We are pleased to announce that, starting today, the University of Toronto Robotics Institute is the official central headquarters for robotics at UofT.
We marked the occasion last week by gathering faculty, administration and student stakeholders from across the university to celebrate. With more than a dozen robot displays and demonstrations onsite, we confirmed the breadth and depth of robotics research at the university.
During the event, Dean Cristina Amon — a longtime supporter of robotics at U of T — remarked that: “The talent of our students and faculty is undeniable. With the launch of the University of Toronto Robotics Institute, we are strengthening our position as one of the world’s premier destinations for robotics education and research.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Alongside artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics is recognized as a priority area for innovation and disruption. Industry, government and leading academic institutions are urgently seeking strategic partnerships and research expertise in these fields. By uniting our robotics research clusters, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our collaborative capacity and further bolster U of T’s world class reputation in perception, actuation, locomotion, planning, and control on the global stage.
Moreover, in addition to having a long history of excellence in robotics research, U of T is widely recognized as one of the top comprehensive research universities globally, known for its excellence in everything from aerospace to medicine. This is why have organized our institute around three key application pillars where robotics is best poised to make fundamental impacts: advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and autonomous field robotics.
By working closely with experts in cross-over disciplines, our institute is positioned to address the complexity of real world applications as robots emerge from the factory onto our roads, and into our hospitals, homes and workplaces. We look forward to working with students, faculty, industry partners, and top robotics institutes globally to lead the development of this important field.
Sign up for our newsletter and follow us @UofTRobotics to stay abreast of our activities — we are planning to roll out several new initiatives over the coming months and year. You can find many more great photos from our launch event on our Flickr page.
Yours,
Prof. Yu Sun, Director
Prof. Tim Barfoot, Associate Director
Prof. Hani Naguib, Associate Director
Hallie Siegel, COO