Marita Cheng facts for kids

Marita Cheng AM (born 5 March 1989) is an amazing Australian inventor and entrepreneur. She is famous for starting Robogals, a group that encourages young women to get into science and technology.

Marita was named the Young Australian of the Year in 2012. She also founded Aubot, a company that makes robots. She helped create Aipoly, an app that helps blind people "see" objects using their phones. Forbes magazine even called her one of the World's Top 50 women in Technology in 2018!

Early Life

Marita grew up in Queensland, Australia. Her mother raised her alone and worked hard as a hotel cleaner. They lived in a special housing apartment.

Career and Innovations

Marita has always been interested in new ideas and helping people.

Starting New Ventures

In 2007, while at university, Marita started a company called Nudge. It sent reminders by phone or text message to help people remember to take their medicine. She won an award for this idea at the University of Melbourne.

Soon after, she gathered friends to create workshops. These workshops taught girls about robotics. This idea grew into Robogals, which Marita officially started in 2008. Its main goal is to inspire young women to choose careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Marita later earned degrees in mechatronics engineering and computer science.

Learning and Awards

In 2011, Marita received a special scholarship called a Churchill Fellowship. This allowed her to travel to countries like the U.S., U.K., and Germany. She learned how different places teach science to young women.

Also in 2011, Marita won the Change Agent ABIE Award from the Anita Borg Institute. This award recognized her efforts to make a difference.

In November 2011, Marita was named Victorian Young Australian of the Year. Then, she became the overall Young Australian of the Year for 2012. This was a huge honor!

Robotics and Helping Others

In 2013, Marita started her own robotics company, Aubot. This company creates special robots.

In 2015, Marita attended a special program at Singularity University. There, she came up with an amazing app idea. This app uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help people who are visually impaired. It allows them to recognize objects using their mobile phones. The app, called Aipoly, won a "Best of Innovation" award at the CES in 2017.

Marita officially launched Aipoly in January 2016. It helps blind people "see" the world around them through their phone's camera.

Marita continued to work on her robotics company, Aubot. She even moved to Brisbane, Australia, for six months in 2017 to work on her ideas. In 2018, she went to San Francisco to further develop her company.

Sharing Her Knowledge

From 2012 to 2018, Marita was on the board of the Foundation for Young Australians. This group helps young people achieve their goals. She also helped decide on investments for new startup companies at RMIT University.

Public Appearances

Marita loves to share her passion for technology.

She has given two TEDx talks, where she shares her ideas with a wide audience. She has also spoken at major technology and entrepreneurship conferences around the world. These include events at MIT and the Global Summit of Women in Tokyo.

Marita has appeared on TV shows like ABC's Q&A. She was even a judge on the show The New Inventors in 2011. She has also shared the stage with famous people like actor Ashton Kutcher.

Her work as a technology entrepreneur has been featured in popular magazines like Vogue Australia.

Marita often uses her company's Teleport robot to attend events. This robot allows her to be "present" even when she's not physically there. For example, she used it to meet Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2018! She also used it to give a speech at Robogals' 10-year anniversary party.

Awards and Other Accolades

Marita Cheng has received many awards for her amazing work:

• 2012 – Young Australian of the Year
• 2014 – RoboHub 25 Women in Robotics you need to know about
• 2014 – Global Engineering Deans Council Diversity Award
• 2016 – Forbes 30 Under 30
• 2016 – Asia Society's Asia Game Changer Award
• 2017 – American Australian Association Next Generation Leader
• 2018 – Forbes World's Top 50 Women in Tech
• 2018 - The NSW Award for Excellence in Women's Leadership

On 9 June 2019, Marita was honored with the Order of Australia. This award recognized her important contributions to science and technology, especially in robotics.