Helen Greiner (born December 6, 1967) is a co-founder of iRobot and former CEO of CyPhy Work, Inc., a start-up company specializing in small multi-rotor drones for the consumer, commercial and military markets. Ms Greiner is currently the CEO of Tertill Corporation. Greiner was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2013 for leadership in the design, development, and application of practical robots. Early life and education Greiner was born in London in 1967. Her father came to England as a refugee from Hungary, and met his wife, Helen's mother, while he was attending Imperial College (London). When Helen was five, her family moved to Southampton, New York, USA. At the age of ten, Greiner went to see the popular film Star Wars. She has said she was inspired to work with robots by R2-D2 in the film. Greiner graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and earned her Master's in computer science. She also holds an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Greiner has also received an honorary degree from Clarkson University. Her long term goal is to understand the nature of intelligence. Career In 1990, along with Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle, Greiner co-founded iRobot, a robotics company headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, which delivers robots into the consumer market. She co-designed the first version of the iRobot Roomba. Greiner served as President of iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) until 2004 and Chairman until 2008. During her tenure, iRobot released the Roomba, the PackBot and SUGV military robots. She built a culture of practical innovation and delivery that led to the deployment of 6,000 PackBots with the United States armed forces. In addition, Greiner headed up iRobot's financing projects, raising $35M in venture capital for a $75M initial public offering. She has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In 2008, Greiner founded CyPhy Works, creator of the Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications (PARC) and Pocket Flyer multi-rotor drones. She also served on the board of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). She left the company in late 2017, and subsequently resigned from her position on the board of directors to support a broader mission within the US Army. As of 2018, she works as an advisor to the United States Army, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army