So, what is it like to receive such praise from the industry? Cal-TV’s Joe Gemma brought along Jeff Burnstein, President of A3, the Association for Advancing Automation, to talk about this high honor with three past recipients; Martin Beuhler, CTO of Wavemaker Labs; Catherine Morris, Retired Former Director of Auto Sales at ATI Industrial Automation; and Rory Cooper, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Research for Health Sciences and STEM Collaboration at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Engelberger Award, first presented in 1977, recognizes high achievements in robotics from leadership to technology, education, and application across the globe. “When I call people to tell them they have been selected to win the award, people who have been in this industry a long time are just floored,” Burnstein said. “They can’t believe they’ve been selected. And I think that’s a great testament to how important this award is.”

Morris, Buehler, and Cooper agreed on how special and honored they felt receiving the call. It is an honor that follows them in the industry.

The honor was extra special for Morris, as she was the first woman in North America to receive an Engelberger Award. “My first reaction was disbelief,” Morris said. Morris did not have a robotics or engineering background. She accidentally found her niche in sales working at ATI and quickly fell in love with the industry. Her tireless leadership received recognition with an Engelberger, and the distinction touches her to this day.