Helen Greiner

Helen Greiner
Born December 6, 1967
Nationality American

Engineering career

Employer(s) iRobot,
CyPhyWorks
Awards Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Awards

Helen Greiner (born December 6, 1967) is a co-founder of iRobot and currently CTO of CyPhyWorks,[1] a start-up company specializing in small multi-rotor drones for the consumer, commercial and military markets.

Early life and education

Greiner was born in London in 1967. Her father came to England as a refugee from Hungary, and met his wife, Helen's mother, at the University of London. At the age of 5 the family moved to Southampton, New York, USA.[2]

At the age of ten Greiner went to see the popular film Star Wars. She has said she was inspired to work with robots by R2D2 in the film .[2][3]

Greiner graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989, and earned her Master's there (SM) in 1990.[4]

Career

In 1990, along with Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle, Greiner co-founded iRobot, a robotics company headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, which delivers robots into the industrial, consumer and military markets. She co-designed the first version of the iRobot Roomba.[3]

Greiner served as President of iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) until 2004 and Chairman until 2008. During her tenure, iRobot released the Roomba, the PackBot and SUGV military robots. She built a culture of practical innovation and delivery that led to the deployment of 6,000 PackBots with the United States armed forces. In addition, Greiner headed up iRobot’s financing projects, raising $35M in venture capital for a $75M initial public offering.[5]

She has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.[6]

Greiner is currently CTO of CyPhy Works,[1] home to the Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications (PARC) and Pocket Flyer multi-rotor drones. She also serves on Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF).[7]

Awards and recognition

In 2014, Greiner was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Leadership (PAGE) by US President, Barack Obama and US Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker.[8]

She received the 2008 Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award for Innovation for her work at iRobot.[9] She has also been honored as one of Technology Review Magazine's TR100 "Innovators for the Next Century."

In 2007, Greiner was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame.[10]

In 2006, she received the Pioneer Award from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International(AUVSI).[11]

She received the DEMO God Award at the DEMO Conference.

In 2005, she was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Good Housekeeping[12] and she was named by the Kennedy School at Harvard in conjunction with the U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Leaders."[13]

In 2003, Greiner and iRobot co-founder Colin Angle were named Ernst and Young New England Entrepreneurs of the Year.

In 2003, Greiner was named one of the “Top Ten Innovators” by Fortune Magazine.

In 2000, Greiner was also listed as one of the Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "General Catalyst Partners page on Helen Greiner". Nov 5, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Helen Greiner Biography". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 Mayerowitz, Scott (January 11, 2015). "Market resembles valley's early days". San Jose Mercury News. Associated Press.
  4. ↑ "Helen Greiner: Filling the World with Robots". Spectrum: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Helen Greiner". StartMIT. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Helen Greiner". NCWIT.ORG. National Center for Women and Information Technology. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Board of Directors, OSRF". Jan 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ Zuberi, Bilal. "Proud of Helen Greiner, Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship". Medium. Medium. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Women of Vision awards presented at Anita Borg Institute banquet". Diversity/Careers. Diversity/Careers. August–September 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  10. ↑ "WITI Hall of Fame Featured Profile". WITI. Women in Technology International. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Unmanned Systems Industry Members Receive Prestigious Awards". Hydro International. 13 September 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Good Housekeeping Announces the Winner of 11th Annual Good Buy Awards". Dec 1, 2005.
  13. ↑ "How America's Best Leaders Were Picked". USNews. US News and World Report. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "GLT Class of 2000" (PDF). Weforum. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 May 2015.


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