Establishing Manifold Robotics Education in a “Curriculum Vacuum” Nicholas Gans The University of Texas at Dallas Developmental History of Innovation University Curriculum Development Created and taught the first robotics courses ever offered at UT Dallas Introduction to Robotics Vision-Based Estimation and control Recently created a robotics teaching lab to accompany the lecture course Collaborating with robotics company Robai I will make the lab manual and sample code openly available to help other institutions create teaching labs Founding faculty mentor of the UT Dallas Robot Chess Team (see picture) EE, ME and CS students collaborated to design, build and program all aspects Engaged with local community colleges to recruit students to research lab K-12 Curriculum Development Seek to bring teachers to UT Dallas for two weeks each summer to develop 6 week electrical engineering project modules to use in their classroom Recruited Talented High School Students to my research lab Community Outreach Taught a summer camp as part of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) camp. Targeted at High School students not already motivated to enter STEM fields Combining robotics concepts of sensors, motors and programming, the students created interactive, kinetic sculptures. Taught camp again to Girl Scouts and at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science Numerous demonstrations of the Robot Chess team at events in the Dallas area Numerous talks to schools and community groups on robotics Learning Activities and Materials I recently created a robotics teaching. The lab is being offered along with the lecture course for the first time this semester. I am collaborating with the robot vendor Robai ( to create the curriculum based on the Cyton 300 robot arm (seen below). After revision based on student feedback, I plan to make the lab manual and sample code openly available and distributed through multiple channels to help other institutions create teaching labs. Discussion The Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing identified robotics as one of eight technologies invented in the U.S. that are now primarily produced abroad and identified robotics as one of five key technologies to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing economy. A Roadmap for US Robotics observes that the U.S. can only capitalize on advancements in robotics and automation if instruction in robotics technologies is available at all levels of the education system I believe engineering faculty have a unique ability and responsibility to shape the future through preparing the next generation of leaders in science, engineering, business, education and public service. My goal is to improve robotics education at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) and in the Dallas Metro Area at all levels, with plans for K-12, community/vocational college, undergraduate and graduate education, as well as community engagement Frontiers of Engineering Education Irvine, California October Sponsored by: The National Academy of Engineering and John McDonnell and the McDonnell Family Foundation Introduction and Objectives It can be very difficult for a new faculty member to create a new educational program. When I joined UT Dallas as an Assistant Professor in 2009, there was no research faculty in the fields of control systems or robotics. There were only two introductory controls courses offered and no robotics curriculum at all. I found myself in a “curriculum vacuum.” In this environment, I have spent four years creating and enhancing the robotics and controls curriculum at UT Dallas and building outreach to the local community and K-12 education system. Acknowledgments Rockwell Collins supported the Robot Chess Team Robai supported development of the Robotics Teaching Lab The UT Dallas Robot Chess team at a public event at the Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas Major Issues to Resolve I have preferred to introduce changes steadily to ensure they work properly and evaluate them. A more radical revamping may be in order, but I do not have other instructors in my department in my field who can assist me in this endeavor. I am curious how such changes can be funded, when new equipment and additional teaching assistant support may be necessary. Alternately, I hope to learn how courses can be redesigned with minimal or no cost. I can learn from the FOEE and participating faculty the best assessment methods to properly evaluate new and redesigned courses. I need to learn more about sources of support for curriculum development and avenues to publish my educational results. Execution I revamp my courses every year based on student feedback. The number one request I get is more hands on experience. Therefore, I have implemented projects into courses that had previously been lecture-based. Each year I increase the amount of software and/or hardware I provide to students for their projects. This ensures projects work well each year. These projects have largely replaced homework problems that the students found tedious and arbitrary. I have also increasingly shifted the amount of the final grade from exams to projects over this time, which puts less pressure on students during exams. Results have been positive, and student course evaluations have specifically cited their enjoyment of the projects. The robotics teaching lab is my most ambitious project. Robai funded a Graduate student ho help create the labs. All labs were tested by students over the summer in independent study courses. After each lab I ask the students for feedback and to suggest changes or edits to the labs.