Robotics Manufacturing
Manufacturing facilities around the world are increasing adoption of industrial robots to increase productivity and maintain
competitiveness. In both the US and China particularly, application of industrial robots is on the rise. Industrial robots are
used in factories and warehouses for material handling and heavy manufacturing operations such as welding, cutting, and
assembly. As robots increasingly must co-exist with human workers areas, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
studies warn that most robot accidents occur during non-routine operating conditions, such as programming, maintenance, testing, setup, or adjustment. During many of these operations the worker may temporarily be within the robot’s working
envelope, where unintended operations could result in injuries.
Robotics engineers design robots, maintain them, develop new applications for them, and conduct research to expand the
potential of robotics. Robots have become a popular educational tool in some middle and high schools, as well as in numerous
youth summer camps, raising interest in programming, artificial intelligence and robotics among students. First-year computer
science courses at some universities now include programming of a robot in addition to traditional software engineering-based
coursework.
Mechanical Engineering
Materials Science: fundamentals of physical structure, energetics, and bonding in materials.
Materials Processing and the scaling laws that govern process speed, volume, and material quality. In particular, this course will cover the transport of heat and matter.
Solid-state Chemistry, with an emphasis on solid-state materials and their application to engineering systems design.
Engineering Tools Students work with a variety of machine tools, the emphasis being on practical problem-solving, not programming or algorithms.
Optics A) geometrical optics: ray-tracing, lens design, and radiometry. B) wave optics: polarization, interference, diffraction, and resolution.
Holographic Imaging from a scientific point of view, moving from interference and diffraction patterns, to imaging of single points to the display of 3D images.
Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering principles are revealed through a hands-on, lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle design project. Students must design, build, and fly radio-controlled vehicles.
Aerodynamics – fluid mechanic concepts governing the aerodynamic performance of wings, including subsonic vortex creation, viscous flows, turbulent boundary layers, and thin airfoil theory.
Jet Propulsion aerospace propulsive devices as systems, with functional requirements and limitations that constrain design choices. Both air-breathing and rocket engines are covered.
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Links to the various resources available to students, such as download kits and competition dates.
Electrical Engineering (EECS)
Nano-electronics, the electronic properties of molecules, carbon nanotubes and crystals, including energy bands and the development of semiconducting composites.
Electromagnets including wireless and optical communications, circuits, computer peripherals, microwave communications, power generation and transmission.
Magnets: attraction and repulsion, magnetic torques, magnetic materials, plasma control, induction, magnetic levitation, magnetic recording, hard disks, superconducting electromagnets, and ferrofluids.