I have some friends from Team VALOR at Virginia Tech’s TREC Lab doing an ask-me-anything (AMA) about the upcoming DARPA Robotics Competition, the robot ESCHER, and related topics. It is on r/robotics at 11 EST. It may be a good place to learn about current research in the robotics field, design considerations they have made, and education leading to a career in robotics. It is a public forum.
As a lab, we always like getting students excited about robotics and STEM. Come check it out.