field with a variety of backgrounds, particularly in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. They learn to work in teams to accomplish the many tasks necessary to build and operate an autonomous system, including mechanical design, electronics, programming and integrating all the parts. Students graduate the program as independent researchers and engineers, and many will go on to become leaders in robotics research, academia, industry and government (see a few of our alumni).
Admissions
The graduate program has application deadlines through the winter, and notifies applicants about decisions in the spring.Degree Requirements & Courses
There are many courses that fall under sensing, reasoning, and acting, as well as electives you can take to fulfill requirements.Robotics graduate program highlights
Where our graduates work
Our Robotics graduate alumni are highly sought after by a diverse range of innovative companies and institutions. Here’s a sample of where they have launched their careers, provided by the College of Engineering Career Center.
Masters Program Alumni Employers
Showing a selection of top employers by placement frequency.
- Amazon
- Apple
- Applied Intuition
- Aptiv
- Aurora Innovation
- Blue Origin
- Boeing
- Bosch
- Collins Aerospace
- Consumers Energy
- Dell
- Deloitte
- DENSO
- Eli Lilly
- Epic
- FANUC
- Ford Motor Company
- GE Aviation
- General Dynamics Land Systems
- General Motors
- Gentex Corporation
- Honda
- Honeywell
- Hyundai Mobis
- IBM
- Intel
- Intuitive Surgical
- John Deere
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Johnson & Johnson
- KLA
- KPMG
- Kuka
- Lear
- Lockheed Martin
- Magna
- MathWorks
- May Mobility
- Meta
- Microsoft
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- National Instruments
- Northrop Grumman
- NVIDIA
- Our Next Energy
- Parker Hannifin
- Path Robotics
- Procter & Gamble
- Qualcomm
- Raytheon
- Rivian
- Rockwell Automation
- Samsung
- Shield AI
- Siemens
- Southwest Research Institute
- SpaceX
- Stellantis
- Stryker
- Symbotic
- Tesla
- Texas Instruments
- Toyota
- University of Michigan
- Waymo
- Whirlpool
- Zoox
Doctoral Program Alumni Employers
- Amazon
- Apple
- Applied Intuition
- Aurora Flight Sciences
- Aurora Innovation
- Battelle
- Boston Dynamics
- Ford Motor Company
- General Motors
- Gideon Brothers
- Honeywell
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Kodiak Robotics
- Meta
- Microsoft
- Motional
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- NVIDIA
- Path Robotics
- RIOS Intelligent Machines
- Rivian
- Shield AI
- Sixth Extinction
- Southwest Research Institute
- SRI International
- Toyota Research Institute
- Tusimple
- University of Michigan
- Virtualitics
- Waymo
- Zoox