Robin Murphy

Artist, Change Agent, Educator/Teacher, Engineer, Foodie, Parent, Photographer, Project manager, Technologist, Writer/Editor

Robin R. Murphy is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and directs the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) and the Center for Emergency Informatics. She received a B.M.E. in mechanical engineering in 1980 from Georgia Institute of Technology, swearing never to set foot in school again. She worked in industry before surprising herself and returning to Georgia Tech to earn a M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science in 1989 and 1992, respectively. A founder of the field of rescue robotics and Roboticists Without Borders, she has been in 18 disasters not of her own making, including the 9/11 World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina, and Fukushima Daiichi. Her latest book Disaster Robotics won the 2014 PROSE honorable mention for engineering and science writing. She is an IEEE Fellow and her most recent professional award is the 2014 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions Within Computer Science and Informatics. Murphy has been declared an “Innovator in AI” by TIME, an “Alpha Geek” by WIRED Magazine, one of the “Most Influential Women in Technology” by Fast Company, and one of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for 2015 by Government Technology Magazine. Her free course on “Introduction to AI Robotics” (based on her MIT Press book of the same name which is not free) is available on iTunes University.

getting the right information to the right person at the right time and in the right format so that they can make the right decisions before, during, and after a decision.

Allowing different experts (structural specialists, geo/hydrologists, transportation engineers, city managers, etc.) to use robots and emergency informatics so naturally that they don't know if they are giving directions to a person or an unmanned system.

Artificial Intelligence - Autonomous Systems, Cognitive & Social Psychology, Disaster Response / Recovery, robotics

Emergencies are certainly a theme in my life as a disaster roboticist and my TED talk continues the tradition! I was invited on short notice creating the same intensity of focus, rapid contingency planning for my classes and prior commitments, logistics nightmares of shipping robots, excitement, and worry that I will somehow set back the adoption of robotics that I get with each disaster deployment we go to.

snapshot photography