On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, MassRobotics welcomed US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and members of her team for a tour of our space and to meet with some of our startups.
Beginning with Tatum Robotics, Senator Warren learned about just one of the ways the MassRobotics community is helping improve the lives of people with disabilities. Senator Warren got to experience what communication could be like for the Deaf Blind community when recently NSF funded Tatum Robotics begins its beta stage of product development.
Next, the Senator met with Cleo Robotics, who is building the world’s first indoor safe and friendly drone for applications including law enforcement, surveying, security, and warehousing. Senator Warren got to see up close and interact with Cleo’s first of its kind interior drone and hear about Cleo’s work to date with DOD. Senator Warren sits on the Armed Services committee.
The Senator’s tour continued with a stop at International Fabric Machines (IFM) where the Senator not only had a live demonstration of the ground breaking wearable sensor technology, but also shared some ideas on who else IFM could work with in the Federal government to raise awareness about their product.
Black-I Robotics was the last start-up that Senator Warren met with, speaking with Founder Brian Hart and team about the important applications that Black-I has in both warehouse logistics and defense.
Senator Warren’s tour ended at MassRobotics’ STEM lab, where she got to meet our interns who were prepping for some school visits. They showed the Senator some of the drone kits students will be working on during our Drone Academy’s this summer (learn more about registering your school for those academies here) and talked about the importance of exposing more young people to STEM careers.
During her tour Senator Warren listened to our startups, asked engaged questions and was quick to offer ideas and assistance on who else she could connect them with. We look forward to working with her and her office and welcoming her back again soon. Stay tuned for more blog posts here.
