The UC San Diego Contextual Robotics Institute will hold its 8th annual Forum on November 14, 2023.
Join us to connect with San Diego's top robotics firms, as well as researchers and students working on cutting-edge robotics. The theme of the 2023 Forum is Robots in the Wild. From fenced-in beginnings, robots have evolved to play a crucial role in our daily lives, enhancing safety, efficiency, and even improving human health. This year's CRI Forum explores their wide-ranging applications in manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, home assistance, surgery, and environmental monitoring, addressing fundamental technologies and emerging use-cases.
The day-long program features presentations and panel discussions from some of the region's largest robotics companies as well as posters and demonstrations of the groundbreaking research happening at UC San Diego.
Read a 2022 Forum wrap-up here.
Robotic News
Simulated Reality, Real Benefits
August 19, 2026
When first-year students at UC San Diego School of Medicine step into the Professional Development Center to do their first simulated patient interactions, they don’t meet a mannequin or a computer program. They meet a person — a simulated patient who is trained to portray everything from new?onset chest pain to a difficult conversation about recurrent cancer. The center is also a frequent collaborator for faculty at Jacobs School of Engineering, including engineers developing humanoid robots and other technologies to streamline surgery and various medical procedures. Full Story
Puppy Bots and Bot Tour Guides: Inside a Human-Robot Interaction Class at UC San Diego
August 6, 2026
A robot that dances on command. A robot that behaves like a puppy – sometimes happy, sometimes sad. A robot that guides visitors on one floor of an engineering building. These are some of the projects developed by students in a human-robot interaction class taught this spring by computer science professor Laurel Riek at the University of California San Diego. The class, CSE 190/276B, which is open to both graduate students and undergraduates, gives students an overview of the field. It culminates in a hands-on project where students work in groups to program a robot to interact with people in a setting of their choice. Full Story
Surgeons Use Teleoperated Humanoid Robots to Perform Live Surgery – a World First
July 8, 2026
For the first time, two teleoperated humanoid robots have been used to complete two surgeries during a preclinical trial, researchers report in the July 8 issue of the journal Nature. The work is the result of a collaboration between a team of engineers and a team of surgeons at the University of California San Diego. Full Story