Purdue Engineering’s Professional Master’s Programs will introduce three new specialized professional master’s degrees through the Institute for Control, Optimization and Networks (ICON).

The new residential majors — autonomy, Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics — will be offered beginning in the spring 2024 semester. All are based in autonomous and connected systems (ACS) and directly aligned with transformative technological advancements, cutting-edge research and long-term industry needs.

As society's manufacturing, transportation, health care and communication infrastructure become more autonomous and connected, it is critical to have a trained workforce that can lead the design and implementation of these complex systems.

In response to urgent needs in these areas, the Purdue Engineering Initiative in Autonomous and Connected Systems (ACS) was created to bring together a community of scholars that advance the science and engineering of autonomy, robotics and IoT. ICON was created within ACS three years ago to provide a platform for research collaboration and coordination of educational activities.

"Some of the charges of the Purdue Engineering Initiatives are to stand up new research centers and degree programs. The ACS faculty council is thrilled to see the success of ICON in recent years and worked with them to develop these exciting new ACS-themed professional master's degrees," said David Cappelleri, co-chair of the ACS PEI and professor in mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering by courtesy.

Co-directed by Shaoshuai Mou, the Elmer Bruhn Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Shreyas Sundaram, the Marie Gordon Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, ICON consists of 86 affiliated faculty from more than 15 departments across the university.

ICON is focused on three pillars: groundbreaking research to tackle grand challenges in ACS; training and equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to tackle these challenges in the real world; and partnerships with government and industry to ensure ICON is addressing issues that are salient to these organizations.

“ICON’s strong expertise in addressing fundamental challenges in ACS has been recognized nationally through its leading roles in large research projects, such as TSUNOMI, and will further enhance Purdue’s leading role in high-impact education in the three degrees in robotics, autonomy and IoT,” Mou said.

“As the home institute for these three degrees, ICON has the strong capability to provide our students great experiences in integrative research and education. ICON hosts weekly seminars on emerging topics associated with the three majors, organizes student conferences and showcases for outstanding research, and bridges connections with our industrial partners."

Although some overlap is expected, each degree will have its own portfolio of classes and distinct aspects.

The ICON team provides expertise ranging from classical theories in control, optimization and networks to recent advances in AI, machine learning and data sciences. Application areas and hands-on projects at the ICON-affiliated faculty labs will include leg robots, robotics manipulators, self-driving cars and unmanned aerial/ground/underwater vehicles, among others.

"It's one of the largest centers in the world for autonomous systems at this point," Sundaram said. "If a student comes into this program and says, 'I'm doing the master's in robotics, and I'd be really interested in designing a snake-like robot that is able to maneuver its way through rubble,' then there will be an opportunity for that."

The fact that Purdue Engineering has leading experts in just about any area within the three majors is a testament to its scale and reach.

“This is such a unique feature of the research experience and will help to enhance students’ capabilities in addressing challenging engineering problems,” Mou said.

As robots crop up everywhere — from food delivery to smart cities  — the relevancy of these majors, the professors said, can't be emphasized enough.

"This is a very valuable skill set," Sundaram added. “The main thing here is safety. If we cut corners, people will get hurt. It is essential that we have properly trained engineers because this is serious business. Coming out of this program, students will have the confidence to design these systems properly.”

Stakeholders for qualified candidates in these areas run the gamut from space exploration to healthcare to emergency response to national defense, Sundaram said.

With a degree in one of these emerging engineering fields, new graduates likely will be top candidates for jobs in autonomy and robotics industries such as Saab, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and John Deere, Mou said.

"When you come to Purdue, you're not just coming here to get a degree," Sundaram said. "You want to make a difference in the world. "

Purdue’s Graduate Engineering Program has been ranked No. 4 in the nation by U.S. News World Report for three years straight.

"Students in our ACS professional master’s programs can readily connect with nearly 90 faculty members who are associated with ICON. Purdue Engineering’s size, quality of faculty, research infrastructure and industry connections combine to provide students with a valuable technical skillset that positions them for near-future job success and long-term career growth," said Tamara Kinzer-Ursem, associate dean for graduate and professional education for the College of Engineering. 

More information about admission and application requirements is available on the program’s webpage.