The Robotics Industries Association (RIA) announced its new board members, including the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machine’s (IRIM) Gary McMurray.

As the only academic on the board, McMurray joins 21 members from the robotics industry, composed of senior executives, integrators, and major end users, as well as RIA’s President Jeff Burnstein.

Founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1974, RIA is the only trade group in North America organized specifically to serve the robotics industry.

McMurray replaces Larry Sweet, a former Georgia Tech professor and associate director of IRIM. Sweet has returned to industry as the director of worldwide automation at Amazon.

“I am excited to represent the robotics research community on the board of directors of RIA,” McMurray said. “RIA has played a key role in the growth of the robotics industry for many years and I look forward to working with them as they expand beyond traditional applications into other domains that represent the subjects of research in the academic community.”

McMurray is an associate director of IRIM, focusing on cultivating industry relationships and research collaborations in the area of collaborative robotics. He also serves as the division chief of the Food Processing Technology Division (FPTD) at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).

“I’m proud RIA elected Gary as the academic representative on its advisory board,” said Magnus Egerstedt, the executive director of IRIM. “Gary has been a valuable member of the Georgia Tech robotics community for numerous years and his new RIA appointment reflects highly on both his and IRIM’s reputation.”