Ten ladies shaping the way forward for robotics in 2025. | Supply: IFR
To offer ladies in robotics extra visibility and acknowledgment, the Worldwide Federation of Robotics, or IFR, this week named 10 ladies who’re shaping the robotics trade. The group mentioned it hopes the record will encourage women and younger ladies to pursue a profession in science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM) or robotics and assist firms to succeed in gender equality and overcome staffing shortages.
At present, ladies make up 48% of the full workforce and simply 34% of the STEM workforce, in line with the Nationwide Ladies Collaborative Challenge. In relation to engineering and robotics roles, the quantity is even smaller, with ladies solely making up about 16% of the workforce.
In instances of demographic change and an rising lack of expert labor, economies across the globe can not ignore a sure share of it, mentioned the IFR. Furthermore, a extra numerous workforce has been confirmed to assist firms enhance productiveness, competitiveness, and innovation, mentioned the group.
A examine from the Max Planck Institute for Clever Methods, or MPI-IS, not too long ago discovered that educational plus workforce variety can drive extra creativity and innovation. The institute mentioned it brings extra productiveness and leads to techniques which are wide-reaching and higher at focusing on bias.
The IFR mentioned that whereas the gender hole is narrowing down and the feminine labor-force participation price is rising in lots of components of the world, there nonetheless is a major hole within the manufacturing sectors. That is particularly exacerbated in terms of feminine engineers and scientists. As an illustration, the feminine participation price is simply half that of the service sector in Europe.
Meet the IFR’s 10 ladies shaping robotics
The IFR’s 2025 awardees are:
- Albane Dersy, co-founder and chief working officer of Inbolt, France
- Ashlie Taivalkoski, director of gross sales at SCHUNK, U.S.
- Dr. Caren Dripke, head of growth robotics at Lorch Schweißtechnik, Germany
- Julia Astrid Riemenschneider, CEO of Rethink Robotics, U.S.
- Kari DeSantis, basic supervisor, company advertising and marketing at FANUC America, U.S.
- Feng (Kate) Xu, bead of China analysis and growth at ABB Robotics, China
- Kateryna Portmann, Senior Product Supervisor at ANYbotics, Switzerland
- Susanne Nördinger, UR+ ecosystem supervisor for EMEA and head of ecosystem success at Common Robots, Germany
- Yumie Kubota, govt officer and supervisor of the AI Robotics Division at Yaskawa Electrical Corp./president of AI Dice, Japan
- Yunzhi (Amber) Qi, co-founder and basic supervisor of the Abroad Enterprise Division at YOUIBOT Robotics, China
Specifically, the IFR was on the lookout for ladies who’ve a confirmed monitor document in robotics, stand out as trade leaders, or have a confirmed exercise in encouraging younger individuals to enter STEM or assist females in robotics. It thought of ladies from all world wide, a wide range of firm sizes, and totally different ranges of expertise.
“The European Fee’s new Competitiveness Compass highlights the combination of robotics as a key expertise to spice up innovation,” said the IFR. “Inspiring ladies to take up STEM topics and discover profession choices is vital: Various groups push innovation, and the robotics trade provides nice financial alternatives for high-quality jobs.”
The Robotics Summit & Expo, which might be on April 30 and Might 1 in Boston, will embody a ticketed Ladies in Robotics Breakfast on Day 2 of the occasion.
Register now so you do not miss out!