Helen Greiner
Personal Information
Born: 1967
Country of Birth: UK
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
MIT BS Mechanical Engineering 1989 & MS Computer Science 1990
""He [R2-D2]had a personality and was more than just a machine," said Greiner. "Since then, I've wanted to build robots that were more than machines." (investors.com); "A great leader has to make the decisions that will motivate people in the same direction." (investors.com); " When you’re young, build stuff. It doesn’t matter what it is. Robots, drones, electronic-moving jewelry. Learn how to build stuff and debug – go through that process. Robotics is happening at small companies. Join a small company when you’re young. What’s great about this company is you can try something, have a line on your resume, and if it doesn’t work, then move on. Not all countries have that." (thedronegirl.com); "Life should be lived in stages," Greiner tells us. "So winning can also be raising great children, giving back with charity or mentoring work, or living your best life and encouraging others to do the same." (huntclub.com); “The problems that our future engineers and scientists decide to tackle are driven in part by their life experiences, and so we need more women’s life experiences influencing our directions and designs.” (tynker.com); "
— Helen Greiner
Professional Life
Field of Study: Robotics; Computer Science
Institution/Corporation: NASA; MIT; iRobot; Tertill;
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI, 2009); Clarkson University (2017); Member: National Academy of Engineering (2013); Board of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF); Trustee boston Museum of Science (2008); Tau Beta Pi; Pi Tau Sigma;
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2008 Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award; 2000 Global Leader of Tomorrow, World Economic Forum; 2003 New England Entrepreneur of the Year, Ernst & Young (with Collin Angle); 2003 named to Top 10 Innovators, Fortune Magazine; Entrepreneur of the Year, Good Housekeeping; 2005 named 1 of America's Best Leaders, Kennedy School at Harvard & US News & World Report; 2006 Pioneer Award, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI); 2007 Women in Technology International Hall of Fame; 2002 named to TR100 Innovators for the Next Century, Technology Review Magazine; 2014 DEMO God Award, DEMO Conference; 2018 Woman of the Year, Wentworth Institute of Technology; 2022 50 Over 50-Entrepreneurs, Forbes Magazine;
Achievements: 1990 co-founder of iRobot with Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle; co-developer of Roomba; 2008 founded & CEO of CyPhy Work, Inc., (now known as Aria Insights) a start-up company specializing in small multi-rotor drones for the consumer, commercial and military markets, and of Tertill Corporation; while president of iRobot (1990-2004) also released the PackBot and SUGV military robots; has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; as of 2018, she works as an advisor to the United States Army, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, (OASA(ALT)) & was sworn in on June 4, 2018 as a Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) for Robotics, Autonomous Systems & AI for the Army (ASA(ALT)); 2020 appointed as CEO and Chairman of robotic gardening startup, Tertill; was appointed as the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship by President Obama; Founding president of the Robotics Technology Consortium, now called National Ground Vehicle Consortium 2008-2012; her team at iRobot built a robot that would explore two of the shafts, or tunnels, in the Great Pyramid of Giza & gave the world its first look into the Queen's Chamber; partnered with Hasbro to release its first product: an interactive robotic doll named ‘My Real Baby’ & was equipped with sensors so it could react to stimulation but the $99.99 price tag was steep & only about 100,000 were sold; teamed with Clorox to make the cleaning fluid for the Scooba, a floor washing robot;
moved to the United States when she was 5
her long term goal is to understand the nature of intelligence
became interested in robotics after seeing "Star Wars" when she was 10
is an avid gardener
the Tertill robots not only pull weeds but can prevent new weeds from growing
she has tried everything from wakeboarding to kiteboarding to kayaking, & is always looking for new adventures
her PackBots were used in the rescue effort after the September 11 attacks and for search and bomb-disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan
known as the Robot Queen
while working at NASA, helped in designing robots to do repair work in space
helped design a robot named Scooba that can wash the floor
played chess with her father at five
by middle school she was hacking the family computer in order to control her brother's radio-operated cars
it took twelve years to sell an iRobot at a profit
had to overcome her fear of public speaking and flying and stop being an introvert when she became the public "face" of iRobot
is a big snowboarding fan
believes robots will eventually be in every home, doing tasks like walking children to school or cleaning homes
her company's mission statement has always been, “Build cool stuff, deliver great product, make money, have fun, and change the world,”
holds 6 patents