2010 Maryland Robotics Day draws large crowd

2010 Maryland Robotics Day draws large crowd

2010 Maryland Robotics Day draws large crowd

Organizers of the first Maryland Robotics day, Sept. 10, learned something very important along the way: Robots are popular. Very popular!

Maryland Robotics Day was the kickoff event for the Maryland Robotics Center, formed earlier this year by the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and housed within the Institute for Systems Research. Professor S.K. Gupta is the center's director. The Center consists of 25 faculty members spanning Aerospace Engineering, Bioengineering, Biology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

Well over 400 people attended the event on campus, including some 100 high school students, their science teachers, and their parents; as well as representatives from neighboring national labs, start-up companies and defense industries. The keynote speaker, Dr. Martin Buehler, Director of Research at iRobot, delivered an informative and stimulating talk which also included a number of exciting videos.

A total of 16 research laboratories showcased their robotic projects for almost 4 hours continuously. Many labs stayed open for visitors well past the stated ending time of 2 p.m. Graduate students and their faculty advisors did a superb job explaining and demonstrating their robotics work to the legions of visitors. Undergraduate students from the Science, Technology and Society honors program acted as guides throughout the event.

ISR Director Reza Ghodssi called the event, "an excellent demonstration of our strength and expertise in robotics at Maryland. We are now officially located on the world robotics map."

News coverage
The open house drew reporters from television, radio and print media.

View Channel 9's coverage here.

Read Flight International's Sept. 21 story on Ph.D. student Evan Ulrich's patented "RoboSeed" single-wing aircraft modeled on a samara, or maple seed. Flight Global also released the story here.

Read the story "UMD Robotics Day Attracts Large Turnout" on the Prince George's Sentinel website.

Science News

University of Maryland's Between the Columns publication.

University of Maryland Newsline

A family of robotics hobbyists blog about their attendance. This article was subsequently picked up by the large robotics blog Make:.

Streaming video of University of Maryland speakers

Wideo shot by The Diamondback, University of Maryland student newspaper

Related Articles:
Oh, the logistics!
New Microsoft/Maryland Robotics Center partnership to enhance diversity and innovation
MRC and MAGE Earn ARM Institute Endorsement
Voice of America video highlights kidney transplant drone flight
Student autonomous drone racing team takes 2nd place at IROS
Derek Paley named Maryland Robotics Center director
Miao Yu named Maryland Robotics Center director
Building a smarter industrial robot
Hundreds Flock to 2011 Maryland Robotics Day
Inspired by Nature, Researchers Improve System Movement

September 11, 2010


Prev   Next

Current Headlines

UMD, Partners Receive $31M for Semiconductor Research

Goulias Tapped to Develop Renewable Construction Materials

Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month

Brick by Brick: The Clark School Celebrates LGBTQ+ Engineers

UMD Part of $10 Million DOE Hydrogen Grant

UMD Ranks #10 in Public Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Programs

Firefighter Exoskeleton Built by UMD Students Wins Second Place at ASTM International Games

DOE Ups Its Investment in UMD to Develop Eco-Friendly Heat Pumps

News Resources

Return to Newsroom

Search News

Archived News

Events Resources

Events Calendar