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Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in robotics and automation will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job. The video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field. Robotics, automation and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated robotics field. Role Model Videos: Career Options for Women -- Robotics and Automation
$99 
Item #: EDV69 |
Career Options for Women -- Robotics and Automation:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in robotics:
- Isabelle Tremblay, an engineer specializing in the use of robotics for space exploration
- Jessica Amsden, a robotics technician who works in automated manufacturing
- Cheryl Hyrnkiw, owner-operator of Solarbotics, which produces educational robot kits
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Robotics and Automation video:
Isabelle: Robotics Engineer
Isabelle Tremblay's robotics work has taken her career to new heights -- outer space. Isabelle's fascination with the unknown and science fiction was the perfect backdrop for her current job. Planets and space exploration have been on her mind since she was a girl. That curiosity has landed her a job as a robotics engineer at the Canadian Space Agency.
Jobs in robotics and automation are opening up at warp speed. Along with several different engineering-related careers, there are many positions available that require a 2-year technical degree. Isabelle says some of the skills needed for her job are curiosity, optimism and an interest in everything technical and space related.
“I like to see the tangible result of my research and to share my expertise with other researchers through publications and conferences.” Along with sharing her research knowledge, Isabelle also shares her passion with robotics by enlightening young women to the possibilities of a career in robotics."
In the future, Isabelle would love to participate in space mission experiments using her knowledge and experience in robotics. Of course, we’re talking on-site, in space.
Jessica: Robotics Technician
Jessica Amsden is a robotics technician for E-One Moli Energy, a company that produces lithium ion batteries, the kind that recharge and have a longer life. Jessica's pretty charged herself, doing maintenance on the automated equipment used to manufacture the batteries. She also does project work, installing new equipment and doing equipment modifications. Her job activities range from simple mechanical servicing to using sophisticated software programs to troubleshoot or update equipment. A typical day would find her at the workbench or in the production area taking care of business.
Jessica was the first woman to ever graduate from the Robotics and Automation program at her technical institute since it began in the early 80s. Her advice to other women considering this type of career is to stick with it. School is hard, but it will pay off. “With robotics you get to focus on more than one thing. You experience a whole range of technological areas.”
Most of the over 650,000 robots installed worldwide have been used in manufacturing. Typical applications are welding cars, spraying paint and loading and unloading machines. These robots are mainly used by the automobile and metal-manufacturing industries.
The technicians who work at E-One Moli Energy must be able to grasp a wide spectrum of technologies - from cam driven mechanical systems to X-Rays networked with Ethernet. There is also a huge array of specialized applications for robotics technicians and technologists. Basically, it's the control of motion and its properties that are common to most applications.
Cheryl: Robotics Business Owner
Cheryl Hyrnkiw and her husband design and manufacture robot kits, mostly for educational purposes. Cheryl loves her home-based robotics business because it's an opportunity to always be at the forefront of technology. And there are always new toys to play with. Just check out her home. It's overrun with electronic critters of all sorts.
“I love my job because it's constantly changing. Robotics is a fairly new field. It's on the forefront of technology and there are always new things coming out to play with.”
Cheryl's future plans are to take a step back from the day-to-day administrative work of her business and get more into the hands-on technical work. She wants the company to focus on research and find even more practical applications for their robots.
Cheryl’s research could one day result in robots that have a practical, useful application that everyone can benefit from, over and above the educational aspect and fun her kits now provide. In the meantime, she still enjoys bringing high tech robotics into the lives of her customers, especially the kids.
Some of the new product research Cheryl is doing could really explode. She is currently working on developing robotic bomb disposal units and land mine seek and destroy systems.
$99
Item #: EDV69
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
