Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1466505
MAY 2022 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 15 References 1. "China Set to Create New State-Owned Rare- Earths Giant," by Keith Zhai, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 3, 2021. 2. "Conflict Minerals: A Snapshot," by Jennie S. Hwang, SMT Magazine, March 2013. Appearances Dr. Jennie Hwang will deliver a professional development course on "An Overview of PoP and BTC Package and Assembly: Material, Process and Reliability–Part 1 and Part 2," 8 to 11 p.m. May 25 and 26, 20th Electronic Packaging Convention, Asia. Dr. Jennie S. Hwang—an inter- national businesswoman and speaker and a business and technology advisor—is a pioneer and long-standing leader to SMT manufacturing since its inception as well as to the development and implementation of lead-free electronics tech- nology. Among her many awards and honors, she was inducted to the International Hall of Fame– Women in Technology, elected to the National Academy of Engineering, named an R&D Star to Watch, and received a YWCA Achievement Award. Having held senior executive positions with Lock- heed Martin Corp., Sherwin Williams Co., and SCM Corp., she was the CEO of International Electronic Materials Corp. and is currently CEO of H-Tech- nologies Group, providing business, technology, and manufacturing solutions. She has served on the board of Fortune-500 NYSE companies and civic and university boards; the Commerce Depart- ment's Export Council; the National Materials and Manufacturing Board; the NIST Assessment Board; as the chairman of the Assessment Board of DoD Army Research Laboratory and the chairman of the Assessment Board of Army Engineering Cen- ters; and various national panels/committees and international leadership positions. She is the author of 600+ publications and several books and is a speaker and author on trade, business, education, and social issues. Her formal education includes four academic degrees, as well as the Harvard Business School Executive Program and Colum- bia University Corporate Governance Program. For more information, visit JennieHwang.com. To read past columns or contact Hwang, click here. Last fall, MIT's Department of Electrical Engi- neering and Computer Science launched a new course, 6.800 (Robotic Manipulation) to help engi- neering students broadly survey the latest advance- ments in robotics while troubleshooting real indus- try problems. It's a unique course that can provide an inroad into robotics for students with no robotics experience at all. Students learn fundamental algorithmic approaches to build robot systems capable of autonomously manipulating objects in unstruc- tured environments. Exploring topics like percep- tion, planning, dynamics, and control, students solve problem sets to guide themselves through developing a software stack, typically using the permissively licensed open-source software Drake. Not focused on quizzes and final exams, the course cul- minates instead with a final proj- ect where students can explore any problem in robotic manipu- lation that fascinates them. Professor Russ Tedrake's course notes provide students with a window to peer across the profes- sor's own mental landscape of the field. Students say they are unlike any course notes they've ever seen—providing a constantly updated roadmap of what it would take to advance robotics as a field. He says there's rampant industry interest in engi- neers skilled in manipulation, and that demand helped motivate him to launch the course. "Manipu- lation is just kind of exploding in the field," Tedrake says, adding that recently, "it's less of a niche area, everybody's got an eye on making robots do things with their hands." Right now, the big companies are investing. (Source: MIT News) Photo: Professor Russ Tedrake (second from left) examines a robotic arm with students from 6.800 (Robotic Manipu- lation). Tedrake designed the course in response to the growing need for engi- neers to survey the latest advance- ments in robotics while gaining expe- rience in troubleshooting real industry problems. (Photo: Gretchen Ertl) MIT Launches New Robotics Manipulation Course