Doug Majewski Downtown Transformation BIG Chair Hartman+Majewski Design Group | Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce
On May 15, Lovelace Women’s Hospital invited students from Bel-Air Elementary School to participate in naming its new daVinci5 surgical robot. The winning name chosen was "Walle," inspired by the 2008 Disney animated film about a robot on an uninhabitable Earth.
The name was submitted by first-grade student Mae Mitchell from Heather Hunt’s class. To celebrate the occasion, general surgeons Mario Leyba and Michael Blea visited the school. They talked to the students about their work and provided pizza and T-shirts with “We named the robot!” printed on them.
Dr. Blea, who attended Corrales Elementary School as a child, found the visit particularly meaningful. He recalled being inspired to consider a career in medicine after a similar visit from a University of New Mexico surgeon during his middle school years. “This is kind of full circle,” he remarked.
Additionally, Albuquerque Reads provides tutoring at Bel-Air Elementary each year, along with Atrisco and Whittier elementaries. The Chamber congratulated the students for selecting such an apt name for the hospital's new technology.
Lovelace Women’s Hospital has been associated with the Chamber since 2007.
