Carlotta Berry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carlotta Berry
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| Born | |
| Alma mater | Spelman College Georgia Institute of Technology Wayne State University Vanderbilt University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Robotics Education |
| Institutions | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Tennessee State University |
Carlotta Berry is an amazing American engineer and professor. She teaches electrical and computer engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Dr. Berry is passionate about making sure more people, especially those who haven't always been included, get a chance to study engineering.
She helped start programs like Rose Building Undergraduate Diversity (ROSE-BUD). She also co-founded important groups like Black In Engineering and Black In Robotics. These groups help support Black engineers and roboticists.
Becoming an Engineer
Carlotta Berry loved learning! She earned two bachelor's degrees. One was in math in 1992, and the other was in electrical engineering in 1993. She got these degrees through a special program between Spelman College and Georgia Institute of Technology.
While studying engineering at Georgia Tech, she noticed something important. There weren't many women or African-American students and teachers in the engineering classes. This made her want to become an engineering professor herself. She wanted to inspire and help more people from different backgrounds join the field.
After college, she worked in the industry to pay off her student loans. At the same time, she kept studying! She earned her master's degree in control systems from Wayne State University in 1996. A year later, she decided to go back to school full-time. She went to Vanderbilt University to get her Ph.D.
At Vanderbilt, Dr. Berry worked in the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory (IRL). Her doctoral research was about how humans can better interact with robots. She focused on making it easier for people to understand what a robot was "thinking" by using cool graphics.
Teaching and Research
Today, Dr. Berry is a professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She teaches electrical and computer engineering. She is very interested in using robots to teach, how humans and robots work together, and how to get more diverse students into engineering.
In 2008, Dr. Berry and her friend Deborah Walter started the ROSE-BUD program. This program helps talented female students and students from underrepresented groups. It offers scholarships and other activities to encourage them to study computer science and engineering.
Dr. Berry also worked with other teachers at Rose-Hulman to create a new program. It's a minor degree in robotics, which means students can study robotics along with their main subject. She helps lead this program too.
She often speaks at events that encourage women in engineering. She has also written articles for big magazines like the New York Times. In these articles, she shares her experiences as a professor from an underrepresented group. She wants to show others that they can succeed too.
Awards and Achievements
Dr. Berry has won many awards for her amazing work. Many of these awards recognize her efforts to bring more diversity into STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
Some of her awards include:
- The Women and Hi Tech Leading Light award.
- The INSIGHT Into Diversity Inspiring Women in STEM award.
- In 2020, she was named an Indiana FIRST Game Changer.
- She was also recognized as "One of 30 women in Robotics You need to Know about."
- In 2021, she became the Dr. Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering. This is a very important position!
- She received the TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder award.
- In June 2021, she was named a Distinguished Fellow by the American Society for Engineering Education. She also became an IEEE Senior Fellow.
- In 2022, she won several more awards, including the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award and awards from the Society of Women Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Education.
- In 2023, she received the Abie Educational Innovation Award.
- In 2024, Forbes magazine named her to their "50 Over 50" list for innovation.
- She was also named an IEEE Education Society Distinguished Lecturer and a Visiting Scientist at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
Books by Carlotta Berry
Dr. Berry has written several books, including some for younger readers!
- Berry, Carlotta A., and Brandeis Marshall. Mitigating Bias in Machine Learning. McGraw-Hill, October 2024. ISBN: 9781264922710
- Berry, Carlotta A., What's the Matter with Orbit, Rebellion Lit, October 2024. ISBN: 9798990893528
- Berry, Carlotta A., There's a Robot in my Troop, Rebellion Lit, July 2024. ISBN: 9798990893511
- Berry, Carlotta A., There's a Robot in my Classroom, Rebellion Lit, June 2024. ISBN: 9798990893504
- Berry, Carlotta A., There's a Robot at my Summer Camp, Rebellion Lit, May 2024. ISBN: 9798218436025
- Berry, Carlotta A., There's a Robot at my Afterschool, Rebellion Lit, April, 2024. ISBN: 9781736555293
- Berry, Carlotta A., There's a Robot in my Closet, Rebellion Lit, July 2023. ISBN: 9781736555286
