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When Mahima Arora was choosing where to get her master’s degree, the ARM Institute’s free national resource RoboticsCareer.org was not yet launched. But coincidentally, Mahima selected and recently graduated from one of eighteen robotics training programs currently endorsed by the ARM Institute – University of Maryland’s Master’s Program in Robotics.

Mahima’s Background

Mahima’s interest in robotics was fostered when she was young. She reminisces about watching engineering shows while growing up and being fascinated by what she saw. When it came time to pick a major, she knew from her childhood, mechatronics was the perfect blend of what she was most interested in: the mechanical and electronic components. At the time she chose this major, she didn’t yet know that she would develop an interest in robotics, nor did she know that her major of mechatronics would apply easily to a robotics career. But, during her undergrad coursework in India, she was given the opportunity to build her first robot, and she found it so rewarding that it ultimately helped her make the decision to get her master’s degree in robotics.

As aforementioned in Mahima’s case, this program’s endorsement was not a factor in her decision, as it became endorsed when she was already enrolled. But, looking back on her time at University of Maryland, she now feels confident in knowing that her training has been vetted by industry.

She says the most useful takeaway from the program at the University of Maryland, were the skills she learned from Robot Modeling. This core course within the program was taught during the first semester and involved computer-aided design and simulation. During one of her projects at a summer internship, Mahima was able to apply the specific skillset she learned from this course, and even showed the company a more efficient way of creating the model and conducting the simulation. The profound impact this endorsed program is having on graduates and even the industry can really be seen in this example. The pride Mahima takes in this is evident:

“I really helped them to improve their process. They used to take five hours, maybe a whole day, and now it’s reduced to two hours.”

She also specifically called out the professors during her time at the University of Maryland. It’s clear she feels she has received high-quality education, and shares that she is confident that if she ever has a question about the robotics industry or needs a reference, she can reach out to a professor anytime and knows they will be happy to hear from her. Overall, she’s excited to continue her journey and says, “the basic tools I need were given to me by the University of Maryland,” and shares it’s now up to her to apply them in her career.

What is ARM Endorsement?

ARM Institute Endorsement recognizes the nation’s best training programs for robotics careers in manufacturing. Once a school applies for ARM Endorsement, subject matter experts from the ARM Institute consortium help the school through an evaluation. The evaluation dives deeply into quality of the curriculum provided, so that future students can easily identify industry-approved training. When a program receives the ARM Endorsement badge, the user knows they can trust that they will receive quality education.

Because RoboticsCareer.org was not yet launched, Mahima had to do a lot of her own research when it came to selecting a school. Eliminating some of that legwork is a large part of the mission of RoboticsCareer.org. There is an overwhelming plethora of information on the Internet, and as Mahima learned, it can be a lot of work trying to narrow down so many results. With the platform, the user can conduct a guided search for training programs based on a number of parameters: location, program length, credential earned, technical competencies taught, and more. By enabling these filters, the user receives a set of personalized matches from a database of over 16,000 robotics training programs, and they can save or contact any program right from within RoboticsCareer.org.

RoboticsCareer.org as a Resource

Now that Mahima has graduated from her master’s program, she’s ready to search for job offers, and has received a demonstration of RoboticsCareer.org job matching. She appreciates that RoboticsCareer.org training programs and jobs both create personalized matches based on skills needed or offered and adds that she feels “it is very unique”. She will be searching the regularly updated database of robotics jobs included on RoboticsCareer.org for potential matches and is excited for her next chapter. 

Create your RoboticsCareer.org profile today to get started on your own robotics career journey in manufacturing!

About The Author

Lisa Masciantonio 

Chief Workforce Officer

Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute 

Lisa Masciantonio is the Chief Workforce Officer for the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute. She joined the ARM Institute in May 2017 as the Director of Membership and Outreach.  She moved to the position of Chief Workforce Officer in 2019 and she is responsible for driving the Education & Workforce Development vision for ARM in conjunction with the ARM membership, the federal and state government partners, and other expert stakeholders. 

Lisa brings with her over 25 years of experience as a performance-driven leader with notable success in cultivating and executing business strategies and formulating long-term strategic client relationships.  She has proven success in developing business solutions, commercialization of products, technology transfer, and technological initiatives that have supported organizational growth, improved staff productivity, and increased value to many communities of practice. Critical to her success is the ability to increase awareness and drive thought leadership position by designing and executing innovative programs as well as developing and launching new, value-add offerings for ongoing competitiveness. Lisa received a Bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University and 2 Master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. 

In 2021, Lisa was recognized as one of 20 world-wide Exceptional Women in Robotics and Automation by SME. In 2022, she was recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times as a Women of Influence and was also part of the inaugural Technical.ly Pittsburgh RealLIST Connectors list, which recognizes the top 100 influential leaders in Pittsburgh tech.