Catherine Morris, a Senior Account Manager with ATI Industrial Automation for over 13 years, was recently selected by the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) Board of Directors to serve as Second Vice President on the Executive Committee. Morris, who has served on the Board of Directors since 2004, is the first female in RIA's history to hold an officer's position. Morris states "ATI has always found tremendous value in our involvement with RIA and will continue to participate in as many activities and events as possible.  I see a great future for our industry and am excited about the opportunity to provide insight that will benefit component and peripheral equipment supplier companies like ATI.  By growing the industry, we are able to grow each of our businesses. I am truly humbled by this honor and look forward to serving with Mr. Litt who also brings new leadership perspective from the integrator ranks."

Richard Litt, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Systems Group, LLC (Davenport, Iowa), has been elected as the new president of the Robotic Industries Association. Litt is RIA's 18th president.

In addition to Litt and Morris, four other Directors comprise the 2008 RIA Executive Committee including: Dean Elkins of Motoman Inc. as First Vice President; Michael Kunkle of Harley-Davidson Motor Co. as Secretary & Treasurer; Trevor Jones of Yaskawa Motoman Canada, Ltd. as Past President and Jeff Burnstein of RIA as Executive Vice President.

The RIA Board is comprised of seventeen industry leaders, each serving two-year terms. Among the six seats elected for the 2008-2009 term, and joining Litt on the Board, are newly elected Directors John Dulchinos, Adept Technology; Michael Jacobs, Applied Manufacturing Technologies; David Potter, FANUC Robotics America and Stuart Sheperd, KUKA Robotics. Re-elected Directors are Robert Anderson, Chrysler LLC and Ake Lindqvist, ABB, Inc..

Founded in 1974, RIA represents some 270 North American companies including leading robot manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups, and consulting firms. The association sponsors the biennial International Robots & Vision Show and Conference plus many regional events, and is secretariat of the ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999 Robot Safety Standard. RIA also serves as North America's representative to the International Federation of Robotics and is the only source of North American robot sales statistics.

For more information visit the web site of the Robotic Industries Association.