RIA announces winners of 2000 Engelberger Robotics Awards

Citation

(2000), "RIA announces winners of 2000 Engelberger Robotics Awards", Industrial Robot, Vol. 27 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2000.04927eab.003

RIA announces winners of 2000 Engelberger Robotics Awards

RIA announces winners of 2000 Engelberger Robotics Awards

Keywords Robotics, Awards

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Robotic Industries Association (RIA) presented the Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards, the industry's most prestigious honor, to four industry leaders during the International Symposium on Robotics, held May 14-17 in Montreal, Canada.

The Engelberger Awards recognize outstanding individuals from all over the world for achievements in the following areas: technology development, application, education, and leadership. The 2000 recipients are:

Technology development

Dr McFarlane started International Submarine Engineering (ISE) 25 years ago with the intent of developing unmanned, teleoperated robots for the subsea market. Technologies developed as a result of the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) include control systems, manipulators, teleoperation, master arms, telemetry and user interface controls. Other ISE robotics technology developments are used in nuclear clean-up, astronaut training and auto refueling stations. Dr McFarlane has been an integral part of the success of each project. Under McFarlane's leadership, ISE has built more than 240 robotic manipulators and 170 robotic vehicles.

Application

Mr Woerner founded ATS in 1978 with the goal of helping North American manufacturers compete with companies around the world by reducing their production costs and increasing efficiency. He felt that developing standard modular or "building block" devices rather than designing and manufacturing every part of every system individually would provide advantages in costs, product quality and project technical risk. ATS was one of the first companies in the industry to adopt this approach. Mr Woerner has transformed ATS from a small special machine builder into one of the largest North American producers of advanced automated manufacturing systems. The company has installed more than 8,000 systems, particularly focused on the automotive, medical and computer industries.

Education

Dr Goldberg and his students conduct research in four areas: part feeding, part sorting, modular fixturing, and WWW-telerobotics, with the focus being on approaches that require a minimum of sensing and actuation to reduce costs, improve product quality and reduce the time to market. Goldberg developed the first robot on the Internet in 1994, which was followed by a series of public Internet telerobotic systems such as Telegarden, an online robot that allows users to plant and water seeds in a real garden (http://telegarden.aec.at). Goldberg has advised eight PhD students and taught dozens of Master's and undergraduate students. He won a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Southern California in 1994.

Leadership

Mr Duncheon has been actively involved in promoting the robotics industry around the world by giving presentations on the market drivers impacting the industry's growth. He is also heavily involved in key robotics organizations. Duncheon was instrumental in the development of the Automation Technologies Council (ATC), umbrella organization for the Robotic Industries Association and Automated Imaging Association, and served as its first chairman. He served two years as President of the Robotic Industries Association, during which time the association accomplished several key projects including the approval of the ANSI/RIA R15.06 Robot Safety Standard and the development of Robotics Online, the industry's premier online robotics resource. Duncheon has served on the Board of the Automation Forum and is currently a US National Coordinator for the International Federation of Robotics.

Each winner receives a $2,000 honorarium and commemorative medallion. Since its inception in 1977, awards have been presented to 76 international robotics leaders from 13 countries. RIA is now accepting nominations for the 2001 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards. For further information contact Marchy Lehtinen. Tel: 734 994 6088. The deadline to submit a nomination for the 2001 award is March 1, 2001.