In A user’s guide to robotics higher ed,

CNet News interviews Colin Angle, CEO of consumer robotics company iRobot to learn which schools iRobot looks to for recruiting new talent and to ” give an insider’s perspective of some of the latest developments in this still-new academic discipline.”

CNet notes, Robotics is a field with deep roots in research universities. iRobot’s products, as well as other consumer roboware like the Lego MindStorms line, sprang from laboratories at Angle’s alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prospective college students interested in robotics should remember that the word “robotics” might not be used all that often in course descriptions.”

Angle’s bottom line:

“We’re not just looking for good roboticists…. For every roboticist that we hire, we’re hiring three more traditional domain experts in electrical, mechanical, or software (engineering). So if you graduate with a degree in electrical engineering but are excited by robots, you have as good or better a chance of getting a job at iRobot than if you graduate with a degree in robotics.“

Translation: There are a lot of possibilities out there.

“(Robotics) shouldn’t be thought of as an industry solely the providence of the guy with the robotics degree, or the closest thing to a robotics degree,” Angle said.

Read the entire article at http://news.cnet.com/A-users-guide-to-robotics-higher-ed/2009-11394_3-6249693.html

And be sure to check out the rest of the stories, photos and videos linked on that page, too, where there’s even more about robotics.

We’ll be thinking about all the possibilities during our visit to McCormick Stevenson this week, and the PTC Users World Event in Orlando next week.