Example Plan of Study to earn both Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Focus Area and Naval Science and Technology Certificate

The RAS FA requires 21 s.h. of courses, as prescribed by the RAS focus area courses. The Certificate in Naval Science and Technology requires 18 s.h. of courses, as prescribed on the Naval S&T Certificate webpage. The following table illustrates example plans of study that students can use to earn both the RAS FA and the Naval S&T Certificate.

RAS FA Requirement Naval S&T Requirement Course
ME:4111 Autonomous Systems & Machine Learning 1 ME:4111 Scientific Computing and Machine Learning
ME:4120 Elective ME:4120 Advanced Linear Control Systems
Autonomy Elective 1 Autonomous Systems and Machine Learning 2 ME:5114 Nonlinear Control in Robotic Systems Or ME:6115 Cooperative Autonomous Systems
Autonomy Elective 2 Naval Hydrodynamics 1 ME:4175 Computational Naval Hydrodynamics or* ME:4176 Experimental Naval Hydrodynamics
General Elective 1 Naval Hydrodynamics 2 ME:4125 Biomimetic Fluid Dynamics, or ME:4175 Computational Naval Hydrodynamics or* ME:4176 Experimental Naval Hydrodynamics
General Elective 2 Capstone course ME:4186 Enhanced Design Experience (Naval section)** or ME:4098 Individual investigation***
General Elective 3 N/A Not applicable to the certificate. Any RAS elective may be completed.

*Note that ME:4125 and ME:4176 are offered in the spring semesters of odd years (i.e. 2021, 2023, 2025…) and ME:4175 is offered in spring semesters of even years.

**Students who complete this course must apply to the PEDE (Program for Enhanced Design Experience) during the application period in the spring before their senior year. ME:4086 (section 0004 Naval) must be completed in the fall of the senior year, followed by ME:4186 (section 0003 Naval) in the following spring. Projects are offered on a competitive basis. It is strongly recommended to list Naval PEDE as your highest priority if you wish to complete a naval PEDE project.

***Individual Investigation projects must be in a subject relevant to naval science and technology.