Technical Skills Courses
The ADVENTOR Program has designed 6 unique and specialized training modules to equip our trainees with the technical skills they need to push the boundaries of their research.
Trainees can expect to engage with ADVENTOR faculty members through discussions, hands-on activities, and interactive lectures on interdisciplinary topics linked to robotic innovation and responsibility within society.
Led by: Yue Hu, Valerie Kuhlmeier, Goldie Nejat, Amy Wu
Led by: Matthew Robertson, Jason Millar, Amy Wu
This module introduces Human-Robot Interaction as a field: what it is, where it came from, and why interaction quality determines whether a robotic system succeeds or fails in practice. Spanning the social, physical, and computational dimensions of HRI, topics include the role of robot design, morphology, and social cues in shaping trust and legibility; the fundamentals of impedance control and compliant physical interaction for safe human-robot collaboration; the perceptual and technical dimensions of haptics; and the computational methods y which robots estimate and respond to human intent and state. Ethical considerations and real-world deployment contexts are woven throughout. By the end of the module, participants will have a grounded understanding of why the human side of any robotic system is as demanding a design problem as the robot itself.
Led by: Matthew Pan, Yue Hu, Keyvan Hashtrudi-Zaad, Goldie Nejat
Many, if not, most roboticists and engineers will create something of value for real-world applications. This short course focuses on intellectual responsibility to prepare participants to use, share, and protect their work. Throughout this engaging in-person module, participants are taken through the basics of intellectual property, trademarks and copyright, trade secrets, patents, and how they might see the highest value return from a given project, both financially and socially. Participants will learn to navigate the world of IP, commercialization, and research responsibly, effectively, and efficiently.
Led by: Joshua Marshall
Led by: Jason Millar
Led by: Hsiu-Chin Lin, Keyvan Hashtrudi-Zaad
Led by: James Forbes
Professional Development Workshops
Unlike traditional graduate training programs, ADVENTOR wholly prepares our trainees for their future careers.
To encompass a diverse set of professional skills, trainees must complete yearly courses and workshops in ethics, entrepreneurship, Gender-Based Analysis (GBA+), and Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (I-EDIAA).
Internal Only