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Besides her visit to Amazon’s new distribution facility Monday, Gov. Maura T. Healey visited North Andover High School as part of National Robotics Week.
The governor met with the high school robotics club and congratulated them ahead of the Vex Robotics World Championships, which they will compete in later this month. She saw their robotics projects and presented a proclamation for National Robotics Week. Healey also visited MassRobotics, described as the largest independent robotics hub dedicated to accelerating innovation and adoption in the field of robotics.
“Massachusetts is proud to be home to one of the lead robotics hubs in the world, and it’s essential that we continue to lengthen this lead through targeted investments like the Mass Leads Act,” said Healey. “It was great to see the innovative work being done in robotics from high school students in North Andover to cutting-edge startups at MassRobotics.”
MassRobotics recently kicked off Mass Robotics Accelerator to support robotics entrepreneurs through an intensive 13-week program. During the visit, Healey and Lt. Gov. Driscoll toured a lab space and met some of the startups housed at the facility. They also saw a classroom that is used for STEM Education.
The visits were part of the Governor’s Mass Leads Act Road Show during which she is traveling to communities across Massachusetts to highlight the ways in which her recently proposed economic development bill will grow the state’s economy, support businesses and attract talent. The bill proposes $25 million for a new Robotics Investment Program that will advance the state’s leadership in the robotics sector through research, commercialization, and training.
“There’s a reason why one in four robotics patents are earned by Massachusetts inventors—it’s because we prioritize giving this industry the tools it needs to thrive,” said Driscoll. “Our administration is excited to continue supporting robotics entrepreneurs, as well as expanding opportunities for students to participate in STEM education and see themselves in a future career like robotics.”
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative launched a $5 million initiative to boost the robotics sector across the state. The new department, established within the Innovation Institute at MassTech, is focused on supporting robotics research and development, testing, commercialization and workforce development.