Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio Wins Greer Memorial Prize

Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, the John J. Lee Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, has received the Arthur Greer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication or Research.

The award was founded to honor outstanding scholarship by Yale junior faculty members in the social sciences, sciences, and engineering. 

Udo Schwarz, Department Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, nominated Kramer-Bottiglio, citing numerous publications, awards and other achievements, such as being named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and her selection to present at the MARS conference organized by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. 

“Rebecca is clearly emerging as a leader in her field,” Schwarz wrote in his nomination letter, adding that her “creative and internationally recognized research has brought a new spotlight to Yale’s engineering program, particularly within the past year.”

Specifically, Schwarz nominated Kramer-Bottiglio for her scholarly publications related to her robotic skin technology. Robotic skins are planar, skin-like substrates with embedded actuation and sensing. When wrapped around passive, deformable bodies/objects, they can impart motion onto those bodies and turn them into robots.

“In short, Rebecca has devised a technology that can turn everyday objects into robots,” Schwarz wrote.