Diversity will shape the future of robotics, and the industry is embracing this multiplicity of innovation. In celebration of women in robotics, Nancy Amato at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign received the inaugural MassRobotics Robotics Medal award, sponsored by Amazon Robotics. She was recognized for her contributions to the field of robotics, notably for her research on the algorithmic foundations of motion planning, computational biology, computational geometry and parallel computing. Alyssa Nicole Pierson at Boston University won the MassRobotics Rising Star in Robotics Medal for her contributions to the cooperative, distributed control of multi-agent teams.
MassRobotics, a non-profit robotics innovation hub, announced the inaugural awards at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) conference in London on June 1. The Robotics Medal is the world's first major prize to recognize the impact of female researchers focusing on the development of robotics around the globe. The Robotics Medal is awarded to a woman-identifying student/faculty nominated professor in robotics to recognize their impactful contributions to the field and includes a $50K prize awarded to the individual. The Rising Star Award recognizes up and coming woman-identifying persons making strides and advancing the field of robotics and includes a $5K award given to the individual.
To encourage diversity in the field of robotics, Amazon established an endowment with MassRobotics in 2022 to support these two annual awards. While the award celebrates individual achievements, it’s also meant to inspire and encourage women and other underrepresented groups to participate in shaping the future world through robotics.
A call for nominations began at last year's ICRA conference, with nominations coming from all around the United States including Texas, Washington, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as around the globe from countries including Canada, Japan, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and India. Submissions spanned a wide range of robotic technology fields and areas of research, from new materials for gripping, exoskeletons and assistive technologies, human robot interaction and motion planning.
"We were thrilled by the overwhelming number of qualified nominations we received and impressed with the diversity of robotic fields and research happening across the globe," said Joyce Sidopoulos, cofounder at MassRobotics. "It reflects the powerful contributions women have made and will continue to make to this important, vibrant and growing field supporting nearly all industries."
Led by MassRobotics, the award recipients were selected by a committee of robotics experts, considering the significance, depth and originality of the nominee’s technical contribution to robotics.
A formal gala awarding the medals and celebrating the winners will be held in Boston at the Museum of Science on October 21. The Museum of Science will highlight the medal winners in its ongoing Women in Technology initiative.
Nominations for the 2024 Robotics Medal and Rising Star are now open. More information can be found here.
