About Me

If you are interested in requesting me as a speaker at your event or following my work, please contact me directly at: speaker@andrakeay.com

Andra Keay

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andra-keay

Twitter: @therobotstate & @robotopias 

Title: Managing Director, Silicon Valley Robotics 

Short Bio:

Andra is Managing Director at Silicon Valley Robotics, supporting innovation and commercialization of emerging technologies across the spectrum of robotics, sensors and AI, as seen in the winners in our inaugural Good Robot Industry Awards. Andra speaks globally on the ethics of technology, and is founder of Women in Robotics, the Robot Garden makerspace, the Robot Launch startup program and competition, and the International Alliance of Robotics Associations. Andra holds an MA in Human-Robot Interaction and is a Visiting Scholar at the People and Robots Lab UC Berkeley.

Speaking Topics:

• Global Economic Trends in Robotics
• Robotics 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0
• The New Laws of Robotics
• Creating Robot Startups
• Good / Ethical Robot Design
• AIpocalypse and Robotopias
• Robot Canary in the AI Coalmine

I am continually updating the research behind these topics and customize ‘thought provoking’ and ‘impactful’ presentations to suit your audience. I regularly keynote at global tech conferences with a unique combination of economic insight and human empathy.

Long Bio:

Andra Keay | Since moving to Silicon Valley in 2011 and finishing my Masters in HRI, I have been focusing on the large scale socio-technological implications involved in commercializing robotics. I’ll be sharing my personal views here, and at times on CITRIS, svrobo.org and robohub.org.

Since 2012, I’ve been the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, the non-profit industry group supporting innovation and commercialization of robotics technologies. I am a trained futurist, also founder of the Robot Launch global startup competition, Robot Garden maker space, Women in Robotics and core member of Robohub.org, the site for news and views of research robotics and early stage commercialization of robotics. Https://robohub.org

I am a mentor, investor and advisor to startups, accelerators and think tanks, with a strong interest in commercializing socially positive robotics and AI. The views of Silicon Valley Robotics represent as closely as possible the combined viewpoints of our robotics association. Http://svrobo.org

I am also a Visiting Scholar with the UC’s CITRIS People and Robots Research Group, directed by Dr Ken Goldberg. CITRIS or The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute is a research institute operated by the University of California to facilitate the real-world application of technological research. The founding and now Emerita Director is Dr Ruzena Bajscsy. https://citris-uc.org/people-and-robots

I was a Masters Dissertation student at the University of Sydney in the Digital Cultures Program, working in the area of Human-Robot Interaction, and an HRI Pioneer in 2010. My project on ‘the Naming of Robots’ explores the ways in which robotics research cultures express identity and gender by examining empirical data from robot competitions integrated with a cultural studies of science approach. I studied Communications at UTS and the ABC, working as a film editor, multimedia artist and writer before moving into the area of technology for social justice, non-profit and educational purposes. I started running science and robot workshops for children in the 1990s, including coaching all girls competition teams in Moonbots, First Lego League and RoboCup Jnr.

Interest in Robotics: I am always interested in asking ‘what’s at stake?’ as Donna Haraway put it. Robotics for example is a highly gendered field, which is not an obvious requirement. Robots, as engineered (in)organisms, are not dependent on sexual differentiation, so gender in robotics culture is a fascinating expression of human engineering and how we create others. Ultimately, I am interested, much like Haraway is, in Derrida’s robotic cat. Most recently, I am using technology to learn to talk to my cat.

Contact: andra[at]robotstate.com