TC Sessions: Robotics + AI 2020
March 3, 2020 — Berkeley
Speakers
Lewis Anderson
Co-founder & CEO Traptic
Max Bajracharya
Vice President of Robotics Toyota Research Institute
Dror Berman
Founding Partner Innovation Endeavors
Daniel Blank
Co-founder & CEO Toggle
Sébastien Boyer
Co-founder & CEO FarmWise
Lucy Condakchian
General Manager, Robotics Maxar Technologies
James Conrad
Trevor Darrell
Professor, Division of Computer Science/EECS University of California, Berkeley
Claire Delaunay
COO Farm-ng
Dawson Dill
Senior Imagineer, R&D Walt Disney Imagineering
Mike Dooley
Co-founder & CEO Labrador Systems
David Ewing Duncan
CEO Arc Fusion
Krishna Gade
Founder & CEO Fiddler Labs
Ken Goldberg
Chief Scientist, Ambidextrous Robotics & Distinguished Chair, Engineering UC Berkeley College of Engineering
Jocelyn Goldfein
Managing Director Zetta Venture Partners
Selina Herman
Technical Program Manager, R&D Walt Disney Imagineering
Aaron Jacobson
Partner NEA
Jinnah Hosein
Vice President of Software Engineering Aurora
Nathan Kau
Research, Robotic Exploration Lab Stanford University
Carlos Kokron
Vice President & Managing Director, North America Qualcomm Ventures
Abigail De Kosnik
Associate Professor & Director Center for New Media University of California, Berkeley
James Kuffner
CEO Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development
Tessa Lau
Founder & CEO Dusty Robotics
Rich Lyons
Chief Innovation Officer University of California, Berkeley
Steve Macenski
Open-Source Robotics Lead Samsung Research America
Eric Migicovsky
Partner Y Combinator
Joe Mohos
Principal Imagineer, R&D Walt Disney Imagineering
J. Christopher Moran
Executive Director & General Manager Lockheed Martin Ventures
Karen Myers
Lab Director Artificial Intelligence Center SRI International
Michael Norcia
Co-Founder & CEO Pyka
Austin Noronha
Managing Director Sony Innovation Fund
Mark Pauline
Founder & Director Survival Research Labs
Scott Phoenix
Co-founder & CEO Vicarious
Noah Ready-Campbell
Founder, CEO & Engineer Built Robotics
Brian Ringley
Stuart Russell
Professor of Computer Science University of California, Berkeley
Julien Seret
Vice President Global Products SoftBank Robotics America
Jur van den Berg
CTO & Co-Founder Ike
Clara Vu
Co-founder & CTO Veo Robotics
Joshua Wilson
Matthew Panzarino
Advisor TechCrunch
Shri Sundaram
Lewis is CEO of Traptic, which he cofounded to solve a critical labor shortage in the world’s food production system using giant robots. Currently, $200B worth of produce is picked by hand, but a large percentage is wasted because not enough people are available to pick it. To solve this, Traptic developed a custom patented gripper, an intelligent vision system, and a durable robotic platform. These giant robots are saving the world’s food production system by doing the work people don’t want to do. Before starting Traptic, Lewis built software for PowerPoint at Microsoft which has been used by hundreds of millions of users. He started his career building autonomous airplanes and studying Computer Science at UC San Diego.
Lewis's Sessions
Cultivating Intelligence in Agricultural Robots — @zellerbach hall
The benefits of robotics in agriculture are undeniable, yet at the same time only getting started. Lewis Anderson (Traptic) and Sebastien Boyer (Farmwise) will compare notes on the rigors of developing industrial-grade robots that both pick crops and weed fields respectively, and Pyka’s Michael Norcia will discuss taking flight over those fields with an autonomous crop-spraying drone.
Max Bajracharya is Vice President of Robotics at Toyota Research Institute (TRI), where he leads TRI’s robotics effort to develop fundamentally new robotics capabilities to enable robots to empower, amplify, and improve the quality of life of people in an increasingly aging society. Previously at TRI, Max was a Director of Robotics, leading the Mobile Manipulation Technology team to combine in-situ and fleet learning to enable robots to perform complex mobile manipulation tasks in unstructured human environments. Prior to joining TRI, Max was the autonomy technical team lead for a confidential robotics project at X, Alphabet’s “Moonshot Factory,” focusing on mobile manipulation and machine learning. He was the software technical team lead and system architect of a confidential mobile manipulation consumer robot project as part of Google Robotics, and the perception lead for Boston Dynamics’ quadruped and humanoid robots, while part of Google. From 2001-2014, Max was a Member of Technical Staff and group leader of the Computer Vision group at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech. His initial focus was on developing advanced autonomous technology for the Mars rovers, which was used on the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover and 2011 Mars Science Laboratory missions. He was a principal investigator, task lead, system architect, and project manager for many NASA and US Department of Defense basic. He worked on applied research tasks resulting in technology transfer to space missions and terrestrial systems. Subsequently, he led the development, integration, fielding, and deployment of advanced perception, manipulation, and mobility algorithms for autonomous robots for the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), Legged Squad Support System (LS3), Autonomous Robotic Manipulation Software (ARM-S), and Learning Applied to Ground Robots (LAGR) programs, among others, as well as the Army Research Lab (ARL) Robotic Collaborative Technology Alliance (RCTA) and Future Combat Systems Autonomous Navigation System (FCS ANS). Max graduated with a B.S. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001.
Max's Sessions
Bringing Robots to Life — @zellerbach hall
This summer’s Tokyo Olympics will be a huge proving ground for Toyota’s TRI-AD. Executive James Kuffner and TRI’s Max Bajracharya will join us to discuss the department’s plans for assistive robots and self-driving cars.
Dror Berman is a founding managing partner at Innovation Endeavors.
Dror's Sessions
Investing in Robotics and AI: Lessons from the Industry’s VCs — @zellerbach hall
Leading investors will discuss the rising tide of venture capital funding in robotics and AI. The investors bring a combination of early-stage investing and corporate venture capital expertise, sharing a fondness for the wild world of robotics and AI investing.
Dan Blank is the CEO and co-founder of Toggle, a construction robotics company focused on the implementation of manufacturing technology and practices in the built environment. Dan has spent the last twenty years as the founder of two successive companies: a design services agency and now Toggle, which have brought together his interests in the disciplines of design, technology, cities, and infrastructure. Dan is particularly interested in the intersection of developing markets, transportation and renewable energy. With Toggle, he is helping to deliver large scale urban and infrastructure construction, at the same level of quality, speed and value as manufactured consumer goods. Dan is originally from Massachusetts and now lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.
Daniel's Sessions
Building the Robots that Build — @zellerbach hall
Can robots help us build structures faster, smarter and cheaper? Built Robotics makes a self-driving excavator. Toggle is developing a new fabrication of rebar for reinforced concrete, Dusty builds robot-powered tools and longtime robotics pioneers Boston Dynamics have recently joined the construction space. We’ll talk with the founders and experts from these companies to learn how and when robots will become a part of the construction crew.
Before co-founding FarmWise, Sebastien worked as a mathematician for IBM Research and a data scientist for Facebook. He holds a Master’s in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from MIT, where he studied machine learning and recent advances in computer vision. While at MIT, he won the Machine Learning for the Digital Economy competition. He is passionate about developing technologies that address long-term environmental sustainability problems. He was one of the winners of Innovators Under 35 Europe 2018 from MIT Technology Review and named to the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Sébastien's Sessions
Q&A with Founders — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Your chance to ask questions of some of the most successful robotics founders on our stage
Cultivating Intelligence in Agricultural Robots — @zellerbach hall
The benefits of robotics in agriculture are undeniable, yet at the same time only getting started. Lewis Anderson (Traptic) and Sebastien Boyer (Farmwise) will compare notes on the rigors of developing industrial-grade robots that both pick crops and weed fields respectively, and Pyka’s Michael Norcia will discuss taking flight over those fields with an autonomous crop-spraying drone.
Lucy Condakchian is the general manager of robotics at Maxar. The company provides robotic systems for autonomous operations, as well as mechanisms and services for a range of missions including in-orbit satellite servicing, and exploration on the moon and Mars. Condakchian has worked at Maxar in increasingly responsible roles since 2002. With a degree in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA, Condakchian began her career as a mechanical design engineer working on the Instrument Deployment Device for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL’s) Mars Exploratory Rover. Condakchian advanced to become a project manager for advanced subsystems on several NASA and DARPA projects including several innovative and advanced robotic arms with multiple joints enabling highly dexterous movement. Condakchian has worked on six robotic arms used on the surface of Mars, including arms for NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance rovers and InSight and Phoenix landers. Over the course of her career, Condakchian has grown Maxar’s robotics business and established its reputation as the top supplier of sophisticated robotic systems for autonomous operations in space. Under her leadership, Maxar is currently developing cutting-edge robotics for on-orbit satellite servicing and assembly for NASA’s OSAM-1 (formerly Restore-L) program.
Lucy's Sessions
Engineering for the Red Planet — @zellerbach hall
Maxar Technologies has been involved with U.S. space efforts for decades, and is about to send its 6th (!) robotic arm to Mars aboard NASA’s Mars 2020 rover. Lucy Condakchian is general manager of robotics at Maxar and will speak to the difficulty and exhilaration of designing robotics for use in the harsh environments of space and other planets.
James is a 25 year veteran of consumer and customer insight. Canadian by birth, he has worked all across the globe for some of the biggest names in research consultancy including Millward Brown, TNS, GfK and Kantar. He has focused on helping his clients gain competitive advantage through understanding human behavior and how to best align corporate resources to accomplish business goals. His passion in recent years has been the intersection of brand and customer experience measurement and management. In addition, he has been pursuing how the industry can innovate by leveraging new technologies like AI and machine learning.
James's Sessions
Reshaping Customer Experience leveraging AI — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Customer Experience is the new battleground for most companies. Finding new ways to understand customers and how to develop plans to enhance these experiences, is key for staying competitive and driving growth. In this session we will explore how AI can be used to rethink and enhance current methods of gathering customer feedback to bring advanced insight and focus to how companies can optimize experience and ultimately grow their businesses. Sponsored by Worthix.
Trevor Darrell is on the faculty of the CS Division of the EECS Department at UC Berkeley. He leads Berkeley’s DeepDrive Industrial Consortia, is co-Director of the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) lab, and is Faculty Director of PATH at UC Berkeley. Darrell’s group develops algorithms for large-scale perceptual learning, including object and activity recognition and detection, for a variety of applications including multimodal interaction with robots and mobile devices. His interests include computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, and perception-based human computer interfaces. Prof. Darrell previously led the vision group at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, and was on the faculty of the MIT EECS department from 1999-2008, where he directed the Vision Interface Group. He was a member of the research staff at Interval Research Corporation from 1996-1999, and received the S.M., and PhD. degrees from MIT in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He obtained the B.S.E. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988.
Trevor's Sessions
Opening the Black Box With Explainable A.I — @zellerbach hall
Machine learning and AI models can be found in nearly every aspect of society today, but their inner workings are often as much a mystery to their creators as to those who use them. UC Berkeley’s Trevor Darrell, Krishna Gade of Fiddler Labs, and Karen Myers from SRI International will discuss what we’re doing about it and what still needs to be done.
Claire is a seasoned robotics and engineering professional with a diverse background in the field. She most recently held the position of COO at Farm-ng. Prior to this, she served as Vice President of Engineering at Nvidia, where she developed the groundbreaking Isaac Platform for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Claire also co-founded self-driving tech company OTTO and held the role of Vice President of Engineering before its acquisition by Uber. Her experience extends to leading advanced robotics projects at Google Robotics.
Claire's Sessions
Q&A: Building Robotics Platforms — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with some of the greatest engineers in robotics and AI
Fostering the Next Generation of Robotics Startups — @zellerbach hall
Robotics and AI are the future of many or most industries, but the barrier of entry is still difficult to surmount for many startups. Speakers will discuss the challenges of serving robotics startups and companies that require robotics labor, from bootstrapped startups to large scale enterprises.
Dawson Dill is currently a senior Imagineer within Walt Disney Imagineering’s Research and Development Studio. Utilizing newly emerging technologies and tools, as well has his background in art, video and game design, he crafts, pitches and develops new creative concepts and experiences for Disney Parks & Resorts. Dawson began his career at Walt Disney Imagineering in 2011 as an Advanced Development intern, focusing on graphic design and video. Since, he has continued to work as an experience designer on projects ranging from behind the scenes software, attractions, robotics and more. Dawson is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in design and media arts and a minor in film, TV and digital media.
Dawson's Sessions
Disney Robotics — @zellerbach hall
At Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development, they are obsessive about exploring ways that they can use innovation to make guest experiences exceptional at Disney Parks around the world. One of the most interesting areas of development for the team has been the ongoing development of trackless ride vehicles in testing and pre-visualization right on through to the actual ride experiences. Join three Disney Imagineers for a conversation about the unique ways the research and development teams are thinking about and utilizing trackless ride vehicles to further immerse guests in the stories that the parks are telling.
Mike Dooley is a leading pioneer in consumer robotics, successfully shipping millions of products into homes over the past 20 years. Mike launched the original LEGO MindStorms product line, including the Robotics Invention System, which became the best-selling product in the history of the company. He later co-invented and launched what is now the Braava series of smart robotic mops (acquired by iRobot) and helped develop the systematic mapping behaviors used in Roomba today. In 2017, Mike co-founded Labrador Systems to introduce a new generation of assistive robots to help people live more independently. The company recently closed its first round of financing led by SOSV/HAX and including iRobot Ventures and Amazon Alexa Fund.
Mike's Sessions
Facilitating Human-Robot Interaction — @zellerbach hall
As robots become an ever more meaningful part of our lives, interactions with humans are increasingly inevitable. These experts will discuss the broad implications of HRI in the workplace and home.
David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning journalist in print, television, and radio; the best-selling author of ten books published in 21 languages. His most recent book is Talking to Robots: Tales from our Human-Robot Futures (Dutton), which is also being developed for television. David is CEO of Arc Fusion, and a frequent contributor to Wired, Vanity Fair, MIT Technology Review, The New York Times, Atlantic, and others. He is a former commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition, and a special correspondent and producer for ABC’s Nightline. He is the founding director, Center of Life Science Policy at UC Berkeley. His books include When I’m 164: The New Science of Radical Life Extension, and What Happens If It Succeeds (Ted books), Experimental Man: What One Man’s Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World (Wiley), and global bestseller Calendar: Humanity’s epic struggle to determine a true and accurate year (HarperCollins). David’s awards include Magazine Story of the Year from AAAS and nominations for two National Magazine Awards. He has served on special communications committees at the National Academies of Science and is on the faculty of Singularity University. He lives in Boston and San Francisco. www.davidewingduncan.com
David Ewing's Sessions
The Next Century of Robo-Exoticism — @zellerbach hall
In 1920, Karl Capek coined the term “robot” in a play about mechanical workers organizing a rebellion to defeat their human overlords. 100 years later, in the context of increasing inequality and xenophobia, the panelists will discuss cultural views of robots in the context of “Robo-Exoticism” which exaggerates both negative and positive attributes and reinforces old fears, fantasies, and stereotypes.
Krishna Gade is co-founder and CEO at Fiddler Labs, an explainable AI startup that enables enterprises to deploy and scale risk- and bias-free AI applications.
Krishna's Sessions
Opening the Black Box With Explainable A.I — @zellerbach hall
Machine learning and AI models can be found in nearly every aspect of society today, but their inner workings are often as much a mystery to their creators as to those who use them. UC Berkeley’s Trevor Darrell, Krishna Gade of Fiddler Labs, and Karen Myers from SRI International will discuss what we’re doing about it and what still needs to be done.
Ken Goldberg teaches and supervises research in Robotics, Automation, and New Media. Ken holds dual degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (1984) and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (1990). He joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1995 and is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, with secondary appointments in EECS, the School of Information, Art Practice, and the UCSF Dept of Radiation Oncology. Ken and his co-authors have published over 200 peer-reviewed technical papers on algorithms for robotics, automation, and social information filtering, and he holds eight U.S. patents. He is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), Co-Founder of the Berkeley Center for New Media, Co-Founder and CTO of Hybrid Wisdom Labs, Co-Founder of the Moxie Institute, and Founding Director of UC Berkeley’s Art, Technology, and Culture Lecture Series. Ken’s art installations, based on his research, have been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Whitney Biennial, the Berkeley Art Museum, the SF Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Pompidou Center, the Buenos Aires Biennial, and the ICC in Tokyo. Ken has co-written three award-winning Sundance documentary films, “The Tribe”, “Yelp”, and “Connected: An Autoblogography of Love, Death, and Technology.” He is represented by the Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco. Ken was awarded the Presidential Faculty Fellowship by President Clinton in 1995, the National Science Foundation Faculty Fellowship in 1994, the Joseph Engelberger Robotics Award in 2000, and was elected IEEE Fellow in 2005.
Ken's Sessions
The Next Century of Robo-Exoticism — @zellerbach hall
In 1920, Karl Capek coined the term “robot” in a play about mechanical workers organizing a rebellion to defeat their human overlords. 100 years later, in the context of increasing inequality and xenophobia, the panelists will discuss cultural views of robots in the context of “Robo-Exoticism” which exaggerates both negative and positive attributes and reinforces old fears, fantasies, and stereotypes.
Jocelyn Goldfein is a managing director at Zetta Venture Partners.
Jocelyn's Sessions
Investing in Robotics and AI: Lessons from the Industry’s VCs — @zellerbach hall
Leading investors will discuss the rising tide of venture capital funding in robotics and AI. The investors bring a combination of early-stage investing and corporate venture capital expertise, sharing a fondness for the wild world of robotics and AI investing.
Q&A: Investing in Robotics Startups — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with some of the greatest investors in robotics and AI
Selina Herman is a Technical Program Manager at Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development. She is a member of the Productization team that transforms WDI R&D innovations into technology platforms that power next-generation Disney experiences. Before joining Disney, Selina held leadership positions in unmanned aerial vehicle systems defense companies and trucking telematics solution companies. Selina earned a BS degree in Aerospace Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from University of California San Diego. Walt Disney Imagineering is the creative engine behind experiences found in Disney theme parks, resort hotels, cruise ships, and consumer products—including books, games, and merchandise. Imagineering’s unique strength comes from the teamwork and syntheses of creative and technical professionals representing more than 100 diverse disciplines.
Selina's Sessions
Disney Robotics — @zellerbach hall
At Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development, they are obsessive about exploring ways that they can use innovation to make guest experiences exceptional at Disney Parks around the world. One of the most interesting areas of development for the team has been the ongoing development of trackless ride vehicles in testing and pre-visualization right on through to the actual ride experiences. Join three Disney Imagineers for a conversation about the unique ways the research and development teams are thinking about and utilizing trackless ride vehicles to further immerse guests in the stories that the parks are telling.
Aaron Jacobson is a Partner at global venture capital firm, NEA. He joined the firm in 2011 and currently partners with founders building generational companies in AI, cybersecurity, developer tools, and robotics. Prior to joining NEA, Aaron spent two years in M&A advisory at Qatalyst Partners, in San Francisco. Aaron graduated summa cum laude from the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned dual bachelor of science degrees in economics and electrical engineering, and carried a minor in math.
Aaron's Sessions
Q&A: Investing in Robotics Startups — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with some of the greatest investors in robotics and AI
Jinnah Hosein leads his own software engineering team in a VP role. Bringing on Hosein is a huge move for Aurora, which will now have some additional senior leadership taken to help direct and organize its growing engineering team, according to Aurora co-founder Chris Urmson . Hosein’s background includes his time as VP of Software Engineering at SpaceX, where he spent the past four years and oversaw projects including the recent successful Falcon Heavy launch. Before that, he was Director of Software Engineering at Google working on Google Cloud, site reliability and other software projects.
Jinnah's Sessions
Toward a Driverless Future — @zellerbach hall
Autonomous driving is set to be one of the biggest categories for robotics and AI. But there are plenty of roadblocks standing in its way. Experts will discuss how we get there from here.
Nathan Kau is an undergraduate at Stanford University studying robotics and controls. In 2017 he started Extreme Mobility, a student robotics group focused on building and open-sourcing agile robots. Their first robot, Stanford Doggo, set a world record for vertical jumping agility using inexpensive motors, electronics, and hardware. Since the robot was published in 2019 at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, it has been reproduced by students and researchers around the world. Nathan now does research with Stanford’s Robotic Exploration Lab and continues to bring new students into the Extreme Mobility group while working on new legged robots. By continuing to share open-source designs, Nathan hopes to lower the barrier to entry to robotics.
Nathan's Sessions
Live Demo from the Stanford Robotics Club — @zellerbach hall
Carlos Kokron is the Vice President and Managing Director of North America, based in San Diego, CA. He is currently Board member or observer at Augury, Matterport, Spire, Particle, CargoX, Loggi, Ingresse, and WebRadar. He started his career as an engineer in process industries having held positions in operations and process engineering, as well as strategic planning and corporate finance at Unilever in Brazil and at Unocal 76 (now Chevron) in California. Prior to joining Qualcomm Ventures he was responsible for Intel’s business with Service Providers in Latin America. Earlier, Kokron was Director of Intel Capital for Latin America and Southwest U.S. and Partner at Stratus Group in Brazil responsible for the firm’s Growth Capital platform. Kokron holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and has earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.
Carlos's Sessions
Q&A: Corporate VC, Partnering and Acquisitions — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with three of the top minds in corporate VC
Abigail De Kosnik is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM) and the Department of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies, and is the Director of BCNM. She is the author of Rogue Archives: Digital Cultural Memory and Media Fandom (MIT Press, 2016) and co-editor, with Keith Feldman, of #identity: Hashtagging Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Nation (University of Michigan Press, 2019). She has published articles on media fandom, popular digital culture, and performance studies in Cinema Journal, The International Journal of Communication, Modern Drama, Transformative Works and Cultures, Verge: Studies in Global Asias, Performance Research, and elsewhere. De Kosnik is Filipina American.
Abigail's Sessions
The Next Century of Robo-Exoticism — @zellerbach hall
In 1920, Karl Capek coined the term “robot” in a play about mechanical workers organizing a rebellion to defeat their human overlords. 100 years later, in the context of increasing inequality and xenophobia, the panelists will discuss cultural views of robots in the context of “Robo-Exoticism” which exaggerates both negative and positive attributes and reinforces old fears, fantasies, and stereotypes.
Prior to being named CEO at TRI-AD in March 2018, Dr. Kuffner was the Chief Technology Officer at TRI. Dr. Kuffner received a Ph.D. from the Stanford University Dept. of Computer Science Robotics Laboratory in 1999, and was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo working on software and planning algorithms for humanoid robots. He joined the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute in 2002. Before joining TRI, Dr. Kuffner was a Research Scientist and Engineering Director at Google from 2009 to 2016. Dr. Kuffner was part of the initial engineering team that built Google’s self-driving car. Dr. Kuffner was appointed head of Google’s Robotics division in 2014, which he co-founded. Dr. Kuffner continues to serve as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
James's Sessions
Bringing Robots to Life — @zellerbach hall
This summer’s Tokyo Olympics will be a huge proving ground for Toyota’s TRI-AD. Executive James Kuffner and TRI’s Max Bajracharya will join us to discuss the department’s plans for assistive robots and self-driving cars.
Considered one of the most influential women in robotics, Dr. Tessa Lau is an award-winning CEO and roboticist whose most recent venture, Dusty Robotics, is revolutionizing the construction industry. Dusty automates the BIM-to-field layout process through a robotic FieldPrinter, eliminating costly errors and speeding up construction schedules. Prior to Dusty Robotics, Dr. Lau was co-founder, CTO, and Chief Robot Whisperer at Savioke (Relay) Robotics, where she automated hotel delivery and orchestrated the global distribution and management of consumer-facing robots. Dr. Lau was also an early member of Willow Garage, the legendary research lab and technology incubator known as one of the most influential forces in modern robotics.
Tessa's Sessions
Building the Robots that Build — @zellerbach hall
Can robots help us build structures faster, smarter and cheaper? Built Robotics makes a self-driving excavator. Toggle is developing a new fabrication of rebar for reinforced concrete, Dusty builds robot-powered tools and longtime robotics pioneers Boston Dynamics have recently joined the construction space. We’ll talk with the founders and experts from these companies to learn how and when robots will become a part of the construction crew.
Rich Lyons is a Professor of Finance at the Haas School of Business, where he served as dean from 2008 to 2018 and acting dean from 2004 to 2005. As dean, Lyons led a sweeping culture initiative that drove the school’s historic strengths more deeply into admissions and other critical processes with a set of four Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. He supervised the development of Connie & Kevin Chou Hall—a new academic building funded entirely by alumni and friends—as well as attracting eight of the 10 largest gifts in school history. Lyons forged stronger ties with other UC Berkeley colleges and departments with a focus on dual degree programs combining business with STEM fields, including the new Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology program with Berkeley Engineering. In 2018, he was awarded with the Berkeley Citation, given to individuals whose contributions to UC Berkeley go beyond the call of duty and whose achievements exceed the standards of excellence in their fields. Lyons also received Berkeley’s highest teaching honor in 1998. Lyons’ research and teaching are mostly in international finance, though his more recent work explores how business leadership drives innovation and the importance of culture in shaping organizations. From 2006 to 2008, he took a leave from Berkeley to serve as Goldman Sachs’ Chief Learning Officer, focusing on leadership development for managing directors. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley in 1993, he was an assistant professor at Columbia Business School. He received his BS in finance from Berkeley and PhD in economics from MIT.
Rich's Sessions
Welcome and Introduction by Matthew Panzarino (TechCrunch) and Rich Lyons (UC Berkeley)— @zellerbach hall
Steve Macenski is the Open-Source Robotics Lead at Samsung Research, where consults for robotics groups and works on flagship open-source projects. He is a member of the Open-Source Robotics Foundation’s ROS2 Technical Steering Committee and oversees the development of the mobile robotics ecosystem. His work has been confirmed in use on 6 continents by over 5,000 robots in retail, hospitals, oil and gas, libraries, and more. Prior to his role at Samsung Research, Steve was the employee #7 and Lead Robotics Engineer at Simbe Robotics, where he developed popular open-source ROS extensions for SLAM and 3D perception for dynamic environments. He also advises early-stage robotics startups leveraging open-source tools. Steve holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Steve's Sessions
Q&A: Building Robotics Platforms — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with some of the greatest engineers in robotics and AI
Eric Migicovsky was the founder and CEO of Pebble Technology and is a visiting partner at Y Combinator. He is a contributor to Hardware Studio, a new resource for hardware creators from Kickstarter, Avnet, and Dragon Innovation that launches today.
Eric's Sessions
Investing in Robotics and AI: Lessons from the Industry’s VCs — @zellerbach hall
Leading investors will discuss the rising tide of venture capital funding in robotics and AI. The investors bring a combination of early-stage investing and corporate venture capital expertise, sharing a fondness for the wild world of robotics and AI investing.
Joe Mohos is a Principal R&D Imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, where he collaborates with project teams to bring together innovative technologies and creative applications for use in Disney theme parks, experiences, and resorts worldwide. Joe received his Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering from UCSC and has spent the last three decades following his passion for engineering by leading efforts in industrial automation, automotive controls, electric vehicle development, and military and commercial drone development. His most recent engineering challenges at WDI bring together all of his passions by applying them to the incredibly varied entertainment industry. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, teaching, hiking and travel with his family. Walt Disney Imagineering is the creative engine behind experiences found in Disney theme parks, resort hotels, cruise ships, and consumer products—including books, games, and merchandise. Imagineering’s unique strength comes from the teamwork and syntheses of creative and technical professionals representing more than 100 diverse disciplines.
Joe's Sessions
Disney Robotics — @zellerbach hall
At Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development, they are obsessive about exploring ways that they can use innovation to make guest experiences exceptional at Disney Parks around the world. One of the most interesting areas of development for the team has been the ongoing development of trackless ride vehicles in testing and pre-visualization right on through to the actual ride experiences. Join three Disney Imagineers for a conversation about the unique ways the research and development teams are thinking about and utilizing trackless ride vehicles to further immerse guests in the stories that the parks are telling.
John Christopher “Chris” Moran is the Executive Director and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures; the venture capital investment arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading the Corporation’s investments in small technology companies which support Lockheed Martin’s strategic business objectives. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Moran served in a variety of increasingly responsible positions at Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA. He served most recently as the head of the Business Systems and Analytics group in the Applied Global Services Organization. Mr. Moran was with Applied for over 32 years. Prior to his most recent role, Mr. Moran was head of Corporate Strategy and General Manager of Applied Ventures LLC; the strategic investing arm of Applied Materials. Mr. Moran is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering
Karen Myers is Director of SRI International’s Artificial Intelligence Center and an SRI Fellow. Dr. Myers’ research interests include autonomy, multi-agent systems, automated planning and scheduling, intelligent assistants, and privacy. She has led the development of several AI technologies that have been successfully transitioned into operational use in areas that span robotics, text understanding, collaboration tools, task management, and end-user automation. Myers has a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford, a B.Sc. in mathematics and computer science from the University of Toronto, and a degree in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Karen's Sessions
Opening the Black Box With Explainable A.I — @zellerbach hall
Machine learning and AI models can be found in nearly every aspect of society today, but their inner workings are often as much a mystery to their creators as to those who use them. UC Berkeley’s Trevor Darrell, Krishna Gade of Fiddler Labs, and Karen Myers from SRI International will discuss what we’re doing about it and what still needs to be done.
Michael Norcia is CEO of Pyka, an autonomous electric aircraft company. Michael has a deep technical background in autonomous flight, having contributed to a wide variety of manned/unmanned electric aviation projects at Joby, Cora, and Kittyhawk. In 2017, Michael founded Pyka with the goal of combining two of his lifelong passions: electric aviation and business. His relentless enthusiasm and continual push for a happy and hyper-productive team has helped make Pyka the first and only certified autonomous electric aviation company in the world.
Michael's Sessions
Cultivating Intelligence in Agricultural Robots — @zellerbach hall
The benefits of robotics in agriculture are undeniable, yet at the same time only getting started. Lewis Anderson (Traptic) and Sebastien Boyer (Farmwise) will compare notes on the rigors of developing industrial-grade robots that both pick crops and weed fields respectively, and Pyka’s Michael Norcia will discuss taking flight over those fields with an autonomous crop-spraying drone.
Austin Noronha is Managing Director of the Sony Innovation Fund which makes early stage investments using Sony’s balance sheet. In this role, he and his team are dedicated to investing in and engaging with promising early-stage companies. He is also Managing Director of Innovation Growth Ventures, a joint venture between Daiwa Securities and Sony that invests in later stage companies. Austin joined Sony in 2001 as Director of Strategic Investments. Prior to joining Sony, Austin was founder and CEO of TrueScope Technologies, an immersive video product and services start-up. He has spent over 25 years in Silicon Valley at both large multinational corporations and start-ups. Austin holds a master’s degree from Michigan Technological University, and a bachelor’s degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India.
Austin's Sessions
Q&A: Corporate VC, Partnering and Acquisitions — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with three of the top minds in corporate VC
Originated and developed the concept of large scale machine performance beginning in 1978 with the founding of Survival Research Laboratories. Staged over 62 machine performances in the US, Europe, and Japan as director of SRL. Constructed and designed dozens of large, complex robots and machines for use in these performances. Have trained and supervised the efforts of over 400 assistants in the art of public machine performance. BA Visual Arts / Eckerd College St. Petersburg FL.
Mark's Sessions
The Next Century of Robo-Exoticism — @zellerbach hall
In 1920, Karl Capek coined the term “robot” in a play about mechanical workers organizing a rebellion to defeat their human overlords. 100 years later, in the context of increasing inequality and xenophobia, the panelists will discuss cultural views of robots in the context of “Robo-Exoticism” which exaggerates both negative and positive attributes and reinforces old fears, fantasies, and stereotypes.
Scott Phoenix is the co-founder and CEO of Vicarious, an AI company that is building artificial general intelligence for robots. Vicarious has raised over $135 million in funding from luminaries including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Jeff Bezos. Prior to co-founding Vicarious, Mr. Phoenix was entrepreneur-in-residence at Founders Fund, and a CXO at OnlySecure (acquired byNetShops) and at MarchingOrder (Ben Franklin Partners). He is an advisor to Base10 Partners, Felicis Ventures, and 8VC in the areas of AI and hard technology investments, and a global advocate for the development of safe AI. He earned his BAS in Computer Science and Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania.
Scott's Sessions
Fostering the Next Generation of Robotics Startups — @zellerbach hall
Robotics and AI are the future of many or most industries, but the barrier of entry is still difficult to surmount for many startups. Speakers will discuss the challenges of serving robotics startups and companies that require robotics labor, from bootstrapped startups to large scale enterprises.
Noah is the founder and CEO of Built Robotics, a company building automated guidance systems for heavy equipment. He founded the company in 2016, and has raised over $48 million from leading Silicon Valley investors including Founders Fund, NEA and Next47. Previously, Noah founded an ecommerce startup called Twice, which raised $23 million from Andreessen Horowitz before eBay acquired it in 2015. Noah began his career at Google, and he studied business and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, but his first job was working as a carpenter’s helper for his dad, helping to renovate old houses in rural New England.
Noah's Sessions
Building the Robots that Build — @zellerbach hall
Can robots help us build structures faster, smarter and cheaper? Built Robotics makes a self-driving excavator. Toggle is developing a new fabrication of rebar for reinforced concrete, Dusty builds robot-powered tools and longtime robotics pioneers Boston Dynamics have recently joined the construction space. We’ll talk with the founders and experts from these companies to learn how and when robots will become a part of the construction crew.
Q&A with Founders — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Your chance to ask questions of some of the most successful robotics founders on our stage
Brian Ringley is a Construction Technologist at Boston Dynamics where he supports AEC customer applications for the Spot platform and assists in the development of new autonomous behavior that adds value to construction project delivery. He teaches computational fabrication and industrial robotics as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Architecture and Urban Design program. Prior to Boston Dynamics, he was a Senior Construction Automation Researcher at WeWork where he managed the construction robotics research program and developed facilities, products, and processes for automated offsite construction.
Brian's Sessions
Building the Robots that Build — @zellerbach hall
Can robots help us build structures faster, smarter and cheaper? Built Robotics makes a self-driving excavator. Toggle is developing a new fabrication of rebar for reinforced concrete, Dusty builds robot-powered tools and longtime robotics pioneers Boston Dynamics have recently joined the construction space. We’ll talk with the founders and experts from these companies to learn how and when robots will become a part of the construction crew.
Stuart Russell received his B.A. with first-class honours in physics from Oxford University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford in 1986. He then joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, where he is Professor (and formerly Chair) of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and holder of the Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery at UC San Francisco and Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on AI and Robotics. Russell is a recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation, the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, the World Technology Award (Policy category), the Mitchell Prize of the American Statistical Association and the International Society for Bayesian Analysis, the ACM Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, and the AAAI/EAAI Outstanding Educator Award. In 1998, he gave the Forsythe Memorial Lectures at Stanford University and from 2012 to 2014 he held the Chaire Blaise Pascal in Paris. He is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His research covers a wide range of topics in artificial intelligence including machine learning, probabilistic reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, real-time decision making, multitarget tracking, computer vision, computational physiology, global seismic monitoring, and philosophical foundations. His books include “The Use of Knowledge in Analogy and Induction”, “Do the Right Thing: Studies in Limited Rationality” (with Eric Wefald), and “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach” (with Peter Norvig). His current concerns include the threat of autonomous weapons and the long-term future of artificial intelligence and its relation to humanity.
Stuart's Sessions
Saving Humanity from AI — @zellerbach hall
The UC Berkeley professor and AI authority argues in his acclaimed new book, “Human Compatible,” that AI will doom humanity unless technologists fundamentally reform how they build AI algorithms.
Book signing with Stuart Russell — @lower sproul plaza
Join one of the foremost experts in artificial intelligence as he signs copies of his acclaimed new book, Human Compatible. Book signing will be located outside on the Lower Sproul Plaza at the registration area.
Julien Seret brings an in-depth understanding of a wide range of technologies and business models in diverse industries. Before joining SoftBank Robotics America, Julien held business development and technical marketing positions at STMicroelectronics, Archos and Gostai. He successfully launched complex B2B products ranging from national e-ID card programs, secure payment solutions, to the first 3G-enabled tablets and telepresence robots.
Julien's Sessions
Q&A: Corporate VC, Partnering and Acquisitions — @pauley ballroom east, 3rd fl. student union
Join this interactive Q&A session on the breakout stage with three of the top minds in corporate VC
Dr. Jur van den Berg is CTO and co-founder at automated trucking startup Ike. He is passionate about bringing automated vehicle technology to the road as a product. Dr. Van den Berg has developed technology for multiple leading companies in the automated vehicle space, including Google (now Waymo), Apple, Otto, and Uber. He holds a PhD in computer science from Utrecht University, and has taught robotics as a professor at the University of Utah. Dr. Van den Berg’s experience has contributed to a strong belief in the specific application of AV technology to moving freight on highways, as it meaningfully constrains the technical problem, while at the same time positively impacting truckers and the trucking industry as a whole.
Jur van den's Sessions
Toward a Driverless Future — @zellerbach hall
Autonomous driving is set to be one of the biggest categories for robotics and AI. But there are plenty of roadblocks standing in its way. Experts will discuss how we get there from here.
Clara Vu is the co-founder and CTO at Veo Robotics, the industrial automation company that created FreeMove®, a comprehensive 3D safeguarding system for industrial robots that powers dynamic human-robot collaboration. She leads the engineering team and supports developments with Veo’s computer vision-powered sensing and intelligence that is used today by four of the biggest industrial robot companies in the world: FANUC, Yaskawa, ABB, and Kuka. With over two decades of experience in robotics, Clara has developed multiple products from inception to market. Clara started her career at iRobot programming robots for oil well exploration; she then moved on to interactive toys and the Roomba. Prior to Veo, Clara was co-founder and director of software development for Harvest Automation, the makers of mobile robots for agricultural automation. Before that, Clara was a product management consultant at Rethink Robotics, where she first met Veo co-founder Patrick Sobalvarro.
Clara's Sessions
Facilitating Human-Robot Interaction — @zellerbach hall
As robots become an ever more meaningful part of our lives, interactions with humans are increasingly inevitable. These experts will discuss the broad implications of HRI in the workplace and home.
Joshua is the CEO and co-founder of Freedom Robotics. Freedom Robotics provides software building blocks for robotics companies to launch and scale effortlessly – through an installable agent, unified API and full suite software solution. Joshua is a robotics and startup veteran, with over a decade of experience developing, launching and scaling infrastructure and dev tools. Joshua previously founded the Sequoia and A16Z-backed Tsumobi (YCombinator W07). Joshua’s love of robotics stems from his time studying at MIT and researching in the MIT Media Lab. He is also a winner of MIT’s MASLab Robotics competition
Joshua's Sessions
Fostering the Next Generation of Robotics Startups — @zellerbach hall
Robotics and AI are the future of many or most industries, but the barrier of entry is still difficult to surmount for many startups. Speakers will discuss the challenges of serving robotics startups and companies that require robotics labor, from bootstrapped startups to large scale enterprises.
Matthew Panzarino served as Editor in Chief of TechCrunch for a decade. Previously, he was News Editor and Managing Editor at The Next Web, founded photography businesses and a news blog covering the Apple ecosystem. He has made a name for himself in the tech media world as a writer and editor covering Apple, Disney, robotics and fashion in addition to a broad range of startups in the fields of robotics, computer vision, AI, VR, AR and more. Disclosures: Holds shares in ETFs, ETH and various NFTs. Contact Matthew at [email protected] PGP Key: https://keybase.io/panzer
Matthew's Sessions
Welcome and Introduction by Matthew Panzarino (TechCrunch) and Rich Lyons (UC Berkeley)— @zellerbach hall
Seasoned business leader focused on semiconductor, embedded software, and imaging technologies for consumer and business markets.
Shri's Sessions
Innovation Break: Bringing Intelligence to Robots with Shri Sundaram (NVIDIA)
Most robots are automated but not AI autonomous. NVIDIA’s Isaac platform helps roboticists incorporate AI into their robots. By leveraging Isaac, NVIDIA’s Jetson AGX Xavier module, and DGX deep learning workstation, you can create the next generation robotics by accelerating research and design, reducing cost and risk, and improving quality and accuracy. Sponsored by NVIDIA.
