MassRobotics, a number one robotics innovation group, introduced its inaugural Robotics Medal and Rising Star recipients on the IEEE ICRA convention in London on June 1, 2023. The Robotics Medal is the world’s first main prize to acknowledge the wide-ranging impression of feminine researchers specializing in the event of robotics across the globe. The Robotics Medal is awarded to a woman-identifying pupil/college nominated professor in robotics to acknowledge their impactful contributions to the sector and features a $50K prize awarded to the person. The Rising Star Award acknowledges up and coming woman-identifying individuals making strides and advancing the sector of robotics and features a $5K award given to the person.
This inaugural MassRobotics Robotics Medal award, sponsored by Amazon Robotics, was offered to Dr. Nancy Amato at College of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for her vital contributions to the sector of robotics, notably for her analysis on the algorithmic foundations of movement planning, computational biology, computational geometry, and parallel computing. Dr. Alyssa Nicole Pierson, at Boston College, was awarded the MassRobotics Rising Star in Robotics Medal for her key contributions to the cooperative, distributed management of multi-agent groups.
To encourage variety within the subject of robotics, Amazon established an endowment with MassRobotics in 2022 to assist these two annual awards. The aim of The Robotics Medal isn’t solely to have a good time particular person achievements, but additionally to encourage and encourage ladies and different underrepresented teams to take part in shaping the way forward for the world via robotics.
“By endowing the Robotics Medal, we aspire to showcase and have a good time ladies robotics professors worldwide who’ve made a big impression to the development of the sector of robotics,” stated Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics. “It’s an honor to be the founding sponsor of the Robotics Medal and we’re grateful for the numerous contributions and teachings made by our rising stars and legendary pioneers in that subject.”
A name for nominations started ultimately 12 months’s ICRA convention, with nominations coming from throughout america together with Texas, Washington, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania, in addition to across the globe from international locations together with Canada, Japan, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, and India. Submissions spanned a variety of robotic expertise fields and areas of analysis, from new supplies for gripping, exoskeletons and assistive applied sciences, human robotic interplay and movement planning.
Since 2017, MassRobotics has grown from a Massachusetts-based incubator to a worldwide robotics hub, serving to assist the adoption of robotics worldwide and offering startups with the assets wanted to develop and scale. Of the present 80 startups that MassRoboitcs homes at its facility in Boston, greater than 50% are from out of state and 25% are from exterior the U.S.
MassRobotics hosts STEM and robotics associated initiatives particularly focused for highschool ladies and continues to advertise ladies in robotics via occasions and networking to make sure ladies are acknowledged and heard.
“We have been thrilled by the overwhelming variety of certified nominations we obtained and impressed with the range of robotic fields and analysis taking place throughout the globe” stated Joyce Sidopoulos, cofounder at MassRobotics. “It displays the highly effective contributions ladies have made and can proceed to make to this essential, vibrant and rising subject supporting almost all industries.”
The Robotics Medal and Rising Star recipients have been chosen by a committee of robotics specialists, led by MassRobotics, which convened a number of instances and methodically evaluated the importance, depth and originality of technical contributions every nominee has made within the general subject of robotics.
“The sphere of robotics requires the distinctive insights, inventiveness, and management of extra feminine professionals to propel the science, engineering, and purposes of this significant self-discipline ahead, and to encourage the following wave of innovators,” says Daniela Rus, Director of the Pc Science and Synthetic Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT and member of the MassRobotics board. “The Robotics Medal signifies excess of its substantial financial award. It symbolizes an acknowledgement and celebration of the outstanding achievements of girls who not solely pioneer within the subject, but additionally encourage as function fashions, sparking the curiosity and ambition of the forthcoming technology of roboticists.”
A proper Gala awarding the medals and celebrating the winners shall be held in Boston on the Museum of Science on October twenty first. The Museum of Science will spotlight the medal winners of their ongoing Ladies in Expertise initiative. Tickets and reserved tables for the occasion shall be obtainable shortly.
MassRobotics has created an endowment and welcomes contributions to assist future money prizes for The Robotics Medal. Contact award@massrobotics.org to find out about changing into a founding underwriter of The Robotics Medal. Nominations for the 2024 Robotics Medal and Rising Star are actually open. Extra info might be discovered right here.
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