IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2016 - 116

IEEE RAS Student Activities Committee

Megan Emmons
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado,
United States
RAS-SAC Chair
mremmons@rams.colostate.edu

Jory Denny
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas,
United States
RAS-SAC Cochair
joryldenny@gmail.com

encourage you to stay tuned for more
details by following us on Facebook
at https://www.facebook.com/groups/
ieeerasgroup/, visiting our website at
http://www.ieee-ras.org/students/about-
sac, and checking your e-mail for
eNews updates from the RAS. We will
also reveal information about a new
event just for IROS 2016-no spoilers
yet, but it will definitely involve boats
and some good-natured competition.
To more actively engage the robot-
ics community and, in particular, con-
nect student members, the SAC will
also be hosting a variety of online
robotics challenges.
Video Challenges for IROS 2016
In honor of how real research takes
place, the SAC is calling for blooper
videos for IROS 2016. Mistakes hap-
pen, and research does not work
instantly. When those real-world mis-
takes mess up your roboting, do not get
frustrated-grab a camera, and record
those bloopers! We want to show oth-
ers how much work goes into making
awesome things happen. E-mail your
short (fewer than 3 min) blooper video
to: ras_sac@ieee.org with the subject
IROS Bloopers.
Also for IROS 2016, the SAC is intro-
ducing the "Humans Are Weird" robotics
video challenge. In these 3-min videos,
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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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Dénes Ákos Nagy
Antal Bejzcy Center for
Intelligent Robotics
Óbuda University
Budapest, Hunagry
RAS-SAC Cochair
denes.a.nagy@ieee.org

we would like to see the world through
the eyes of your robot. Show us all those
weird things you do in the laboratory and
how they might be interpreted by your
very logical robot. Feel free to include
music or commentary to make the videos
extra funny and then send your video to
us at: ras_sac@ieee.org with the subject
IROS Humans Are Weird.
Select videos will be shown in the
student lounge at IROS 2016, and prizes
will be mailed to those video creators.
For more information on future chal-
lenges and activities, visit our website at:
http://www.ieee-ras.org/students and
check the latest RAS eNews. As always,
happy roboting!
Initiative Highlight
For our second initiative highlight, the
SAC would like to draw your attention
to the Distinguished Lecturer (DL) pro-
gram-an excellent enterprise designed
to bring robotics experts to your RAS
Chapter. The DL program is especially
valuable for smaller or more isolated
Chapters that may not often have the
opportunity to attend presentations
from international speakers. Full infor-
mation about Chapter requests can be
found online at: http://www.ieee-ras.
org/educational-resources-outreach/
distinguished-lecturer-program. Please
note, requests should be submitted to

september 2016

Ye Zhao
University of Texas at
Austin, Texas,
United States
RAS-SAC Cochair
yezhao@utexas.edu

the desired technical committee at least
six months ahead of the event.
To further benefit RAS Chapters, an
extension of the DL program was pro-
posed and approved by the RAS Mem-
ber Activities Board and the Technical
Activities Board during ICRA 2016.
Recognized DL volunteers are encour-
aged to contact nearby RAS Chapters
during their business trips to make a
DL presentation as a side trip. Both the
DL volunteer and the interested RAS
Chapter can submit an application
(http://www.ieee-ras.org/educational-
resources-outreach/distinguished-
lecturer-program) to the RAS for
supporting the side trip. Rather than a
dedicated trip, the detour or side-trip
option has lower travel expenses and
time costs and provides both the DL and
the interested Chapters with more flexi-
bility in arranging presentations. We
are very enthusiastic about this pro-
gram and hope many of you will take
advantage of this great opportunity to
bring top researchers to your Chapter!
As a new initiative, there will likely
be small modifications to the program
moving forward so be sure to stay tuned
to the usual SAC and RAS outlets-
including websites and Facebook-for
more news!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ http://www.ieee-ras.org/students/about http://www.ieee-ras.org/educational http://www.ieee-ras.org/students http://www.ieee-ras
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