Hiroshi Fujiware (left) and Robert Little (proper) are the 2026 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award winners. | Credit score: A3
The Affiliation for Advancing Automation, or A3, has named Hiroshi Fujiwara and Robert Little because the recipients of the 2026 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards, which acknowledges excellence in management and utility.
Fujiwara, government director of the Japan Robotic Affiliation (JARA), was honored for his a long time of strategic coverage work and worldwide collaboration, whereas Robert Little, co-founder of ATI Industrial Automation, was named for his transformative contributions to robotic end-effector know-how.
The pair will probably be celebrated as a part of the Automate 2026 present, becoming a member of an elite roster of visionaries who’ve outlined the trajectory of recent automation. The awards will probably be offered throughout a particular dinner and ceremony on Wednesday, June 24, at McCormick Place in Chicago.
“Robotics has all the time superior due to individuals who may see what was doable after which do the arduous work to make it sensible, helpful, and scalable,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “Hiroshi Fujiwara has helped strengthen one of many world’s most necessary robotics ecosystems whereas constructing collaboration throughout trade, authorities, and worldwide markets.”
“Robert Little has spent his profession serving to producers put robots to work extra successfully, giving corporations the instruments and applied sciences wanted to automate with better flexibility and confidence,” he added. “Collectively, they replicate the aim and spirit of the Engelberger Awards, and each are extremely deserving of this recognition.”
Little expands sensible robotics adoption in manufacturing
Little has greater than 40 years of expertise in robotics, automation, and manufacturing. In 1989, he co-founded ATI Industrial Automation and helped develop the corporate from roughly $1 million to greater than $100 million in income.
Underneath Little’s management, ATI turned a worldwide chief in robotic device changers, drive/torque sensing, and different end-effector applied sciences, increasing the sensible use of robots in manufacturing.
Following Novanta’s acquisition of ATI in 2021, Little served as president of Novanta‘s ATI enterprise group and later as chief of robotics technique. He now helps the robotics trade by means of Robert Little Robotics, the place he advises corporations on enterprise technique centered on robotics and automation markets. He additionally serves on the A3 Robotics Expertise Technique Board.
The Engelberger award winner informed The Robotic Report that he’ll use his new prominence and “soapbox” to argue that reliability, reshoring, and bodily AI will decide whether or not North America regains its industrial edge—or cedes the longer term to others.
“Now there’s stress to reshore,” Little mentioned. “There’s stress to construct regionally, whether or not you’re constructing within the U.S. for the U.S. market, otherwise you’re constructing in France for the European market. These prospects — they want automation to succeed.”
“We’ve got a labor scarcity. It’s not going away; it’s going to worsen,” he mentioned. “The federal government isn’t essentially all the time serving to us, however we do see that the A3’s push to carry a few robotics coverage from the federal government is a superb factor we have to do within the meantime. Extra prospects means extra work for the robotics market, and extra work for the robotics market means extra improvement for brand spanking new applied sciences.”
Little mentioned he’s bullish on the longer term for robotics within the U.S.
“Robots have been invented and first manufactured within the U.S.,” he famous. “I credit score Japan vastly for the way they embraced robotics. That they had a authorities coverage the place they mentioned, ‘This can be a nice know-how. We’re going to be No. 1 on this planet.’ They usually have been, and they’re.”
“Within the U.S., we have been skeptical, and robots weren’t embraced, so we misplaced that market in manufacturing and improvement,” recalled Little. “However we didn’t lose all of it. For instance, FANUC nonetheless makes its paint robots right here for the world. The corporate really ships paint robots from the U.S. to China.”
Fujiwara advances robotics by means of international collaboration
Fujiwara has served as government director of JARA since 2009, the place he leads strategic operations and coverage advocacy for Japan‘s robotics trade. In that function, he has helped foster collaboration amongst trade leaders, authorities companies, and worldwide companions to assist innovation in industrial and repair robotics.
Earlier than becoming a member of JARA, Fujiwara labored at Japan’s Ministry of Economic system, Commerce and Trade (METI). He retired in 2009 after almost three a long time in management roles spanning industrial coverage, know-how improvement, financial safety, small enterprise assist, and worldwide commerce.
Fujiwara’s expertise additionally contains management roles with the Japan Exterior Commerce Group (JETRO), the Nationwide Institute of Superior Industrial Science and Expertise (AIST). As well as, Fujiwara labored on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism and the Tokyo Institute of Expertise, the place he helped assist collaboration amongst trade, academia, and authorities.
Concerning the Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards
Named after Joseph F. Engelberger, who’s broadly considered the daddy of robotics, the Engelberger Awards have acknowledged robotics leaders since 1977 for excellence in know-how improvement, utility, training, and management.
Every winner receives a $5,000 honorarium, a commemorative medallion, and a plaque. Winners are chosen by a panel of trade leaders based mostly on present and previous nominations and are voted on by previous chairs of A3 and the Robotic Industries Affiliation (RIA).
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