5 Questions Ruzena Bajcsy: A Founder of Modern Robotics Reflects on Her Legacy

Ruzena Bajcsy is one of the founders of the modern field of robotics. With an education in electrical engineering in Slovakia, followed by a Ph.D. at Stanford, Bajcsywas the first woman to join the engineering faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the first, she says, because “in those days, nice girls didn't mess around with screwdrivers.” Bajcsy, now 91, spoke with IEEE Spectrum at the 40th anniversary celebration of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.