Women in Robotics Series: Erica Tiberia, Roboticist and Educator

Women Engineers Toronto (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8499105/profile) and Get Your Bot On! (https://www.meetup.com/Get-Your-Bot-On-Robotics-Hackathon/) are pleased to bring to you the 'Women in Robotics Speaker Series'. This series celebrates the work of women in the field of robotics and provides a forum for them to share their work and career with the community. We invite all community members, male and female, to come and learn, participate in the discussion, and celebrate the contribution of women to this field.

This event is co-hosted with the IEEE Toronto Section, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) (http://toronto.ieee.ca/engineering-in-medicine-and-biology/) and the IEEE Women in Engineering Toronto Section (WIE) (http://toronto.ieee.ca/women-in-engineering-wie/).

Our speaker for the evening is Erica Tiberia.

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Erica Tiberia, roboticist, creative technologist, educator and entrepreneur, competed in the NASA Centennial Sample Return Robot Challenge in June 2016. Erica was one of 5 competitors to win the Level 1 challenge and proceed to Level 2 in September. You can see her working on her bot on the NASA website (https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/sample_return_robot/level-1-winners-for-2016-sample-return-robot-challenge.html).

As an educator Erica has designed and delivered educational programming for children and adults teaching robotics, electronics, fabrication and programming. Erica was on team Calmstress at the GYBO2015 Hackathon last year winning the prize for Best Design for Human Interaction (http://medicine.utoronto.ca/news/hackathon-crash-course-health-innovation).

Erica will share her experiences building AL, her rover robot, competing in the NASA challenge, what inspires her and how her diverse background led her down this path.

Agenda

6:00 pm - Networking

6:30 pm - Welcome

6:40 pm - Erica Tiberia - talk and Q&A

7:40 pm - Pitches from the community - Community members can ask for assistance on their projects

8:00 pm - Networking

9:00 pm - Close

Erica Tiberia, Roboticist, Creative Technologist, Educator and Entrepreneur

Erica is a tech educator and creative technologist. She has a technical background in molecular biology and biotechnology and a passion for science communication, digital education, and emerging technology. She has designed and coordinated education programs involving electronics, robotics, digital fabrication and programming for kids and adults. She also designs, builds and programs robots and is a level 1 winner of the 2016 sample return robot NASA Centennial Challenge. Her work has been featured on Bloomberg Tech (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-01/nasa-will-pay-you-1-5-million-to-build-the-next-rover), Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet, NASA.gov (https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/sample_return_robot/level-1-winners-for-2016-sample-return-robot-challenge.html)and more.

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A scientist by training, Erica has a B.Sc. In Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Waterloo. She completed M.Sc. work on research done at the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. She has done molecular biology research at Cornell University, the University of Waterloo, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the Princess Margaret Cancer Center, and is an author of multiple peer reviewed scientific papers.

You can follow Erica on Twitter (https://twitter.com/robotiberia).

About Women Engineers Toronto

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Women Engineers Toronto (WE T.O.) connects and supports women engineers and engineering professionals in Toronto, enabling them to rise together as a community. Going beyond your average networking event, WE T.O. encourages meaningful and engaging conversations through a series of meetups, speaker series and workshops. Join the Women Engineers Toronto LinkedIn group (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8499105)or connect with them on their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter (https://twitter.com/WE_Toronto).

About Get Your Bot On!

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Get Your Bot On! is a community of roboticists, engineers, designers and hobbyists in the Toronto area. GYBO! hosts meetups, workshops and hackathons for knowledge sharing and collaboration among its members. In September 2015 GYBO! hosted "Healthy: People and Environments", a 3-day hackathon for the design and prototyping of robots. Find out more at our website (https://getyourboton.com/) or follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/getyourboton).

About IEEE Toronto

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IEEE Toronto is a community for electrical and computer engineers and related professions. We hold professional/technical meetings, tutorials, conferences, etc. for our members and guests, and recognize excellence through our awards program. With approximately 4000 members in the local area, and more than 50 yearly events, we are very active in serving the electrical engineering professionals at all levels. Find out more about the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (http://toronto.ieee.ca/engineering-in-medicine-and-biology/) chapter and the Women in Engineering (http://toronto.ieee.ca/women-in-engineering-wie/) group.

Community Sponsor

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Special thanks to the Health Innovation Hub (http://h2i.utoronto.ca/), Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, for providing us the space for this meetup.

Events will begin at 6 pm with networking. Presentations will start at 6:30 and go to approximately 7:40. There will be time for Q&A and knowledge sharing. Participants are welcome to bring their own projects for our pitch session at the end of the meetup. Come and ask the community to help you when you are stumped!