Holly Ann Yanco is an American roboticist and computer scientist who works as Distinguished University Professor of computer science at the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

, and the director of the New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) center. She is known for her research in

human–robot interaction Human–robot interaction is the study of interactions between humans and robots. It is often referred as HRI by researchers. Human–robot interaction is a multidisciplinary field with contributions from human–computer interaction, artificial i ...

, and has applied robotics as a way to broaden interest in computer science by schoolchildren, in

assistive technology Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with ...

, in manufacturing, and for

rescue robot A rescue robot is a robot designed to aid in the search and rescue of humans.

Education and career

Yanco became interested in robotics in middle school, and went to high school in

Northborough, Massachusetts Northborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The official spelling of the town's name is "Northborough," but the alternative spelling "Northboro" is also used. The population was 15,741 at the 2020 census. History ...

. She is a 1991 graduate of

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

, and completed her Ph.D. at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 2000. Her dissertation, ''Shared User-Computer Control of a Robotic Wheelchair System'', was supervised by

Rodney Brooks Rodney Allen Brooks (born 30 December 1954) is an Australian roboticist, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, author, and robotics entrepreneur, most known for popularizing the actionist approach to robotics. He was a Panasonic Profes ...

. She has taught at Wellesley,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, and

ArsDigita University ArsDigita, LLC, was a web development company founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1997. The company produced a popular open source toolkit, the ArsDigita Community System (ACS), for building database-backed community websites, and flourished ...

before taking her present position at UMass Lowell.

Recognition

Yanco was elected as an

AAAI Fellow Fellowship of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (abbreviated as AAAI Fellow or FAAAI) is an award granted to individuals that the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), judged to have made ...

in 2021, by the

Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public understanding of artif ...

, "for foundational contributions to the field of human-robot interaction and for exceptional leadership in education and broadening participation".

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanco, Holly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists American roboticists Women roboticists American women computer scientists Wellesley College alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of Massachusetts Lowell faculty Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence 21st-century American women