Dr. Robin Murphy, (B. ME 1980, M.S ICS 1989, Ph.D. CS 1992), Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and the Director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at Texas A&M University, will be speaking on “Robots to the Rescue!” at this year’s Harold W. Gegenheimer Lecture Series on Innovation hosted by The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, on Thursday December 2, 2010 at 11:00 AM at the Ferst Center for the Arts on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. There will be a reception in the Galleries following the lecture. The lecture is free and open to the public.

This year, the 2010 Gegenheimer Lecture Series will be focused around the question “Why doesn’t FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) or MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) use those “Hurt Locker” robots or Department of Defense unmanned aerial vehicles?” and “How many robots do you need for a disaster like a building collapse: 10? 100?”. The lecture will answer these and many other common questions as well as explore into the world of Rescue Robotics, based on over 15 years of research and data accumulated over cases of robotics used in 11 disasters (Including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the Utah mine collapse). Extensive video footage will be shown to supplement the discussion

About the lectures

The lecture series was established in ME in 1995, through an endowment by Harold W. Gegenheimer (Class of 1993) to support student programs that encourage innovation. Through these series, students are exposed to processes that stimulate creativity. Previous lectures have been given by such people as Mr. Richard Teerlink (Former President and CEO of Harley Davidson) and Mr. Mark Jenks (Wing team leader, Boeing).