Robotics Science and Systems 2019 Meet the Women in Robotics Workshop

Suny At Albany, Albany NY

Investigators

Abstract

There is a large disparity in the gender of researchers in robotics. As the field of robotics becomes more integrated in every aspect of our society it is important that there be more women roboticists. This award helps US graduate students travel to attend the Women in Robotics workshop that will take place at the Robotics Science and Systems conference. This workshop will highlight the work of important female roboticists and by raising their visibility hopefully encourage more women to pursue robotics research. Robots are anticipated to be an integral part of meeting societal needs in domains like healthcare, space exploration, and education. To meet the growing demand for robotics technologies in these domains, the pool of capable roboticists will need to grow in kind. However, the number of female roboticists entering the field continues to notably lag behind male counterparts. This gender disparity presents a significant hurdle for adequately meeting the demand for experienced robot scientists. The Meet the Women in Robotics Workshop (WiRW) is focused on reducing the gender gap in the robotics domain by providing an opportunity to feature the work of prominent female roboticists. The fifth Meet the Women in Robotics Workshop (WiRW) aims to (1) raise the visibility of women in robotics, (2) strengthen the community of female roboticists and provide an opportunity for networking, and (3) connect junior robotics researchers to senior mentors in the field. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.