The University of Skövde has appointed Simone Giertz, inventor, robot enthusiast and YouTube personality, an Honorary Doctorate in Informatics. Also known as “The Queen of Shitty Robots”, Giertz will be promoted at the University’s Academic Ceremony on 21 March.
Simone Giertz, innovator, robot builder and YouTube personality with millions of followers, has been appointed an Honorary Doctorate in Informatics at the University of Skövde.
“It is such an unexpected honor! I've been living life with a high school diploma and I always wished I had gotten a proper degree, so this feels like the nicest possible sign that I did okay anyway,” she says.
She was born in Stockholm and attended high school in both Sweden and Kenya. During this time, she was also an exchange student in China for a year. After high school, she studied physics for a year at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
“I picked physics for all the wrong reasons – it was allegedly the hardest thing you could study and I desperately wanted to prove to myself that I was smart. Turns out I wasn't that smart, so I dropped out after a year. It took lots of trial and error to figure out what I wanted to do in life and I'm glad I gave myself the time to experiment.”
Builds dysfunctional “shitty robots”
Her interest in machines and robots began in her early twenties. She found robots funny and loved watching them mess up in different creative ways.
“Now, I find that building stuff is just the perfect combination of being incredibly humbling (it's hard!) and then making you feel like an absolute wizard when you figure stuff out.”
Simone Giertz has been living in California, USA, for ten years. She runs her own business as an inventor, product designer and content creator. She became famous through her YouTube channel, where she shares her inventions – often humorous and intentionally dysfunctional robots, which she herself calls “shitty robots”.
“It was a kind of mechanical comedy – a robot arm that tried serving me breakfast but threw milk and cereal everywhere, and an alarm clock that slapped me in the face with a rubber arm.”
Over time, she has increasingly focused on projects that solve everyday problems in unique ways, like a baseball cap that can transform into a full-sized tote bag.
Although her robots don’t always work perfectly, they have made technology more accessible and enjoyable for a wide audience. But when it comes to choosing a favourite innovation, it’s hard. Simone Giertz has been a full-time inventor for almost a decade and has plenty to choose from.
“But my favourite useful invention is my foldable coat hanger, “the Coat Hinger”. I also have to mention Truckla – a pickup truck that my friends and I built from a Tesla Model 3. She is the gem of my garage and an absolute joy to pick up lumber in.”
A role model for students
With humor, perseverance and inventiveness, Simone Giertz is a role model for the University's students. She shows that it is possible to experiment and have fun with technology, in a way that few, if any, have done before.
“The University of Skövde would like to recognise Simone Giertz as a pioneer and source of inspiration. Through her work, our students are provided insight into a mindset that sees failures not as defeat, but as part of a learning process and positive development,“ says Alexandra Krettek, Dean of the University of Skövde.
Simone Giertz will be promoted to an Honorary Doctorate during the University's Academic Ceremony on 21 March.
About Simone Giertz
YouTube followers: almost 3 million
Calls herself: Inventor and “breaker of things”
Called by others: “The Queen of Shitty Robots”
Unexpected fact: Has appeared in the Chinese comedy series Huan Xi Long Xia Dang
