Ada-Rhodes Short

Last updated

Ada-Rhodes Short
Born
Calgary, Alberta
CitizenshipCanadian
Alma mater Oregon State University
Scientific career
Fields robotics, computational cognition, design
Institutions University of Nebraska Omaha, Sphero, Lora DiCarlo
Thesis
Doctoral advisor Bryony DuPont

Ada-Rhodes Short is a Canadian mechanical engineer, roboticist, and transgender rights activist. [1] She is the co-host of the podcast Totally Trans: Searching for the Trans Canon alongside writer Henry Giardina. [2] She is a co-founder of Baylor University's first LGBTQ student group. [3] She is a co-creator of Osé, a hands-free device for blended orgasms, which won a 2019 CES Innovation Award in the robotics and drones category.

Contents

Education and activism

In 2010, Short attended Baylor University and attempted to gain recognition for a club to discuss sexuality and combat homophobia. [4] [5] This group became Gamma Alpha Upsilon, Baylor's unofficial LGBTQ student organisation. [6] She gained her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2014. She has a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines (2016), where she modeled risk for autonomous decision making. Short completed her PhD at Oregon State University under Dr. Bryony DuPont, publishing a dissertation on building a computationally cognitive agent that can handle black swan events. [7] In 2018, Short delivered a speech at the Corvallis Women's March on food instability and housing insecurity in the transgender community. [8] She was the recipient of the 2019 Soroptimists Ruby Award for Women Helping Women in recognition of her mutual aid and activism work. [9] In 2021 Short was involved in the fight against anti-trans legislation in Texas and helped start the protest group Trans Resistance of Texas (TRoT). [10]

Career

Short worked at Sphero as a mechanical engineer between 2014 and 2017, and co-developed a patented multi-body self-propelled device that was used in the Star Wars BB-8 Robot toy. [11] Then, she was hired as Senior Mechatronic Design Engineer in 2018 by Lora DiCarlo, a sexual technology company, where she worked until 2020. [12] While at Lora DiCarlo, Short co-developed the Osé, a hands-free device for blended orgasms. [13] The Osé won a 2019 CES Innovation Award in the robotics and drones category. [14] The award was rescinded due to a CES policy forbidding indecent companies from exhibiting on the show floor, but later reinstated after CES organisers were accused of sexism. [15] [16]

Selected works

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References

  1. ↑ "Building the Robotic Brain: Dr Ada-Rhodes Short curates Real Scientists". Real Scientists. Medium. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Short, Ada-Rhodes; Giardina, Henry. "Totally Trans: Searching for the Trans Canon". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Howard, Meredith (6 October 2020). "LGBTQ community fights for rights at Baylor, in Waco". Baylor Lariat. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  4. ↑ Eckholm, Erik (18 April 2011). "Even on Religious Campuses, Students Fight for Gay Identity". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. ↑ Kincaid, Rachel (20 April 2011). "Christian Colleges Find Christian Students Remain Gay Despite Christianity". Autostraddle. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Howard, Meredith (6 October 2020). "LGBTQ community fights for rights at Baylor, in Waco". Baylor Lariat. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Short, Ada-Rhodes. "Autonomous Decision Making Facing Uncertainty, Risk, and Complexity". Oregon State University. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Smith, TIffani. "Thousands marched through Corvallis in commemoration of Women's March". The Daily Barometer. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Short, Ada-Rhodes (31 May 2019). "Soroptimists International Corvallis, Ruby Award Speech". Ada-Rhodes Short, PhD. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Gira Grant, Melissa (9 August 2021). "Behind the GOP Strategy to Outlaw Trans Youth". The New Republic. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  11. ↑ Clarke, David; Webster, Douglas; Nutting, Judd; Keeney-Ritchie, Miles; Short, Adam; MacGregor, Ross. "Multi-body self propelled device with magnetic yaw control". Google Patents. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Lora DiCarlo Hires PhD Robotics Engineer Dr. Ada-Rhodes Short". BioSpace. Lora DiCarlo. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Lorenzo, Doreen (23 May 2019). "The problem with aspirational design (and what designers should do instead)". Fast Company. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  14. ↑ Safronova, Valeriya (18 January 2019). "What's So 'Indecent' About Female Pleasure?". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  15. ↑ Haddock, Lora (17 January 2019). "Our robotic pleasure tech won a big award. Then they took it away". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  16. ↑ Zraick, Karen (9 May 2019). "Sex Toy Award Is Restored by Trade Show After an Outcry Over Sexism". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
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