October 16, 2007
Who needs casinos? We've got robots!
By Cory Hopkins
WPI President and CEO Dennis Berkey
In making her pronouncement, Mayor Lukes also proclaimed today "Worcester Robotics Day," in honor of the symposium held to mark the launch of a new undergraduate major in robotics engineering at WPI.
The new major, launched this fall, is the first bachelor's degree program of its kind in the nation, said WPI President Dennis Berkey, and is a unique collaboration between the computer science, electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering departments at WPI.
The inter-disciplinary collaboration is not common at most universities, Berkey said.
"This kind of collaboration is out of the comfort level of most institutions," said Berkey. "I'm proud to say that it is becoming the norm at WPI."
The new major follows a recently created major in game software development that also combined several disciplines. Berkey said additional new programs of study in environmental engineering and environmental policy would soon follow suit.
The symposium brought more than 100 business and industry leaders, students and faculty together to hear about the future of robotics and its potential applications in civil and military use.
Ellen Purdy, a speaker at the symposium and enterprise director of the Department of Defense's Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise, said that much of the technology being developed by the military for use in combat also has civil and commercial use.
Robots designed to evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield, for example, could be used for elder care, Purdy said. Similarly, robotic "pack mules" that carry heavy equipment for soldiers could be used by firefighters in burning buildings. Automated supply convoys could be use by large retailers like Wal-Mart to add efficiency to their supply chains.
Both Berkey and Purdy stressed that the "triumvirate" of industry, higher education and government action is essential to developing robotic technologies that are practical and helpful to society.
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