University: The University of Western Australia

Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Science, Automation and Robotics Engineering and Mathematics and Statistics  

School Subjects: Mathematics Specialist, Mathematics Methods, English, Chemistry, Physics, Economics

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After graduating high school, I was unsure about what university course and career path I should pursue. Four out of the six subjects I did were STEM-related, so I was mainly considering a STEM career. I found Specialist and Physics ATAR most interesting to study – leading me to choose a double degree in Engineering and Mathematics. In my 1st year of university, I did a lot of the engineering foundation units and some physics and chemistry electives as I was unsure which engineering major to choose. However, after doing extensive research on all the different engineering majors UWA offered, I decided on Automation and Robotics Engineering as automated vehicles and robotics are a rapidly growing industry due to technological advancements. It was also the field that sparked an interest in me the most.

Automation and Robotics Engineering

Since I only finished 2 years of study across Automation and Robotics Engineering, I haven’t done any major-specific units yet. The first two years of study across this major are basically a combination of mechanical, electrical and coding foundation units.

In the mechanical units, you learn some core concepts of mechanics, which build off Year 12 Physics’ motion but are a lot more extended. A typical week for these units is 2-4 hours of lectures, 2-hour prac classes and 2-3-hour labs. In the electrical units, there is a lot of hands-on lab experience, such as using breadboards, where you learn about digital systems and electrical circuits. A typical week for these units is 3-4 hours of lectures, 2-hour prac classes and 2-3-hour labs. For the coding units, you learn different languages such as Python, C, and some of the basics of algorithms in those languages. Most of the work throughout the semester is through graded projects and weekly quizzes.

In the final two years of Automation and Robotics Engineering, a little bit of electrical, mechanical and software units are covered, but the focus starts to become on robotics, automation and mechatronics. In the Automation and Robotics units, the basics of ROS2 are covered; you will be working and operating with robots from many different aspects. The mechatronics units integrate aspects of mechanical, electrical and software engineering. In these units, students will be collaborating in teams to design, construct, and evaluate a mechatronics product that meets specific design requirements set by a client.

Maths

Maths is a strong major to supplement with many other majors. This is especially true if you choose to specialise in applied maths in your 3rd year of studies (over pure maths, which is far more theoretical). As applied maths looks into how maths is used to solve real-world problems, it serves as a natural pairing with an engineering degree, especially.

Additionally, the content is fairly transferable as much of the content you’ll learn from the Math course will assist in some Automation and Robotics Engineering units (e.g. Differential Equations – MATH2021 is used in Solid Mechanics – GENG2004). However, I found that the maths studied in the math major is far more difficult than the maths involved in engineering units. So, although maths may seem like a highly rewarding choice of a second major for any engineering major, be aware that it comes with its own set of difficulties. Similar to engineering, typical Math units involve lectures and prac classes where you consolidate the topics discussed in lectures. Although it is useful to attend these classes, rigorous self-practice is necessary, as being ‘rusty’ in basic calculus learnt from ATAR or foundational math units in university can be devastating (especially in applied maths, which is essentially calculus’ real-world applications).