Episode description

Clyde Ward (a mechanical engineer specializing in robotics) is today's featured guest.

Topics: robots he has worked on for nuclear facilities, his successes in the televised BattleBots competitions, early industrial robots and why they seem crude by today's standards, and behind the scenes anecdotes from his recent involvement in teaching robotics to young robotic enthusiasts.

Clyde Ward received his degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University. He was with the Robotics Group at the Savannah River National Laboratory for 19 years, until he retired in 2005. On the Battlebots TV show, televised on Comedy Central, he was the lead engineer for the robot named Jabberwock. During 2002 Jabberwock reached a ranking of #17 in the World Heavy Weight Division. For the last eight years Clyde has been a mentor with the Aiken County Robotics Club.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 15, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes]

This interview was recorded on July 17, 2010 at the University of South Carolina at the B.I.T. (Business, Innovation and Technology) Expo. The Aiken County Robotics Club was prominently featured at the Expo, were they provided demonstrations of many of the robots they had built, including the one that won them the world championship title.