The robot’s task sounds simple: pick up an object and bring it to someone who needs it. But making that possible takes hundreds of design decisions. That’s where Anna Garverick comes in. Anna is a robotics software engineer working with Hello Robot on Stretch, a mobile manipulator designed to help people with mobility impairments complete everyday tasks. At its core, her work is about independence.
“I’ve always wanted to build things that have a meaningful impact,” Anna says. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see something we created help someone do what they couldn’t before.”
Her path began with curiosity and a love of problem solving. By high school, she was drawn to biology and healthcare, which led her to study biomedical engineering at UC Davis, graduating in 2021. Along the way, she realized she was most excited about creating real-world solutions.
“I kept thinking, I want to make things.”
That realization led her to pursue a Master’s in Robotics at Northwestern University, where she gained hands-on experience and interned with Hello Robot. After graduation, she worked at Diligent Robotics developing hospital support robots before returning to Hello Robot, now based in Atlanta, to help expand real-world applications of assistive robotics.
Through AstraFemina, Anna enjoys showing girls how engineering works in practice. By breaking down everyday tasks into steps, she highlights the creativity behind problem solving.
“You don’t have to wait until you feel confident,” she tells students. “Try something new. Confidence often comes later.”
STEM runs in Anna’s family, from her grandmother, a math teacher, to her mother, a software engineer and fellow AstraFemina member. Growing up in Silicon Valley, she explored everything from sports to theater, building the curiosity that still drives her today.
Outside of work, Anna enjoys running, hiking, and playing floorball, and is even working to start a league in Atlanta. She also loves baking and cares for her sourdough starter, Ethyl, which has traveled with her across three states. When she’s not baking, she’s exploring local coffee shops or tending to her plants.
Anna is excited about the future of assistive robotics and the opportunity to bring these technologies into everyday life.
“I want to be part of something that helps a lot of people,” she says. “But the moments I love most are the small ones, when something we built makes life a little easier.”
For Anna, engineering is about turning ideas into tools that empower people. It is also about showing the next generation of girls that they can build the future too.
