Carlotta Berry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carlotta Berry
Born	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma mater	Spelman College (B.S.) Georgia Institute of Technology (B.S.) Wayne State University (M.S.) Vanderbilt University (Ph.D.)
Scientific career
Fields	Robotics Education
Institutions	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Tennessee State University

Carlotta Berry is an inspiring American engineer and professor. She teaches about electrical and computer engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Dr. Berry is passionate about robots and making sure everyone, especially girls and students from diverse backgrounds, feels welcome in the exciting world of engineering. She even helps lead programs like ROSE-BUD and co-founded groups like Black In Engineering and Black In Robotics to achieve this goal.

Carlotta Berry's Journey into Engineering

Her Early Life and Education

Carlotta Berry grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, in the U.S. She loved learning and went to college to study math and electrical engineering. She earned two bachelor's degrees, one in mathematics in 1992 from Spelman College and another in electrical engineering in 1993 from Georgia Institute of Technology.

While studying engineering, she noticed that there weren't many women or African-American students and teachers. This made her want to become an engineering professor herself. She wanted to inspire more people from all backgrounds to join the field. After college, she worked in the industry and also earned a master's degree in control systems from Wayne State University in 1996. A year later, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a professor and went to Vanderbilt University for her Ph.D. There, she studied Robotics and focused on how humans and robots can work together better. Her research looked at how to make it easier for people to control mobile robots using special computer interfaces.

Making a Difference in the World of Robotics

Teaching and Inspiring Future Engineers

Today, Dr. Carlotta Berry is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She teaches students about mobile robots, how humans interact with robots, and how to encourage more diverse students to become engineers.

In 2008, Dr. Berry and her colleague Deborah Walter started a special program called Rose Building Undergraduate Diversity (ROSE-BUD). This program helps talented female students and students from underrepresented groups get scholarships and support to study computer science and engineering. She also helped create a new minor degree program in robotics at Rose-Hulman, where students from different subjects can learn about robots. She continues to help lead this program. Dr. Berry often speaks at events that encourage women to go into engineering. She has also written articles for newspapers and magazines about her experiences as a professor from an underrepresented group.

Writing Books for Young Robot Enthusiasts

Dr. Berry is also an author! She writes a series of children's books called There's a Robot!. Her goal with these books is to introduce young people to exciting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) ideas in a fun way. These books help kids imagine a future where they can build and work with robots too.

Awards and Recognition for Her Impact

Carlotta Berry has received many awards for her important work in making STEM fields more diverse and welcoming. These awards celebrate her efforts to inspire and support students from all backgrounds.

• She received the Women and Hi Tech Leading Light award and the INSIGHT Into Diversity Inspiring Women in STEM award.
• In 2020, she was named an Indiana FIRST Game Changer and one of "30 women in Robotics You need to Know about." She also received the Reinvented Magazine Interview of the Year award.
• In 2021, Dr. Berry was honored as the Dr. Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering. She also received the TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder award.
• In June 2021, she was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow by the American Society for Engineering Education and an IEEE Senior Fellow.
• In 2022, she earned several more awards, including the 2023 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Society of Women Engineers 2022 Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, and the 2022 Open Source Hardware Trailblazer Fellow.
• In 2023, AnitaB.org gave her the Abie Educational Innovation Award at the Grace Hopper Celebration.
• In 2024, she was included in the Forbes 50 Over 50 list for innovation. She was also named the IEEE Education Society Distinguished Lecturer and a Visiting Scientist at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.