Mobility shapes our lives. How we get around – on foot, by car, the Q-line or in the air–has become an important discussion not only in the fields of engineering and computer science, but also in disciplines such as varied as education, health, social sciences, business and law. There has never been a better time to focus on mobility. Autonomous vehicle technology presents new opportunities and challenges to automobile manufacturing, infrastructure engineering and policy creation. While job postings in the autonomous vehicle sector have increased by 833% over the last four years, mobility challenges are not limited to autonomy. Social connectivity is a part of our "mobile lives", and we need multi-disciplinary perspectives to help answer questions about how cities become "smarter", how changes in mobility enhance our access to health and shape healthy behaviors, how privacy and security issues shape who has access to data on our mobile lives, how new and emerging industries (like electric scooters, robotaxi, driverless delivery) impact our safety as pedestrians and road users, and how we might utilize mobility technologies to shape more just, inclusive, and accessible societies.
This certificate program is the first of its kind in Michigan, focusing on mechanisms known as mobility, which is the ability to meet the needs of society to move freely, gain access, communicate, commute, and establish connectivity with the advanced mobility technologies today or in the future. Research from College of Engineering faculty and input from industry partners provide a framework for the program that provides project-based training using mobility principles and techniques to solve real-world challenges for a wide range of domains.
Mission statement
The Mobility certificate program offers students interdisciplinary, in-depth training in the emerging technological area of Mobility by providing the core fundamental building blocks of Mobility; by offering diversification options that enable the understanding of domain-specific Mobility topics; and by providing adventure learning activities through industry and government partnerships that cultivate capabilities of applying Mobility principles and techniques while exploring the unknown and pushing the frontiers of Mobility knowledge and practice.
The certificate program fulfills the educational needs of working engineers and technical professionals, targeting especially those in the State of Michigan.
Program learning objectives
PL01: Mobility Principles & Techniques - Understanding of fundamental principles and techniques of Mobility, including connected autonomous vehicles, sensing and HMI, embedded computing and networking, control and robotics, security, data analytics, and systems integration.
PL02: Mobility Practice & Research - Capability of applying Mobility principles and techniques in practice (e.g., in different Mobility application domains) and pushing the frontiers of Mobility knowledge and practice.
PL03: Teamwork and Collaboration - Students will be able to work effectively in a team toward the successful completion of a project.
PL04: Domain-Specific Mobility Topics - Students will be able to apply the fundamental principles and techniques of Mobility.
Stakeholders Report for the MobilityGraduate Certificate Program (pdf)
Admisison requirements
Application fees are waived for Fall 2021, Winter 2022 and Spring/Summer 2022
Admission to this program is contingent upon admission to the Graduate School. A student needs to hold a bachelor's degree in a discipline of engineering from an accredited institution. The program is also open to students who are currently enrolled in a graduate degree program in the College of Engineering at Wayne State University.
Application process
Applicants not previously enrolled at Wayne State University's Graduate School are required to submit an online Application for Graduate Admission as well as official transcripts from each college or university (undergraduate and graduate) attended.
A graduate student in good standing with the Wayne State University Graduate School should complete a Change of Status Application (pdf) and submit it to Rob Carlson, Graduate Program Coordinator. Official transcripts of all college level work, both undergraduate and graduate, may be required.
Mobility tracks
To enable students to have a broad, fundamental understanding of Mobility, the program requires each student to take either the course "CSC 5100: Introduction to Mobility" or the course "CSC 5260/ECE 5260: Introduction to Cyber-Physical Systems." Then, depending on students' interests, they can choose to take two intermediate-level courses and one advanced course in one of the seven tracks of the Mobility program:
- Computing and Networking
- Connected Autonomous Vehicles
- Control and Robotics
- Sensing
- Smart Grid
- Smart Health
- Smart Transportation
Mobility Graduate Certificate curriculum and requirements