On April 14 (Saturday), the University of Notre Dame is hosting a free community-wide event celebrating National Robotics Week, which will give participants the opportunity to see and interact with robots built for fun, learning and cutting-edge research.
The event, which will take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the North Dome of the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center, is open to the public. Local students, parents and teachers are especially encouraged to attend.
More than 65 students and faculty members from Notre Dame’s Colleges of Engineering and Arts and Letters, Saint Mary’s College, and the Robinson Community Learning Center will be demonstrating their robots and discussing their research. Participants will have the chance to interact with all exhibits and learn about the variety of ways robots are making a difference in the world, from assistive technology and stroke rehabilitation to digital music and art. Students in Notre Dame’s “Autonomous Mobile Robots” computer science course and the “Beyond Object” art course at Saint Mary’s will be demonstrating their collaborative class projects, which were designed specifically for this event.
In addition to the undergraduate and graduate students who will be staffing each station, faculty and staff from Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s will also be available answer questions about the research and how robots are being used make the world a better place in which to live. These faculty and staff include Laurel Riek, assistant professor of computer science and engineering and the event’s coordinator; Scott Howard, assistant professor of electrical engineering; James Schmiedeler, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering; Michael Stanisic, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering; Aaron Striegel, associate professor of computer science and engineering; Paul Turner, manager of academic technologies; Krista Hoefle, associate professor of art at Saint Mary’s College; and G. David Moss, assistant vice president of student affairs and coach of the Robinson Center’s robotic team.
Although this is the first such event sponsored by Notre Dame, it is the third annual National Robotics Week, which celebrates robotics technology development while educating the public about the many ways in which robotics technology impacts society and encouraging students to pursue careers in fields related to engineering, science, technology and math.
For more information, visit engineering.nd.edu/NDNRW.