Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Elizabeth McNeela is an education researcher whose work sits at the intersection of robotics, gender equity, and K-12 STEM outreach. Her research focuses on understanding and dismantling the gender disparities that persist in traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical and electrical engineering, with a particular emphasis on how early exposure to robotics shapes students' perceptions of who belongs in engineering. McNeela's most influential contribution, "Using Drawings to Understand Impacts of Soft Robotics Activity on Elementary Age Students' Perceptions of Robots" (2022, 12 citations), employs innovative qualitative methods to capture how hands-on soft robotics experiences reshape young students' — especially girls' — self-concept in relation to engineering. Her follow-up work continues to investigate female students' engineering identity development through accessible, inclusive robotics activities. Notably, McNeела has extended this mission beyond the classroom, designing Girl Scout badge programs that introduce young children to soft robot gripper design, democratizing engineering education through trusted community organizations. Across her growing body of work, McNeela champions the idea that inclusive, tactile, and approachable robotics experiences in early childhood can meaningfully broaden the pipeline into engineering careers for underrepresented groups.