Welcome to the Gateway Scholar Spotlight Series! WPI Online recently launched the Gateway Scholarship, which is awarded each year to 5 of our online, part-time graduate students. This series will introduce you to the award winners: working professionals who are pursuing their educational goals through WPI Online while juggling career, family, and more.
When Kyle Erf isn’t busy as a MEMS Product Engineer at Analog Devices, Inc., you can find him turning RC cars into autonomous vehicles, or learning all he can about the Land of the Rising Sun.
“I’ve been studying Japanese for 10 years and take every opportunity I can to travel to Japan,” Kyle says.
In addition to his day job and varied extracurriculars, Kyle is also pursuing his Master of Science in Robotics Engineering through WPI Online. Like any good engineer, he did his research before choosing this program.
“WPI is well known in the robotics field through the DARPA Robotics Challenge, in which they were very successful,” he says. “Once I dug deeper and learned more about the history of the robotics program at WPI, I felt that it was my best chance to earn a top-notch education in robotics.”
Since enrolling, Kyle has been impressed with the level of engagement he experiences in his courses. “Professor and TA responsiveness with feedback has been great,” he says. “It’s clear that they care about online students too, and it has led me to have a better understanding of concepts and more general excitement about what I’m learning.”
Like our other Gateway Scholars, Kyle sees this award as an accelerator for his goals. “I was considering spreading out the classes over a longer period of time to reduce my yearly school fees,” he says. “Now I will be able to finish my degree more quickly by not facing as much of a financial burden each year.”
“I love earning my WPI degree online,” Kyle says. “As someone who carefully weighed out all of my online robotics degree options, I wholeheartedly recommend people to check out WPI’s Robotics Engineering department.”
“I love what I’m learning, and I love how I’m learning it.”