Throughout her career, Patti Rote said she's maintained the mindset of wanting to identify the gaps in places or at organizations in order to strategize new ways to resolve those disparities.
So when she started judging student robotics competitions "just for fun" over a decade ago and noticed a lack of girls among the participants, she co-founded the Girls of Steel Robotics outreach program at Carnegie Mellon University's Field Robotics Center to increase the number of young women participating in these events, which often leads to careers in STEM-related fields for many.
By her account, Rote said Girls of Steel has had tremendous success with an estimate of over 1,000 girls having participated since its launch in 2010. Rote said that over 80% have gone into a career in STEM.
But now and with the right people in place, Rote announced that she's ready to step back from the organization and retire from it and her other posts, including that of a program manager in the CMU School of Computer Science and as a liaison for CMU with the National Defense University. Her last day for all of these roles is set for June 30.
"It's been a great ride," Rote said. "I wouldn't be leaving if I wasn't comfortable with it. But I'm very confident that the people who are taking it over are going to do just fine and make it better. … I lined everything up, and I think now's the time to depart. And so that's my decision. I will retire from Carnegie Mellon."
Over the last four years, Rote has also taken an active effort in helping to lead the School of Computer Science's Crash Course in AI initiative for teachers across western Pennsylvania and beyond who come to CMU for a week in June to learn about artificial intelligence and how it can be used in the classroom.
"It was another one of these things where I saw a gap because I had done a lot of research online to see if anyone in the United States was doing anything specifically for teachers in artificial intelligence," Rote said. "There were no hands-on programs, workshops for teachers to talk directly and work directly with professors and then take this stuff back to the classroom in the fall. … So I'm always looking for the gaps in places. What needs done, what needs to be addressed in the world, and is there anything I can do about it."
However, Rote's efforts in Pittsburgh's innovation and startup community go beyond those at CMU.
For over 25 years, Rote has worked to foster a local network of entrepreneurs, roboticists and university researchers. She also helped build and direct the bi-partisan Congressional Robotics Caucus under the leadership of Pittsburgh-area U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle.
Rote obtained her MBA from Duquesne University and a bachelor's from the University of Pittsburgh. The Girl Scouts of Western PA awarded her the 2014 Women of Distinction award and in 2022, CMU honored her with the A. Nico Habermann Educational Service Award.
She will continue to serve as an active board member of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. Rote also won't be kept away from CMU's campus and theorized that there's "another leg of career left" in her.
"I'm just not sure what that will be, but I will figure it out," Rote said. "It might be food insecurity. I don't know; I'm going to look around and again, look for the gaps."
