California U. offers associate robotics degree and Science Center workshops

As California University of Pennsylvania launches a series of family-friendly educational workshops at “roboworld” Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center this weekend, its National Center for Robotics Engineering is developing the nation’s first two-tier associate and bachelor’s degree program in robotics engineering technology. The associate degree program being offered for the first time in September prepares a regional workforce for both the military and the commercial robotics industry.

“The associate’s degree in robotics engineering technology is a gateway degree to other engineering programs,” says program director Tony Rodi. “It’s not high-level design work, but offers employability.”

The program offers electronics programming, mathematics, control technology, and mechanical engineering. Rodi says the university is also planning a future bachelor’s degree in mechatronics. “It’s a complement to robotics,” he explains, “and is a term that’s being used globally to describe that integrate that skill set.” Rodi says the curriculum is slowly gaining recognition in the U.S.

At the Carnegie Science Center, CUP’s faculty and students will staff a five-weekend series and will invite kids to program robots, take the control of battlebots, introduce them to new robotic toys from Pittsburgh’s Bossa Nova, and watch Robot “drivers” hone their skills. The latter is a practice event for the VEX National Robotics Challenge, coming to Cal U’s campus on Nov. 20.

Source: Tony Rodi, Mike Amrhein
Writer: Chris O’Toole