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Star Mississippi (
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Comment: Could be worth a mention in
Spelman_College#International_student_and_social_organizations as it does not appear to be independently notable
Star
Mississippi 02:04, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
The SpelBots were a competitive robotics club affiliated with Spelman College and active from 2005 to 2016. The members of the club were all young women of African descent. The club gained recognition in 2005 for being the first all female, all African-American robotics club to enter the RoboCup Four-Legged League Soccer competition.
Organization History
The SpelBots were formed in 2004 by Andrew B. Williams, who was working as an assistant professor within Spelman's computer and information sciences department. [1] [2] Williams has said that he was motivated to begin a robotics club for black women to demonstrate to his daughters that there were professors dedicated to helping black women succeed. [1]
The SpelBots began their competitive career in 2005 when they entered the International RoboCup four-legged robot soccer competition. They made history as the first team all women, all African-American team to compete in this competition. [2] The team would go on to tie for first in the 2009 RoboCup humanoid soccer championship in Osaka, Japan. In a TED talk Dr. Williams claims that, despite their win, the SpelBots weren't acknowledged at the award ceremony. [3]
Around 2010, the SpelBots attended an Education Technology Showcase in which they demonstrated their technology to U.S. senators and the director of the National Science Foundation [2] [4]. Out of the 21 institutions invited they were the only historically black college. [2] [4]
Starting in 2010, the SpelBots have also been involved in outreach intended to encourage young black girls to participate in computer science and engineering. [5] This outreach has included showcasing technology to K-12 students across the U.S., including schools in Los Angeles, Oakland, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Atlanta. [1]
In 2014, Dr. Jerry Volcy took over Dr. Williams' role as team leader. He continued in this position until the dissolution of the group in 2016. [2]
Sponsorships
The following companies and organizations have been involved with the SpelBots in sponsorship roles:
- Apple Inc. [1]
- Boeing [1]
- General Electric [1]
- General Motors [1]
- The National Science Foundation [1] [5]
- NASA [6]
- Coca-Cola [6]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h outofthebox2013 (2021-02-21).
"SpelBots Reunion 2021: Black Women Trailblazers in Robotics and AI #STEM". In Search of Innovation. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link) - ^ a b c d e "SpelBots Robotics Team | Spelman College". www.spelman.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ Belonging in technology -- what I learned from Steve Jobs | Andrew B. Williams | TEDxUWMilwaukee, retrieved 2024-02-02
- ^ a b "Atlanta Hawks Honor Spelbots for Black History Month". www.newswise.com. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ a b "NSF Award Search: Award # 1042454 - BPC-DP: SpelBots: African American Women Showcasing Robotics and Computer Science to Underrepresented K-12 Students Nationally". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ a b Parks, Clinton (24 June 2005). "Spelman Students 'Score' Using Advanced Technology". science.org. Retrieved 2 February 2024.