Two Women Roboticists Win $55K in Global Innovation Awards

Two brilliant scientists are being recognized for transforming how robots touch, sense, and navigate the world around us.

MassRobotics announced its 2026 Robotics Medal winners at the IEEE ICRA conference in Vienna, celebrating women who are pushing the boundaries of what robots can do. Dr. Allison Okamura, a professor at Stanford University, received the main award and $50,000 for her groundbreaking research in haptics (how robots can sense touch), medical robotics, and robot design.

Dr. Ayoung Kim from Seoul National University won the Rising Star Medal and $5,000 for developing Scan Context, a technology that helps robots recognize where they are using laser sensors. Her work in creating resilient navigation systems is helping autonomous robots move safely through complex environments.

The awards address a critical gap in the robotics field. Women make up nearly half of the total workforce but only 16 percent of engineering and robotics roles, according to the National Girls Collaborative Project.

Amazon Robotics established an endowment with MassRobotics in 2022 specifically to support these annual awards. The goal goes beyond celebrating individual achievements to inspiring more women and underrepresented groups to enter robotics.

"We are deeply grateful for the work that both Dr. Okamura and Dr. Kim have brought to the physical AI community," said Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics and MassRobotics board chairperson.

The Ripple Effect

MassRobotics has grown from a Massachusetts incubator to a global robotics hub since 2017, now supporting nearly 100 startups at its Boston facility. A quarter of these companies come from outside the United States.

The organization runs STEM programs specifically for high school women and hosts networking events to ensure women roboticists are recognized and heard. Its Jumpstart Fellowship program has graduated nearly 120 students over six years, with many attending top universities including MIT, Stanford, and Princeton.

This year's nominations came from around the world, spanning diverse research areas from new gripping materials to exoskeletons, human robot interaction, and motion planning. Past recipients have represented universities from UC San Diego to MIT to institutions in Switzerland.

A formal celebration honoring both winners will take place November 7, 2026, at MIT's Samberg Conference Center in Boston, with nominations already open for the 2027 awards.

These medals prove that when robotics embraces diverse perspectives, everyone benefits from the innovations that follow.