Helen Greiner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Helen Greiner
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| Born | December 6, 1967 London, United Kingdom
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| Nationality | American |
| Engineering career | |
| Employer(s) | iRobot, CyPhyWorks, Robotic, AI & Autonomy Expert of US Army, Tertill |
| Awards | Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award |
Helen Greiner is a super smart American engineer and businesswoman. She is famous for helping to start iRobot, a company that makes robots for homes and for the military. She also led other companies that create cool drones.
Helen Greiner was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2013. This was because she was a leader in designing and building useful robots.
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Helen's Early Life and School
Helen Greiner was born in London, England, on December 6, 1967. When she was five years old, her family moved to Southampton, New York, in the United States.
When Helen was ten, she watched the movie Star Wars. She has said that the robot R2-D2 in the movie made her want to work with robots herself.
Helen went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, she earned a degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in computer science. She also has special honorary degrees from other universities. Her big goal is to understand how intelligence works.
Helen's Amazing Career in Robotics
Starting iRobot and Making Famous Robots
In 1990, Helen Greiner teamed up with Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle to start iRobot. This company is based in Bedford, Massachusetts. Their goal was to bring robots into people's homes.
Helen helped design the very first version of the iRobot Roomba. This robot is a popular vacuum cleaner that cleans floors all by itself!
She was the President of iRobot until 2004 and the Chairman until 2008. While she was there, iRobot launched the Roomba, the PackBot, and SUGV military robots. The PackBot and SUGV robots are used by soldiers to help with dangerous tasks. Over 6,000 PackBots were sent to help the United States armed forces.
Working with NASA and Drones
Helen also worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This is where they build and control spacecraft and robots that explore space. She also worked at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
In 2008, Helen started a new company called CyPhy Works. This company created special drones, like the Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications (PARC) drone and the Pocket Flyer. These drones could fly for a long time and were used for different purposes. She left CyPhy Works in late 2017.
Helping the US Army and Gardening Robots
After leaving CyPhy Works, Helen started working as an advisor to the United States Army in 2018. She helps the Army with new ideas about robots, self-driving systems, and artificial intelligence (AI).
In September 2020, Helen Greiner became the CEO and Chairman of a company called Tertill. This company makes a robotic gardening tool that helps keep weeds out of gardens.
Awards and Special Recognition
Helen Greiner has received many awards for her work:
- In 2000, the World Economic Forum named her one of the "Global Leaders of Tomorrow."
- In 2003, she and iRobot co-founder Colin Angle were named "Entrepreneurs of the Year" for New England.
- Fortune Magazine also named her one of the "Top Ten Innovators" in 2003.
- Good Housekeeping magazine called her "Entrepreneur of the Year."
- She was also named one of "America's Best Leaders" by the Kennedy School at Harvard.
- In 2006, she received the Pioneer Award from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
- In 2007, Helen was added to the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame.
- She received the 2008 Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award for her amazing ideas at iRobot.
- Technology Review Magazine also recognized her as one of the "Innovators for the Next Century."
- In 2013, Helen gave a TEDxBoston talk. She explained how robots can save lives by doing jobs that are too boring or too dangerous for people.
- In 2014, she won the DEMO God Award at the DEMO Conference. After this, she was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Leadership by US President Barack Obama.
- In 2018, she was named "Woman of the Year" at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
See also
In Spanish: Helen Greiner para niños
