The board of the International Robotics Federation (IFR) elected Steven Wyatt (ABB, Switzerland) as the new president. The position of the IFR President is a rotating position. He replaces Junji Tsuda (Yaskawa Electric Corporation) who has been in this role since 2017. A new vice president of Milton Guerry (SCHUNK, USA) was also appointed.
What is IFR?
The International Robotics Federation is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 with headquarters in Germany, Frankfurt am Main. It brings together enterprises and research institutes dealing with robotics. It currently has 50 members from over 20 countries around the world. The member countries are mainly countries using industrial robots, e.g. Spain, Great Britain, China, Denmark, Japan, USA, Russia, Italy, Sweden, France, Taiwan, Germany. The IFR annually publishes World Robotics statistics on the installation of robots, the industries in which they were installed, their purpose and the type of robots used.
IFR's scope of activities includes:
- Providing worldwide market data for surveys, studies and statistics
- Helping manufacturers and integrators of robotics to enter new markets
- Organization the IFR CEO Round Table discussions
- Stimulating research in robotics and promote links between science and industry (IERA Award)
- The federation actively co-operates with national and international robotics organizations
- The IFR sponsors the International Symposium on Robotics ISR - a conference on industrial and service robotics held since 1970
Steven Wyatt is currently the global head of Portfolio and Digital Technologies in the ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation industry. The new president of IFR has a decade of international experience gained in the automation industry. Steven Wyatt has worked in many management positions in the marketing and sales of the plastics industry around the world. Mr. Wyatt is a graduate in chemical engineering at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to the election of the President of the IFR, Wyatt assisted his predecessor, Junji Tsuda, as vice president, served for two years. He stated that, along with new vice president Milton Guerrym, he would continue with Junji Tsuda's mission to provide better awareness and a better understanding of the rapidly changing world of automation.
Steven Wyatt thanked the outgoing IFR president Junji Tsuda for sharing his valuable industry knowledge with key international stakeholders and the world press
The new IFR Vice President Milton Guerry began his career in the automotive industry in various engineering and technical positions. Today, Milton Guerry leads the team of SCHUNK USA as president and is a member of the board of directors of the Robotic Industries Association (RIA).
source: businesswire, ifr, jmmetrology
