This week hundreds of representatives from both the aviation industry and the robotics industry are visiting Pittsburgh to take part in the Aviation and Robotics Summit. The event is organized by Future Travel Experience, which holds the event in Pittsburgh and touts the city as "the robotics capital of the world."
"We're bringing the worlds of aviation and robotics together to share expertise and find opportunities to work together for the benefit of both industries," Daniel Coleman, FTE CEO, said during a kickoff event Tuesday night. "It is my honor to be back here in Pittsburgh, the robotics capital of the world, for the FTE Aviation and Robotics summit."
The summit takes place across numerous parts of the city, including the airport and Carnegie Mellon University, as well as at local robotics facilities including Astrobotic Technology Inc. and Gecko Robotics. Throughout the week participants will attend panels, networking events, workshops and tours. Tuesday night's kickoff event was hosted at the Heinz History Center.
"Pittsburgh has a tradition of innovation," Andrew Masich, Heinz History Center CEO, said at the kickoff event. "It's altogether fitting and proper, it seems to me, that the AI, innovation and robotics summit would be here in Pittsburgh."
Bernadette Berger, director of innovation at Alaska Airlines, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony.
"Robots, automation, machine learning and AI are making our lives better in meaningful ways and what they're doing is making our lives more efficient," Berger said. "Many of you know that robotics, AI, machine learning are already truly integrated into airports and the day-of-travel experience today. Not many people know that because it's really hidden, it's behind the scenes. A lot of what airlines and airports and security authorities are doing is delivering the experience today with greater efficiency."
Additional speakers included Coleman, Masich, County Executive Sara Innamorato, Matt Smith, Allegheny Conference on Community Development chief growth officer, and Pittsburgh International Airport CEO Christina Cassotis.
"Now that we have rooted ourselves so much in the technology sectors we are home to growing tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook," Innamorato said. "At the same time, we are investing in homegrown talent like Carnegie Robotics, Gecko Robotics, and so many others, who hopefully you will get to meet here during the next few days. They help form the linchpin of Pittsburgh's new economy."
