June 30, 2023

Amazon Sponsors Six Students’ Research during Robotics Institute Summer Program

By Maria Ferrato | riss-ri.cmu@andrew.cmu.edu

Fifteen students posed in a lab with the front row leaning over a wooden banister. The head researcher and the program director are positioned the furthest left in the grouping. Lab equipment is partially visible behind the group.

RISS 2023 Scholars at the Air Lab

Fifteen students posed in a lab with the front row leaning over a wooden banister. The head researcher and the program director are positioned the furthest left in the grouping. Lab equipment is partially visible behind the group.

The Robotics Institute Summer Scholars (RISS) program is honored to have established a new partnership this year with Amazon. 

Amazon generously donated enough funds to sponsor six of the forty-seven undergraduate students from across the country joining Carnegie Mellon University’s 2023 RISS program. 

RISS, an intensive summer research program for talented undergraduate students, provides students the opportunity to participate in state-of-the-art robotics and AI research projects. RISS scholars, who are partnered with one of CMU’s leading researchers in their respective labs, collaborate with a diverse research team to conduct research projects. 

In addition to their work in the labs, students have opportunities to network with their peers, CMU researchers, and leading scholars in the fields of computer science, robotics, and AI. They also get to tour companies and research facilities like Astrobotics on the North Side of Pittsburgh and CMU’s National Robotics Engineering Center.  Additionally, they have the chance to develop their professional skills via various workshops hosted by a slew of departments across the university. 

Twenty-one students casually posed together in a Pittsburgh home

RISS 2023 Scholars Gathered for a Home-Cooked Meal

Twenty-one students casually posed together in a Pittsburgh home

The RISS program culminates with a mock conference, during which students present their final research posters. This provides students a conference-like experience, preparing them for both graduate school and the scientific field at large. Posters are supplemented with videos and a final research paper. Scholars’ papers are published in RISS’s Working Papers Journal, helping students stand out in future applications. 

This fantastic program is made possible by RISS’s wonderful sponsors, including Amazon. 

Amazon’s partnership was organized by Joshua Sunshine, an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Software Research at CMU’s school of computer science. RISS is indebted to Sunshine, whose hard work established the partnership with Amazon and thereby provided six brilliant students the opportunity to attend RISS this summer.

The six students include: 

These students are mentored by Professors Zakia Hammal, Deepak Pathak, Zackory Erickson, Zachary Manchester, and Jean Oh. 

The RISS Team would like to thank Amazon, Joshua Sunshine, and the various faculty mentors for making this program possible.