Year of Robotics Parliamentary Reception 

Academics and students from the Centre along with guests from industry attended a reception hosted by Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 8th November to celebrate Heriot-Watt’s ‘Year of Robotics’.
Professor Oliver Lemon, Director of the Interaction Lab at Heriot-Watt University, outlined how the Centre’s research is contributing towards the UK’s drive to realise its industrial potential in the rapidly evolving robotic sector. He also shared the University’s success in the Amazon Alexa Challenge to date. 
Principal Professor Richard Williams acknowledged the success of the ‘Year of Robotics’ initiative, which included hosting the European Robotics Forum in March which attracted 800 delegates, and numerous outreach activities which  inspired more than 1,400 school children, 3,000 members of the public and 150 industry partners through face-to-face sessions with our robots and researchers. The Principal highlighted the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal which includes funding for the UK National ROBOTARIUM, and shared the news of the £36m project to develop robots for offshore energy that was announced just that day.
Guests were able to meet the robots from the Centre and to learn more about the research work being carried out.