By: Sophie Chen, Grade 8
Object kicked-off its fourth year of Object workshops with Maria Telleria, Founder and CTO of Canvas Robotics! Based in California, we’ve seen robots pop-up everywhere— malls, restaurants, hospitals, and factories. We learned more about robots and automation with Maria, whose company works on building robots for the construction industry. Canvas hopes that these robots will create safer and more fulfilling jobs.
Maria shared the importance of determination and resilience in robotics. She revealed that debugging, coding, and building helped her build confidence to figure things out along the way.
Discussing what it’s like to work in a male-dominated field, she emphasized the need to know your worth, even when others might doubt your abilities.
Here are 3 takeaways from Maria’s talk:
“You have to be ready to fail. But failing is a fun process because we can save what we worked on and it’ll be useful for something else.”
“As a leader, have the confidence to say ‘this is my vision.' Let's solve it together.’ But at the same time, have the humility to admit when there is that weakness.”
“You have to be willing to also step back from some things that might look perfect and just say, ‘you know what, it's not perfect’.”