How students can build the skills and hands-on projects needed to become a robotics engineer.
Robotics engineering sits at the intersection of mechanical, electrical and computer science engineering, building machines that sense, decide and act in the physical world, and it is genuinely interdisciplinary, so no single degree owns the field. Relevant undergraduate paths include mechanical, electronics, mechatronics, or computer science with a robotics focus, but the specific degree title matters far less than the practical skills and project experience you build alongside it.
The core skills worth deliberately building are programming, particularly Python and C++, control systems and embedded systems fundamentals, and increasingly, the basics of AI and machine learning for perception tasks like computer vision, since modern robotics leans heavily on these. Far more important than coursework alone is hands-on project work outside class, joining a robotics club, entering hackathons, or simply building your own small bot, since employers and higher studies programs alike look for demonstrated ability to actually build and troubleshoot working systems, not just theoretical knowledge.
For roles in research and development specifically, a postgraduate degree, an MTech or MS in robotics or a related specialisation, is genuinely useful and sometimes expected, but for many industry roles in automation and applied robotics, a strong project portfolio and internship experience can get you in without it. It also helps to know the field is broader than humanoid robots or research labs, since sectors like manufacturing automation, drones, agricultural technology, warehouse and logistics automation, and healthcare robotics are all actively hiring robotics-adjacent skills right now.
Example: A mechanical engineering student who joined their college’s robotics club, built a simple line-following bot in their first year and a more complex automated system in their third, used that visible project trail to secure an internship at an industrial automation company well ahead of peers with only classroom projects.
One practical tip: Do not wait for a formal robotics degree to start. Join a robotics club or build even one small project early, since demonstrated hands-on work consistently matters more to employers and admissions committees than the exact name of your degree.