Carol Reiley

Carol Reiley is an engineer and roboticists. She is the founder of Drive AI, a company that is working on engineering a self driving car. She is also a children's book writer. 

1. Carol Reiley is an entrepreneur, engineer and roboticist. Growing up she wanted to become a doctor to help people. On the path to that dream Reiley observed that doctors worked tirelessly to help one patient at a time. When she learned about the medical invention of the pacemaker she changed her focus. As an engineer she realized she could create something that could save millions of lives all at once, impacting humanity positively (not just one person). That realization set her on the path to engineering and ultimately surgical robotics. Have you started out with one intention and ended up with another goal on your learning path? How do your goals evolve and change?

2. Carol is the president and co-founder of Drive.AI, which builds robotic systems for self-driving cars. There are 33,000 deaths caused by car accidents in the United states annually, 94% of those deaths are caused by human error. Drive.AI seeks to make cars smarter and safer to drive through robotics and engineering.  What kind of problems do you observe in society everyday? What skills would you need to tackle finding solutions to one of those problems?

3. Carol and her team add artificial intelligence to cars. She is particularly interested in robotics because it is the cross section of many different types of engineering. Mechanical engineering, computer engineering, and physical engineering are all processes needed to operate robotics.  Do you have a passion for something that uses multiple disciplines? What different kinds of skills do you have and in what ways can they intersect on different projects?

4. Being a woman in the industry is still rare, but Carol says whether men in her field had low expectations of her, or if she feared stumbling, it is most important to not fear failure. Instead, learn from it. Is there a place in your life, at school or community, where there are not many girls or women? How are girls and women in these situations treated?

5. Carol’s advice to young people is to throw yourself into a situation where you can learn the most from people you respect. When you are in an environment where everyone is different from you, make a decision to grow your creative confidence. How do you handle situations where everyone is different from you? How can you improve how you handle those situations? What can you gain or contribute because of your differences?