New autonomous sub-plan in NAME MSE degree

Over the last twenty years, the investment in autonomous systems has exploded and only looks to further expand its influence in the future. Just in underwater systems, more than 500 company startups now exist worldwide affecting the marine industry. The most recent study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identified autonomous systems as a new area for future investment to the National Naval Responsibility in Naval Engineering.

As world leaders in educating engineers for the marine environment, the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan has formalized our presence in autonomous systems by implementing a new autonomous systems sub-plan to meet emerging industry needs and student interest in this area. The Naval industry, offshore engineering, and marine renewable energy all have emerging needs and opportunities for integrating autonomous systems in their operations which create a wealth of opportunities for NAME graduate with this concentration.

At the inception of this plan in Fall 2023, more than a quarter of NAME’s graduate students listed autonomy in their top 3 research interests. As our faculty already have a strong presence in supporting and advising PhD students in the area of autonomy, establishing the sub-plan will organize the current educational activities in this area. It will also offer an opportunity to engage and attract students with different engineering backgrounds in the NAME graduate program, as autonomous systems are a growing focus across engineering disciplines.

“The world is changing fast. Autonomous platforms change many dimensions in the education, S&T, R&D, Design, Manufacturing and Operational domains,” explains Howard Fireman, member of the College of Engineering Leadership Advisory Board, “The need to create future human capital is critical to the success for government support as well as pure commercial applications.”

NAME has been in the forefront of research and education in autonomous systems and is already offering all the classes that comprise the curriculum of the new sub-plan. By utilizing the pool of already available classes, the plan offers students an inherent flexibility as well as the additional educational resources available within the College of Engineering. It is expected that the increase in MSE student enrollment will be 20%. The employment opportunities for NAME graduates with a sub-plan concentration in Autonomous Systems follow the exponentially growing deployment of autonomous systems in the marine domain.