IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - 102

This event brings together
researchers and students from
Latin American countries and
those around the world to present
recent advances in the field of
robotics and participate in robotics competitions. Previous LARS-
LARC events show that these
events offer plenty of technology,
modernity, and friendship.
More information regarding
the call for papers and competitions can be found at http://ucsp.
edu.pe/lars2013.

vivid discussion, and the relevance
of robotics research relevant to
New Zealand industry was deliberated.

Figure 5. Alexander Verl addresses members of the
New Zealand Chapter with trends in manufacturing
automation.

New Zealand Chapter Offers
Trends in Manufacturing
Automation Program
Alexander Verl, director of the
Fraunhofer Institute of Manufacturing
Engineering and Automation (IPA) and
the University of Stuttgart's Institute of
Control Engineering for Machine Tools
and Manufacturing Units (ISW), was
invited by the IEEE RAS New Zealand
Chapter to give a technical seminar. The
seminar was hosted by XiaoQi Chen,
chair of the IEEE RAS New Zealand
Chapter, and was attended by 16
researchers and engineers.

Verl gave a comprehensive overview
of trends in various areas of manufacturing automation (Figure 5). He started
with a brief history of IPA, which is
staffed with 199 scientists, 296 research
assistants, and 108 lab/administrative
staff, with the mission to develop future
technologies for Germany's advanced
manufacturing industries. He presented
a broad range of research projects, such
as machining with robots, assistive
robots, digital factory, orthopedics and
motion systems, biological and medical
technologies, and high-altitude power
plants, three-dimensional (3-D) printing technology, entertainment robots,
and so forth. The seminar stimulated

RAS Member Appointed
Minister for Education,
Universities, and Research
in Italy
Maria Chiara Carrozza, an active
IEEE RAS member of the Italian
Chapter, has been appointed Minister for Education, Universities,
and Research in Italy's newly
formed government. Carrozza is a
robotics expert, professor of bioengineering, and has served as rector of the
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa.
AFRON Recognized with Tribeca
Disruptive Innovation Award
The founders of the African Robotics
Network, Ken Goldberg, University of
California, Berkeley, and Ayorkor Korsah, Ashesi University, Ghana, were presented with the 2013 Tribeca Disruptive
Innovation Award. The award was
given in recognition of the "10 Dollar
Robot" Design Challenge, which was
sponsored by RAS.

INDUSTRIal aCTIvITIES (continued from p. 21)
where progress was assumed to have
ceased. The bionic leg not only provides assistance while the device is
being worn but by responding to the
patient's own intended movements, it
allows them to actively participate in
the sit-stand, over-ground walking,
and stair-climbing exercises that are
critical to the recovery of gait and
balance.

As with any startup in the healthcare space, funding the company was a
continual challenge, especially during
and after the 2008 worldwide financial
crisis. We survived those years through
the dedication of our team and their
belief in the great social benefits of what
they were doing. In April, just before we
were awarded the 2013 IEEE/IFR
Invention and Entrepreneurship Award,

Tibion was acquired by AlterG, the
company that pioneered another revolutionary therapy system, the AlterG
Anti-Gravity Treadmill, which is used
to provide comfortable partial-weightbearing treadmill training. With the
added resources of AlterG, we plan to
scale manufacturing, sales, and development to expand the availability of bionic
leg therapy worldwide.

STUDENT'S CORNER (continued from p. 92)
as a major engineering area and as an
interdisciplinary nucleus integrating
other sciences such as medicine, neuroscience, biology, and more. This field
has a strong impact on global well

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

being, and therefore we must be creative, passionate, and visionary.
I encourage you to join the SAC. It
will give you the opportunity to
expand your outlook and provide an

september 2013

exclusive resource for your career and
continuing knowledge sharing. Do
not miss it; get involved, be active,
and get connected.

http://ucsp http://www.edu.pe/lars2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013