MSE in Robotics Engineering
About the Program
The ECE Department offers a program totaling 30 credit hours, leading to the degree of Master of Science in Engineering (Robotics Engineering). Students desiring admission to the program must have earned a Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering or Computer Science with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher. Students whose undergraduate background is in other fields may be given conditional admission and would be required to take preparatory courses in the aforementioned fields as described in section V. Students admitted to the program are required to take courses as specified below.
The program may be completed entirely on campus, entirely online, or through a combination of on-campus and online courses. On-campus courses will be offered in the late afternoon and evening hours to enable students to earn their master's degree through part-time study.
Program Details
The MSE (RE) program is designed so that graduates will have:
a) a strong background in theories and a good knowledge of the latest technologies in the robotics engineering discipline.
b) an ability to conduct research in advanced engineering fields. The students will possess appropriate skills in formulating problems, designing experiments, collecting, processing, analyzing and interpreting data, designing a system, component, or process to meet desired requirements, and evaluating the system performances.
c) an ability to learn the latest research advancement, use advanced techniques and modern engineering tools in engineering practice, evaluate different strategies to derive a feasible solution.
Undergraduate Degree Required
Students desiring admission to the program must have earned a bachelor's degree in Robotics, Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, or Computer Science with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher.
A bachelor's degree in physical or mathematical sciences with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher may also be considered.
Students from other related fields may be required to take preparatory courses before or after starting the program.
Standardized Test Scores
GRE not required
Prerequisite Courses
- Ordinary Differential Equations (MATH 216 or equivalent)
- Linear Algebra (MATH 217 or equivalent
- Probability and Statistics (IMSE 317 or equivalent)
- Dynamics (ECE 347 or equivalent)
- Data Structures and Algorithms (ECE 270 and ECE 370 or equivalent)
Other Experience Required
Computer programming (no particular language or methodology)
The Robotics Engineering program is also offered online through CECS Online. The online courses utilize video streaming of the lectures given on campus. The online students have the opportunity to interact with the instructors and with fellow students (both on campus as well as online) through CANVAS. The class lectures, notes, and discussions are posted on CANVAS for online students' access.
Course Exemptions
Please be aware that CECS does not allow for course waivers. However, students may petition for course exemptions in instances where a core course in a graduate program may not be available, may no longer be offered due to program changes, or the student may have taken a course with equivalent content. Previous undergraduate or graduate coursework deemed substantially similar to MSE core courses may qualify to exempt students from those core courses. Exempted courses must be replaced with ECE courses from within the degree program. An approved course exemption does not reduce the total number of credit hours needed to satisfy program requirements.
Transfer of Credit
Students who have satisfied all conditions for full or conditional admission and are enrolled in good standing in their graduate program may be eligible to transfer up to a maximum of 6 credit hours of related graduate-level courses from other accredited degree-granting universities with graduate degree programs. These 6 transfer credits of previous equivalent graduate coursework can be applied to the degree only if those credits have not been counted toward a degree and have a final grade of B (3.0) or better. Students seeking transfer credit must abide by the criteria for transferring credit for master’s programs as outlined on the Request for Graduate Transfer Credit application and in accordance with the campus’s Transfer Credit Policy. It is the responsibility of the student requesting transfer of credit to submit this completed form and an official transcript with course final grade and a copy of the course syllabus or the catalog’s description.
Exemptions and transfer credit are granted at the discretion of the program chair.
University of Michigan-Dearborn undergraduate students eligible to pursue the Robotics Engineering 4+1 option may double-count up to 9 credits of 500-level or above electrical engineering elective, core, or cognate courses taken during their junior or senior years toward their undergraduate Robotics Engineering major.
Participation in the accelerated option is limited to students who have completed at least 60 undergraduate credit hours, have attained junior standing, have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2, and have completed two 300-level courses with a B minimum. Admission to the accelerated option is at the discretion of the electrical engineering graduate committee.
The online graduate application should be completed with a "Yes" response to the accelerated option question. In addition to submitting the required application materials, the applicants will complete an interview with the RE graduate committee.
Students must attain a grade of B or better in each 500-level class taken as an undergraduate student and used for graduate credit in the accelerated option. Failure to do so may result in removal from the accelerated option.
To successfully achieve the 4+1 option within a five-year timeframe, students can look forward to completing 2 core courses, 2 cognates, and 6 electives, which may even include up to 6 credits of thesis work. Additionally, for those who opt not to use the three transfer credit options, there is an opportunity to engage in 4 graduate courses during the final year of study, providing an enriching academic experience. In this case, students should plan on completing the master’s degree in three terms after the BSE degree is completed.
For more information on the 4+1 accelerated masters program in Electrical Engineering, please vist the BSE in Robotics Engineering program page.
Curriculum Requirements
Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in every semester. Courses in which grades of C- or below have been earned cannot be used to fulfill degree requirements. Students may be placed on probation if their cumulative GPA falls below 3.0. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required to be eligible to receive the MSE (RE) degree.
Required
- ECE 500 Math Methods for Elec & Comp Eng
- ECE 545 Introduction to Robotic Systems
Select ONE of the following:
- ECE 543 Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control of Robots
- ECE 544 Mobile Robotics
The following are suggested focus areas. All three courses may be taken from one area of focus or a combination of any of the areas. Students are free to develop their own area of focus by selecting from any of the graduate courses listed in the ECE course list (see catalog).
Sensing and Processing
- ECE 555 Stochastic Processes
- ECE 580 Digital Signal Processing
- ECE 582 Statistical Signal Processing
- ECE 584 Speech Processing
- ECE 586 Digital Image Processing
- ECE 587 Selected Topics in Computer Vision
- ECE 588 Robot Vision
- ECE 642 Robotic Embed Sys
- IMSE 606 Advanced Stochastic Processes
Systems and Control
- ECE 552 Fuzzy Systems
- ECE 560 Modern Control Theory
- ECE 565 Digital Control Systems
- ECE 567 Nonlinear Control Systems
- ECE 643 Humanoid Robots
- ECE 644 Advanced Robotics
- ECE 661 System Identification & Adaptive Control
- ECE 665 Optimal Control
Machine Learning and Reasoning
- ECE 528 Cloud Computing
- ECE 537 Data Mining
- ECE 552 Fuzzy Systems
- ECE 574 Adv Software Technq in Eng Appl
- ECE 5752 Reconfigurable Computing
- ECE 579 Intelligent Systems
- ECE 5831 Pattern Recognition and Neural Networks
Autonomous Vehicles
- ECE 531 Intelligent Vehicle Systems
- ECE 532 Auto Sensors and Actuators
- ECE 533 Active Automotive Safety Systems
- ECE 535 Mob Dev & Ubiqys Comp Sys
- ECE 554 Embedded Systems
- ECE 566 Mechatronics
- ECE 5701 Intro to Wireless Communications
- ECE 577 Engineering in Virtual World
- ECE 679 Advanced Intelligent Systems
Students may complete the professional elective requirements in several ways:
- Elect the thesis ECE 699 (6 credits) to work under the supervision of a faculty advisor;
- Take direct study by ECE 591 (3 credits), and one ECE course at the graduate level;
- Complete ECE 505 and ECE 510 as directed by ECE Department if undergraduate degree is not in a related discipline;
- Take two additional ECE courses at the graduate level.
Students are required to select 6 credit hours of graduate-level courses from other non-ECE engineering disciplines, such as:
- Automotive Engineering (AENG)
- Computer Information Science (CIS)
- Engineering Management (EMGT)
- Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering (IMSE)
- Mechanical Engineering (ME)
Students may also select any 500-level course from the mathematics & statistics department (MATH, STAT), excluding math subject courses for educators (MATH 508, 5386, 5387, 543, 544, 5440, 5441, 5442, 5443, 5445, 545, 546, 549, 586, 591).
Additional cognate options may be approved by the ECE department.
Enrollment in cognate courses may be dependent on prior authorization from both the non-ECE Department and the ECE department. Please confirm your cognate course selections with the ECE Department, via e-mail, prior to registering.
Students with an inadequate background in Robotics/Electrical/Computer Engineering may be required to meet with the department graduate advisor to determine the need for preparatory courses.
Graduate Advising
Academic advising is primarily done by faculty program advisors with expertise in the area and with the support of our knowledgeable graduate staff. A list of faculty advisors for the MSE-Robotics Engineering program is provided below. For additional academic information please contact the ECE office.
For more information, please contact:
Amanda Donovan
Michael Hicks
Alireza Mohammadi
Electrical and Computer Engineering
4901 Evergreen Road
Dearborn, MI 48128
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