2017 RAS Award Recipients Announced

The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society recognizes and congratulates the following individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and service to RAS and the robotics and automation community. They will be honored during an award luncheon to be held at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA 2017) on 1 June at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding recipients!

RAS Pioneer Award

Paolo Dario - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSA), Pisa, Italy
"For pioneering the emerging area of BioRobotics, the science and engineering of integrating robotics with biology and medicine"

RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation

Vijay Kumar - University of Pennsylvania (PA), United States
"For his leadership in building institutions and in creating national and international programs to promote robotics and automation"

Peter B. Luh - University of Connecticut (CT), United States
"For exceptional vision and leadership in strengthening and promoting the field of automation science and engineering"

IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award

Nancy M. Amato - Texas A&M University (TX), United States
"For innovative leadership in the RAS Electronic Products and Services Board and in ICRA and IROS conferences"

RAS Early Career Award (Academic)

Conor Walsh - Harvard University (MA), United States
"For contributions to soft robotics and wearable technology for rehabilitation"

Sertac Karaman - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), (MA) United States
"For contributions to motion planning and control algorithms for robots and autonomous vehicles"

IEEE Inaba Technical Award for Innovation Leading to Production

Paulo Debenest, Michele Guarnieri, Shigeo Hirose - Hibot Corp, Japan
"For outstanding contributions to the application of robotics in the power distribution industry"

IEEE Robotics and Automation Award for Product Innovation

Clearpath Robotics - Christopher Bogdon
"Jackal Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV): A small 4-wheeled all-terrain robot with multiple payload capacity and open source software"

RAS Most Active Technical Committee Award

Technical Committee on Cognitive Robotics
Chairs: Giulio Sandini, Matthias Scheutz, Shingo Shimoda, David Vernon

RAS Chapter of the Year Award 

IEEE RAS Tunisia Chapter
Chairs: Nizar Rokbani, Adel Alimi