Do you love robots? Do you hate robots? Are your feelings about robots super complicated? Is it hard to communicate any of this to anyone at all? Evan Ackerman understands your pain—as a senior editor at IEEE Spectrum, Evan’s full time job for the last 15 years has been to communicate robotics news to anyone who will listen, even if they don’t know anything about robots. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been a lot of fun, and Evan will talk about why robotics communication is important, his favorite things to write about, and even share some top secret exclusive stories that he has in the works. There will be lots of cool robot videos, a brief digression into Martian impact cratering, and plenty of opportunities to ask him about how to successfully communicate your own amazing research to friends, family, and total strangers.
Evan Ackerman has been writing about robots, science, and emerging technology for over 15 years. After co- founding his own robotics blog in 2007, he began writing for IEEE Spectrum in 2011. In addition to Spectrum, Evan’s work has appeared in a variety of other websites and print magazines, and you may have heard him talking about robots on NPR’s Science Friday or the BBC World Service if you were listening at just the right time. Evan currently lives in Oklahoma City, along with his partner and a steadily growing collection of robot vacuums. In his spare time, he enjoys scuba diving, squeezing flamingos, and playing bagpipes excellently.