University of Washington Introduces First Dedicated Graduate Robotics Program

The UW College of Engineering launched two robotics graduate programs commencing this fall, offering a Master of Science in Robotics and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Robotics. Despite UW’s established robotics research and labs, students did not have a dedicated degree in robotics until now. 

Announced Aug. 19, the 38-credit master’s program offers a full graduate degree while the 16-credit certificate provides a shorter pathway for working professionals seeking further robotics training.

Applications were live Sept. 1-10, with more than 30 prospective students registering for the information session before applications opened. According to Director of UW College of Engineering Robotics Programs Xu Chen, the announcement attracted more initial interest than anticipated. 

“We were rather optimistic that the program would grow, but we didn't expect the seats to be filled that quickly,” Chen said. “We actually had to limit our seats this year just because we were still getting all the software, labs, and robots purchased. It's kind of exciting, and also reminds us how relevant robotics can be.”

The inaugural cohort was capped at approximately 35 students, with 25 seats dedicated to master’s students and 10 to certificate students. Chen said the enrollment was intentionally limited to ensure students have sufficient access to equipment and hands-on learning opportunities. 

“We want to keep a good ratio of robots to students, so that this will be a nice experience for everybody,” Chen said.

The program launched amid a growing adoption of robotics in industry. According to the International Federation of Robotics, global industrial robot installations more than doubled between 2014 and 2024,the rise in output increasing demand for more specialized expertise. 

“The Seattle area has a lot of large industry technical giants: Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing Advanced Research Collaboration (BARC),” Chen said. “There was actually this strong need from the industry to have people who can work with hardware, who can deploy robotics into the industry.” 

Planning for the project began in 2023. In 2024, the Robotics Education Visioning Committee was formed, combining faculty and industry representatives from Amazon and Microsoft. More recent industry partners include Nvidia, BARC, and Dassault Systèmes.

Karen Leung, a professor and committee member, said the group spent considerable time evaluating the relevance of a new program. 

“We spent a year or so doing a bit of market research, looking at what other schools are doing, understanding what's unique about UW, the Pacific Northwest, Seattle area, and evaluating if there is even a need for a program," Leung said. “Not only did the university think it was a good idea, but the neighboring industries, like Amazon and Microsoft, said, ‘We need more roboticists.’”

The committee brought together faculty from departments across the College of Engineering to develop an interdisciplinary track.

“We want to ensure there's diversity in perspectives from across the college,” Leung said. 

The curriculum begins with a sequence of three core courses intended to prepare students from different academic backgrounds to work with robotic systems. From there, the programs diverge, with certificate students completing a culminating project prototyping a robotic system, while master’s students complete a capstone after exploring five engineering concentrations.

“Because of this mix of student backgrounds that we anticipated, we created foundational new courses that will let the students get started quickly on activities with the real robots,” Chen said. “In the first week of the quarter, the students were already learning about methods as well as playing with robots.” 

The graduate program also draws from UW’s existing robotics research, including the BARC directed by Chen,and various robotics labs within the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.

Despite strong student interest, work to establish the resources necessary to support further growth remains ongoing. 

“There are so many great ideas of courses to teach, but we can't just keep on creating new courses because then we run out of faculty to teach them,” Leung said. “We had to think about what resources and equipment we needed.”

According to Chen, UW is also exploring additional robotics opportunities, including a potential undergraduate robotics degree and eventually a doctorate opportunity, though details and timelines remain in development. 

Reach technology beat reporter Ellie Braggs at [email protected]. X: @ebraggs23. Bluesky: @ebragg2.bsky.social. 

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