Page 8 - ME Spring 2020 Newsletter
P. 8

Teaching
Reed Johnson knows what it’s like to be on both sides of the classroom. He began his studies at CSE in 2014, finishing his BME in spring of 2017. From there, he enrolled in the MSME program, focusing on his particular interest: robotics. He went from taking ME2011: Intro to Engineering to serving as a TA in that very class. “I can truly say ME2011 had the biggest impact on my future in my undergraduate career,” said Johnson. “I instantly became fascinated by robotics.
Assistant Professor Tim Kowalewski is really passionate about robotics as well and you can feel that through his teaching. He really inspires you. By the end of the course I knew I wanted to pursue a career in robotics.”
This belief was affirmed by his experiences as a TA in ME2011 and ME 5286, the advanced robotics course taught by Professor Max Donath. Johnson believes that the hands-on experience offered at ME has a drastic impact on student job placement, and ME is the only department where students design and create a robot from scratch — allowing ME students to do things with robotics in a way that is unique at the U.
The ME5286 Robotics Teaching Lab “is the only lab where students are required to do hands-on complex things with robotic arms,” according to Johnson. “By the end of the course, students leave with the knowledge and skills to program robots to do meaningful things.”
For his master’s thesis project, with Donath as his
advisor, Johnson created an autonomous vehicle that
mapped sidewalks in neighborhoods and used that map to travel from point A
to point B using only sidewalks and crossing at intersections when appropriate. “The technology has many potential different applications such as autonomous wheelchair navigation, autonomous delivery, and autonomous snow plowing,” said Johnson. From a student to a TA to a researcher, Johnson’s trajectory may have come to an end at ME — but that’s only the beginning.
   Johnson tests his autonomous vehicle
 NEW AT THE U: Master of Science in Robotics
In response to a growing need for robotics engineers in the workforce, the Minnesota Robotics Institute (MnRI) anounced a new master’s degree in robotics. This interdisciplinary degree is one-of-a-kind and includes courses taught by ME faculty in the new Gemini-Huntley Robotics Research Laboratory, which opened in fall 2018 after a $12 million renovation. The program also has strong connections to industries in Minnesota and beyond. Robotics engineers are needed in a wide range of industries, including medicine, manufacturing, transportation, environmental monitoring, and precision agriculture. The new Master of Science in Robotics program aims to help students answer that call.
The first cohort of students will begin in fall 2020. To learn more, visit
cse.umn.edu/mnri
8 ME News Summer 2020




















































































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