Welcome!

As President of the Robotics Graduate Student Organization at Georgia Tech, I want to welcome you to the website. I hope you find all of the information you are looking for about the Robotics PhD program and robotics research at Georgia Tech. The Robotics PhD program at Georgia Tech is a new and exciting multidisciplinary program focusing on practical robotics research applied to real-world problems.

I was one of the students accepted into the Robotics PhD program for its first year. While I was not entirely sure what to expect from a new doctoral program, I have been happy with my decision to come to Georgia Tech. Over the last few years I have seen the program grow into an active and thriving community. The program offers several advantages compared to traditional PhD programs. The Robotics PhD program spans five different schools, and so students have access not only to a wide variety of course offerings, but also access to professors from those five departments. This means that there are also a wide variety of research opportunities as well, in areas from personal service robotics to muscle-inspired actuators. In fact, many of our students work in labs outside of their home school, pursuing whatever brand of robotics they find most interesting. Georgia Tech has a reputation for great research, and the robotics research here at Tech spans almost the entire breadth of the field.

Within the program itself, one of the real advantages that I like is the fact that students get to design their own experience in the program. Because students are able to choose the areas they will study, you really have the ability to make the program your own. Whether you want to focus on mechanics, robot perception, or human-robot interaction, you really can become whatever kind of roboticist you want to be. Graduate students also have the ability to help shape the program through feedback to student representatives and the faculty committee. Building the Robotics PhD program has really felt like a collaborative effort between the students and the administration. We have even formed a graduate student organization, and frequently sponsor social activities and outreach opportunities, both to relax from the hard work as a graduate student, and to use skills learned in the program to give back to the community. The Robotics PhD program here at Georgia Tech is a dynamic, exciting research program that is growing quickly. If this is the type of environment you are looking for your studies, I hope you join us!

Jake Huckaby