IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2022 - 6

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Greetings From the 2022 IEEE Robotics and
Automation Society President
By Frank Park
A
s I write my first editorial and
reflect on past President Seth
Hutchinson's observation that
we are in the middle of
several inflection points in history, I
can't help but wonder where we will be
in March when this article comes to
press. To observe that we are still living
in very trying times is now a tired
cliché, and yet it's hard to suppress the
optimism that perhaps, just possibly,
2022 could finally be the year we return
to some semblance of normal.
It's probably not a gross exaggeration
to say that the outgoing executive
committee endured two of the most
trying years in
the history of the
Robotics and
Automation Society
(RAS), and
I am deeply
grateful to everyone-President
Seth
Hutchinson,
Secretary Paolo
Fiorini, Treasurer
Venkat Krovi,
Vice President
(VP) Conference
It may come as a
surprise to some
that, among the 46
technical Societies
and councils in
IEEE, we are now
the fifth largest.
Activities Torsten Kroeger, VP Electronic
Products and Services Zhidong
Wang, VP Financial Activities Yasushi
Nakauchi, VP Industrial Activities
Robert Ambrose, VP Member Activities
Nancy Amato, VP Publication Activities
Aude Billard, VP Technical
Activities Tony Maciejewski, and ParDigital
Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2022.3144883
Date of current version: 22 March 2022
liamentarian Hong Zhang-
for not only holding the ship
together, but achieving so
much under such difficult
conditions. This included organizing
and running our flagship
IEEE International Conference on
Robotics and Automation (ICRA) conference
online with less than four
months to prepare, making diversity
and inclusion a core part of our identity
and conduct, taking steps to increase
our administrative support staff, seeking
greater synergy between automation
and robotics, launching an educational
activities committee, and much more.
The easy thing would have been to
blame COVID-19 and simply " phone it
in. " I thank everyone for their selfless
dedication in serving our entire global
community of roboticists.
I'm also excited to welcome the
incoming executive committee for
2022-2023: President-Elect Aude Billard
of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de
Lausanne, Secretary Katja Mombaur of
the University of Waterloo, Treasurer
Tony Maciejewski of Colorado State
University, VP Conference Activities
Paul Oh of the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas, VP Electronic Products and
Services Bram Vanderborght of Vrije
University, VP Financial Activities
Hiromi Mochiyama of the University of
Tsukuba, VP Industrial Activities Andra
Keay of Silicon Valley Robotics, VP
Member Activities Stefano Stramigioli
of the University of Twente, VP Publication
Activities Todd Murphey of Northwestern
University, VP Technical
Activities Kyujin Cho of Seoul National
6 * IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE * MARCH 2022
University, and Parliamentarian
Patrick Wensing of the
University of Notre Dame.
All of the VPs have, in turn,
recruited a large number of
volunteers to serve their boards.
To all who are committing so much of
their personal time and effort in service
to our Society, I extend my deepest
gratitude.
Over the next few months, I hope to
communicate to you details of our ongoing
efforts as well as some new initiatives
we have planned for 2022-2023. Here is
a brief preview.
●
It may come as a surprise to some
that, among the 46 technical Societies
and councils in IEEE, we are now the
fifth largest. Organizers of ICRA, our
flagship conference, are now routinely
asked to prepare for a minimum
of 5,000 participants and often
up to 8,000. Perhaps it's because of
the highly interdisciplinary nature of
robotics, but I find that there is a distinct
and common unifying thread to
our culture, one of openness and
inclusivity, of breaking down barriers
not only in our work but also in how
we engage with each other. One of
the challenges we face during this
phase of unprecedented growth is
how to preserve this common culture.
I believe an important key is to
rejuvenate and empower our technical
committees, to make them focal
centers of interaction while continuing
to maintain a large and inclusive
RAS tent. By creating synergy
among technical committees and
also reengaging with communities
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2022

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