IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009 - 21

Q: Tell us about yourself-your dreams
and passions.
A: I wanted to be a ballerina until I
was seven years old and then I decided
I wanted to be an astronaut instead. I'm
still working on that. In the meantime
I have been fascinated with human performance. I don't mean the extremes
of human performance, I mean all of
our ability to adapt to challenging situations specifically using technology. We
are great inventors of tools and technology that enable us to live better lives. A
piece of that is exploration and enabling
humans to live and work in space. My
work in graduate school was looking at
how space affects aspects of our func-

tioning and then thinking about how to
counteract those changes if needed.
Now I'm the board chair and chief
executive officer of AnthroTronix, Inc.,
a human factors engineering company,
which I founded in 1999. I work with a
team of mechanical, software, and biomedical engineers developing robotic
and computer-based technology for use
in defense, homeland security, search
and rescue, law enforcement, emergency
response, and other security domains.
Prior to starting AnthroTronix, I was a
professor of biomedical engineering and
worked closely with the National Rehabilitation Hospital. I was taken aback at
the lack of technology for children with
disabilities. To meet that need I founded
a subsidiary company to AnthroTronix
called AT KidSystems, which created
Cosmo's Learning Systems, an alternative computer interface and educational
software for children with disabilities.
Q: Why did you choose to work as a robotics engineer? How did you start AnthroTronix, Inc.? How did it become one
of the best successes of the incubation
program at the University of Maryland,
which provides funding support, expertise, resources, and infrastructure to regional entrepreneurs?
A: I started AnthroTronix with one
grant from the Department of Education
and one from DARPA (Defense Advanced
Research Project Agency). Both grants
were to look at bioinstrumentation of the
human hand to control technology. In
the first case, it was to help children with
disabilities use a computer. In the second
case, it was to help a soldier control a
robot. Both cases involve a person in a
challenging environment whose task can
be enabled by technology. These examples
reflect our company vision, which is to
create human-centered technology.
There were several reasons the incubator worked for us and many others.
One of the biggest reasons was that it
provided infrastructure that would have
been very difficult to afford. I am refer-

june 2009

Photo courtesy of corrina lathan

lic University of America, Washington,
D.C. Lathan is also an adjunct associate professor of aerospace engineering
at the University of Maryland, College
Park, and a consultant to the National
Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington,
D.C., which specializes in treating persons with physical disabilities caused
by spinal cord and head injuries, stroke,
arthritis, amputation, multiple sclerosis,
post-polio syndrome and other neurological and orthopedic conditions.
Lathan was named a Young Global
Leader in 2006 by the Forum of Young
Global Leaders, an affiliate of the World
Economic Forum. Her leadership of
AnthroTronix also earned the company
the honor of being named a Technology
Pioneer by the World Economic Forum
in 2004 and a 2005 San Jose Tech Museum Awards Laureate. Lathan was named
Maryland's 2002 Top Innovator of the
Year, tapped as one of Technology Magazine's Top 100 World Innovators Under
the age of 25, and awarded the Women
in Technology Leadership Award for
Entrepreneurship.
She earned her bachelor's degree in
biopsychology and mathematics from
Swarthmore College, in Swarthmore,
Pennsylvania, and her doctorate degree in
neuroscience from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge.

Lathan started AnthroTronics with
grants from the U.S Department of
Education and DARPA.

ring to the most basic of needs such as
space, phones, and the Internet. Another
reason is that the academic environment provided us with a community that
helped generate and nurture new ideas.
Q: You are actively involved in educational outreach programs that empower
women and minorities in science and
technology. As founder of Keys to Empowering Youth, a motivational program
that brings 11-13 year old girls together
with MIT women students to participate
in workshops held periodically throughout the school year and once over the
summer. You're also an advisor for FIRST,
Inc., a not-for-profit public charity that
designs programs that motivate young
people to pursue education and career
opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). How does
it make you feel to know you've made a
positive difference in the lives of others?
A: The best way to explain it is to
borrow a phrase from the wonderful
Montessori School my children attend-
the oneness family school. Oneness is
dedicated to world peace and personal
excellence and strives to build a culture
of connectedness. In other words, everything we do has an impact and connects
us to others around the world. An awareness of this will hopefully inspire each
of us to make the world a better place in
our own way.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I enjoy spending time with my
family. My husband and I have a daugh-

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2009