Why I Quit My PhD in Robotics – Did I Make a Mistake?

Why I Left My Robotics PhD Program

Kevin Wood left UCLA’s robotics PhD program after about a year. After earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, he stayed at UCLA partly because he was unsure what career to pursue and thought graduate school would help him build technical skills.

He joined Dennis Hong’s RoMeLa robotics lab, drawn by UCLA’s new robotics program and the field’s potential. His graduate-school income came from research and teaching-assistant work. He worried that spending several more years earning very little would put him behind financially. He also lacked a specific robotics problem he felt compelled to solve, while teaching and research were demanding and funding—and therefore pay—could be uncertain.

Wood completed the coursework for a master’s degree and found a robotics-engineering job through Glassdoor. He says it paid significantly more than teaching and that leaving worked out well for him.

Does He Regret Leaving?

Given his outlook at the time and how his life developed, Wood is glad he left. He believes working in robotics helped him develop the curiosity and desire to learn that he did not have during graduate school.

If he were deciding now, he would seriously consider pursuing a PhD because he is more eager to study robotics and revisit foundational topics. However, returning to school is unlikely given his current circumstances. He sees teaching through YouTube as another way to deepen his understanding and help others learn.

What Graduate School Can Offer—and What It Costs

Graduate school can provide:

• A learning-focused environment with professors, lab colleagues, and classmates.
• Structure and ongoing opportunities to study and innovate, which may help people who struggle to motivate themselves independently.
• Professional connections and potential industry opportunities, especially when a lab collaborates with companies.
• Practice in problem-solving, including defining a problem, evaluating whether an answer is sound, and finding resources to investigate it.

The costs and drawbacks can include several years of study, comparatively low or uncertain income, and a demanding workload involving teaching and research. The time and financial commitment may not be worthwhile if the degree does not support a person’s goals.

Who May Need a Robotics PhD?

Wood describes two broad directions in robotics careers:

• Deep researchers and innovators: A PhD is likely valuable—and may be necessary—for complex scientific research or highly specialized technical work. Some research-oriented roles, such as applied scientist positions at Amazon, may explicitly require one.
• Applied specialists: A PhD is not necessarily required for people focused on building and integrating working systems or starting a business. Motivated people can develop many of the same problem-solving skills through self-directed study and hands-on projects.

His advice is to consider the specific work and roles you want, check whether those positions require a PhD, and weigh the educational and networking benefits against the time and financial costs.

People and Organizations Mentioned

Kevin Wood is the video’s narrator and describes his own experience. The narration also mentions UCLA, Dennis Hong, RoMeLa, Glassdoor, Boston Dynamics, and Amazon; these are not identified as additional speakers.