Unveiling an effort to give women in robotics more visibility and acknowledgment, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) this week launched an annual list titled “IFR's Women in Robotics: 10 Women Shaping the Future of Robotics.”
The program is intended to inspire girls and young women to pursue a career in STEM subjects or robotics and to help companies reach gender equality and to overcome staff shortages in a tight labor market.
The effort is important in light of a study by the World Bank showing that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita would be almost 20% higher on average if female employment were increased to be the same as men´s, IFR said.
“All around the world, there are inspiring women who work in our industry and set an example of gender equality,” IFR President Marina Bill said in a release. “We aim to give them more visibility and acknowledgment.”
IFR created the list by asking the robotics community to come up with nominations, and applied selection criteria including: their contributions to and achievements in the field of robotics overall, driving the industry further, and activities towards the encouragement of young women to decide for a career in STEM subjects or robotics.
The first list of "10 Women Shaping the Future of Robotics in 2024” is:
- Yasmin Al Enazi, Director Business Development & Corporate Alliance UAE Country at MARSES Robotics
- Michelle Frumkin, Global Marketing Manager Robotics Segment - Abrasive Systems Division at 3M
- Christelle Keefer, Global Product Manager / Education Director at ABB
- Mar Masulli, CEO and Co-Founder of Bitmetrics
- Clionadh Martin, Founder and CTO of Coalescent Mobile Robotics
- Sofie Nilsson, Product Manager at Cognibotics
- Daniela Sanchez, QC Engineer / QA Manager at Lionsbot
- Dr. Nadja Schmiedl, CTO at United Robotics Group
- Dr. Ulrike Tagscherer, Chief Innovation Officer at KUKA
- Dr. Xiaorui Zhu, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of RoboSense Inc.
“Robotics is a fascinating field and my clear message is that there is a great future for women in this industry,” Bill said. “Every year, the robotics ecosystem grows more and we want to set a benchmark in terms of gender equality.”
According to IFR, its list follows existing efforts by robot manufacturers such as ABB, FANUC, KUKA, and YASKAWA, who run programs to close the work-related gender gap. Those companies reach out to candidates at a young age at school to get them interested in new technologies related to robotics and STEM professions, and often work hand-in-hand with government initiatives, academia, and networking projects on a local level.
