MassRobotics announces the winners of 2026 Robotics Medal and Rising Star awards

Allison Okamura and Ayoung Kim won MassRobotics’ Robotics Medal and Rising Star Medal. | Source: MassRobotics

MassRobotics announced its 2026 Robotics Medal and Rising Star recipients at the IEEE ICRA conference in Vienna.

The Robotics Medal recognizes the wide-ranging impact of female researchers focusing on the development of robotics around the globe. It goes to a nominated woman in robotics to recognize her impactful contributions to the field. The award includes a $50,000 prize awarded to the individual.

The 4th Annual MassRobotics Robotics Medal award, sponsored by Amazon Robotics , was presented to Dr. Allison Okamura. She is the Richard W. Weiland Professor in the School of Engineering, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a science fellow in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University .

Okamura earned the award for her foundational research in haptics , medical robotics, and robot design. She was also recognized for her contributions to open access robotics education , mentorship, and promotion of women in robotics.

The Rising Star Medal recognizes up-and-coming women making strides and advancing the field of robotics and includes a $5,000 award. MassRobotics this year awarded Dr. Ayoung Kim, a professor at Seoul National University , its Rising Star in Robotics Medal.

Kim earned the honor through her work in pioneering Scan Context for lidar place recognition and advanced resilient multi-sensor SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) for robust autonomy. Widely used open datasets and tools supported this work.

“We were thrilled by the overwhelming number of outstanding nominations we received this year and were impressed by the diversity of robotic research happening across the globe,” said Joyce Sidopoulos, co-founder and chief of operations at MassRobotics. “This award reflects the contributions women in robotics have made, and inspires the next generation who will make an impact in this expanding field.”

MassRobotics will hold a formal gala awarding the medals and celebrating the recipients at the MIT Samberg Conference Center in Cambridge, Mass., on Nov. 7. Tickets , reserved tables, and sponsorship opportunities for the event are available online .

The 2025 Women in Robotics Gala, hosted by MassRobotics. | Source: MassRobotics

While women comprise 48% of the total workforce , just 35% of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce is made up of women. When it comes to engineering and robotics roles, women only make up 16% of the workforce, according to the National Girls Collaborative Project.