This summer, JEM Electronics interns, Faye Ellis and Tulsi Patel, attended the Women in Robotics Breakfast and Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston. Here’s what they took away from the experience.
By, Faye Ellis and Tulsi Patel
Women in Robotics Breakfast | Hosted by MassRobotics
The Women in Robotics Breakfast, hosted by MassRobotics, introduced us to Mikell Taylor from General Motors. We had the opportunity to hear her journey and how she navigated the male-dominated field of robotics.
Taylor shared how she gained her love for robotics at a young age and how even a small opportunity introduced to her at school led her to become who she is today. As two high schoolers who are still figuring out what we want to do, her message highlighted the importance of utilizing resources and taking every opportunity to open a door into a field we could see ourselves succeeding in.
Taylor also spoke about balancing work and family life, making the point that being a mother and pursuing her passions were not mutually exclusive.
We also met Joyce Sidopoulos, Co-Founder and Chief of Operations at MassRobotics. Joyce shared a similar perspective. She talked about learning to balance the social and technical aspects of robotics and how that path led her to co-found MassRobotics in 2017. Like Taylor, she continued pursuing her career after starting a family, even though it looked different from where she initially started.
One message came through clearly from both speakers: becoming a mother does not mean sacrificing your career. Learning a healthy balance between work and family allows you to enjoy all aspects of life without giving up your interests.
Robotics Summit & Expo
After the breakfast, we attended the Robotics Summit & Expo. Walking the floor gave us a completely different perspective on how many companies are actively developing and promoting new products in this space.
We saw many different levels of engineering and robotics, from simple cables to fully articulated humanoid robots. The effort and collaboration behind every detail was evident, even in something as specific as the movement of a robotic hand.
That spirit of collaboration was also on display at the MassRobotics Competition, where college students from a wide range of backgrounds came together to build prototypes aimed at solving real problems. Watching them present their work and explain the research behind each project was one of the highlights of the day.
On the expo floor, a few exhibitors stood out:
Retail Robotics Solutions displayed an automatic food scanner that used sensors and cameras to detect items and generate a price for the customer. What caught our attention was watching the machine process items in real time, recognizing each product without any manual input.
Harvo was one of several companies showcasing robotic arms, part of the growing push into humanoid robotics. Their demo showed the precision these arms can achieve, with movements smooth enough to handle delicate tasks.
Agibot presented intelligent humanoid machines designed to operate independently in real-world settings. Seeing a full-sized humanoid robot up close, standing and moving on its own, was one of the most memorable moments from the expo.
Takeaways
After the event, we had a chance to reflect on everything we experienced. What seemed like simple products on the surface turned out to involve intricate details, constant testing, and the combined effort of many people.
Working at JEM this summer gave us a closer look at how cable assemblies and wire harnesses fit into the robotics systems we saw on the expo floor. Components that most people never notice are often the ones that keep these machines running reliably.
As we continue through high school and eventually into college, we hope to find a field we feel as passionate about as the people we met at the breakfast and the expo.
