Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!psitech!jim
From: jim@psitech.com (Jim Rothrock)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Robotics university survey results
Message-ID: <445@psitech.com>
Date: 2 Jan 91 16:27:23 GMT
Organization: PsiTech, Fountain Valley, CA
Lines: 78

Several weeks ago, I posted an inquiry asking about robotics-related
graduate schools.  Respondents were requested to list any universities
they knew of that had robotics programs, as well as the pros and cons
of those programs.  Out of 24 replies to my posting, eight provided
information about robotics-related universities.  The other 16 requested
copies of the results of the inquiry, which will be e-mailed to them in
case they don't read this newsgroup very often.

The results of the poll are summarized below.  The left column lists
all the schools that were mentioned by respondents, and the right
column lists the total number of times each school was mentioned
in all the responses combined.  The "+" signs indicate the level of
enthusiasm exhibited by respondents when mentioning a certain university.


Carnegie Mellon University                  5+++
Massachusetts Institute of Technology       4++
University of Michigan                      3+
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute            2+
University of Minnesota                     1+
Stanford University                         1
University of Pennsylvania                  1
University of Maryland                      1
Purdue University                           1
University of Texas                         1
Ohio State University                       1
University of California, Santa Barbara     1
Brown University                            1
Yale University                             1


CMU was the big winner, but there is a caveat.  I am told that it is
*very* hard to get into their PhD program in robotics (there is no
master's program).  One reply mentioned a 5% to 10% acceptance rate.
On the other hand, they are reputed to offer a very good hands-on
environment.

A couple of replies said that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
is NASA-funded.  One of the replies cast doubt on the future existence
of this funding.  Can anyone out there provide more information about
RPI's funding status?  I've heard good things about RPI, and would
like to know about the funding issue.

In my opinion, the best suggestion came from Rick Smith:

     1) Get a master's.
     2) Survey lots of *recent* papers in the area of robotics that
        interests you.
     3) Visit the authors of the most interesting papers who, presumably,
        are faculty members somewhere.

I also suggest that you call all the robotics schools that you've heard of
and get their catalogs.  Some, like CMU, have brochures/catalogs that are
specific to the robotics program.  Find out whether the robotics program
is centered in the CS, EE, or ME departments.  A person who is interested
in robot vision software won't be happy at an ME-oriented school that's
devoted to building robot hands.

Thanks to the people who contributed to this survey:

Marc Ringuette
Jeffrey C. Chen
John McInroy
Rick Smith
L. Douglas Baker
Kevin Dowling
Frank Koss
Jonathan Monsarrat

This posting is not an endorsement of any university.  It is simply a
summary of several individual's opinions.  Any opinions expressed in
this posting do *not* reflect the opinions of PsiTech, Inc.
--
Jim Rothrock    | Disclaimer: My opinions do *not* represent the opinions
jim@psitech.com | of PsiTech, Inc.
-- 
Jim Rothrock    | Disclaimer: My opinions do *not* represent the opinions
jim@psitech.com | of PsiTech, Inc.