ACM TechNews

University Alliance to Increase Robotics Education, Research at Historically Black Universities

Carnegie Mellon News (01/08/08) Spice, Byron; Watzman, Anne

Carnegie Mellon University and six other research universities are collaborating with eight historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States to promote robotics and computer science education for African-American students. Funded by a three-year, $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the Advancing Robotics Technology for Societal Impact (ARTSI) Alliance will develop outreach programs to encourage African-American students to pursue careers in computer science and robotics. ARTSI will also provide mentoring programs for undergraduate students. African-Americans currently account for only 4.8 percent of the almost two million U.S. computer and information scientists, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports will be one of the fastest-growing occupations over the next decade. Carnegie Mellon professor David Touretzky and Spelman College professor Andrew Williams collaborated on establishing a robotics education lab at Spelman and three other HBCUs, which developed into ARTSI. Touretzky says ARTSI activities will vary depending on the need of each institution, as some are just now getting their first research-quality robots and will need to develop basic curricula. In addition to Spelman College, participating HBCUs include Hampton University, Morgan State University, Florida A&M University, Norfolk State University, Winston-Salem University, the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and the University of the District of Columbia.

http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/January/jan8_artsi.shtml

---

© Copyright 2008 Information, Inc. This service may be reproduced for internal distribution.