From fighter pilot to robotics pioneer: An interview with Missy Cummings

In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, co-host Michael Chui speaks with Mary “Missy” Cummings, one of the first female fighter pilots in the US Navy and now a professor in the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering and the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, as well as the director of Duke’s Humans and Autonomy Laboratory. Cummings talks about her life as a fighter pilot and her journey into automation and robotics. She also answers questions like:
• What are your reflections on diversity across different fields?
• What are some interesting developments you’re seeing in the automation of vehicles?
• Are there things that car designers should be learning from the aerospace industry, or vice versa, as they’re starting to implement more levels of automated technology and driver assistance?
• What is the perfect use case for automation?
• What excites you most about advances in technology?

This conversation was recorded in August 2021. To read a transcript of this episode, visit: https://mck.co/missycummings

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