Roboticists have one more week to submit applications for the IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award. The award will recognize an individual who has made “significant” contributions to the engineering and entrepreneurial ecosystem of a country or region, said the association. Nominations are due Aug. 31, 2022.
“I'd like to see a robotics entrepreneur win,” noted Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics (SVR). She is also industrial activities president for the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS), as well as entrepreneurship deep tech lead at IEEE.
IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is a Piscataway, N.J.-based professional association with more than 400,000 members in about 160 countries. Tracing its origins back to 1884, the organization provides publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational opportunities.
Eligibility requirements
Both members of IEEE and non-members can nominate themselves or be nominated by others.
Candidates cannot be members of the IEEE Entrepreneurship Awards Committee, nor can they be past recipients of the IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award. Past winners include industrial 3D printing startup re:3D.
In addition, the IEEE stated that its eligibility and selection process will comply with its own internal policies, particularly IEEE Policy 4.4 on Awards Limitations. Incidents of misconduct including, but not limited to, violations of IEEE’s publication policies, will be strongly considered by the awards committee and may be grounds for denial of an award.
IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award criteria
Award recipients will be scored and selected based on the following criteria:
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Value creation
- Impact
- Sustainability
The winning person or team will receive an honorarium of $2,000 (U.S.) and a plaque commemorating their achievement.
Interested parties can submit nominations online now.
After the deadline on Aug. 31, the IEEE said it will thoroughly review submissions next month. The committee will select the IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award recipient by Sept. 30 and announce the winner during the first week of October.
“Opportunities like this are incredibly important for new robotics companies because those companies are small,” Keay told Robotics 24/7. “They're not well-known names yet, and they don't have a big marketing team or budget. How else do people know where to find real innovation and impact in technology, without something like the IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award?”
Drishti wins IERA Award
The IEEE isn't the only organization recognizing leadership in robotics. In June, Drishti Technologies Inc. won the Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation, or IERA.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company claimed that its video analytics technology can help manufaturers reduce defect rates by up to 50% in three months, improve throughput by 15%, and reduce time to train new line associates by up to 50%.
“Drishti has developed a pathway towards successful robotics and automation suitable for any size of company,” said Keay, who was jury chair. “This opens up significant benefits, both for manufacturers and their employees. We are pleased to honor this achievement with the IERA Award 2022.”
The IERA award was jointly presented by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and IEEE RRAS. In 2021, ABB Robotics' PixelPaint technology won the IERA Award.
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