Our Team

Prior to becoming CEO, Dave led PickNik’s Sales and Marketing team, driving growth and solidifying its position as the industry leader in advanced robotics applications.

Past Achievements His track record in scaling businesses includes Uplight, which reached unicorn status with a billion-dollar valuation, and Smartabase, where he oversaw fivefold growth.

Vision and Leadership Dave brings this experience and vision to his CEO role, guiding PickNik towards innovation and market expansion.

Personal Interests Outside work, Dave is an avid skier who relishes the steep and deep runs at Arapahoe Basin.

PhD in Computer Science at CU Boulder (motion planning) and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Past Achievements Dave has 13 years in robotics automation and is a leader in the open-source MoveIt and ROS communities.

Background He has worked and consulted for companies including Google Robotics, Open Robotics, and Willow Garage.

Expertise His insights into robot-agnostic platforms, theoretical approaches, and varied end-user needs provide a well-rounded understanding of powerful robotic software.

PhD and M.S. in Robotics at Carnegie Mellon; B.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at University of Tulsa.

Research Focus Nathan’s graduate work centered on team planning techniques and interaction strategies to improve operator supervision of large robot teams.

Expertise He has extensive experience with simulation platforms and field deployment logistics for unmanned vehicles on land, sea, and air.

B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Iowa.

Background Jonathan has 25 years in software development across consulting and product settings.

Expertise The past 15 years, he’s specialized in outsourced software solutions and building professional teams that deliver quality software and great customer experiences.

Philosophy He believes strong communication and technical skill are key to quality solutions.

Ezra has over five years in software engineering with a passion for building user interfaces.

Background Most of his career has supported spaceflight, leading him back to his love of robotics from high school FIRST competitions.

Expertise He enjoys working across all levels of the stack—from web apps and cloud architecture to serial communication and raw socket packets.

Mario is a robotics engineer with 13+ years of experience in mobile manipulation. He earned a PhD in Computer Science from University Jaume-I (Spain) in 2009.

Background After graduation, he worked on underwater robotics in a EU project. In 2012, he joined Willow Garage, contributing to ROS and MoveIt!. In 2014, he moved to Everyday Robots (Google), leading development of kinematics and motion planning for whole-body manipulation.

Personal Interests Outside work, Mario enjoys building things, playing guitar, and spending time with family. He’s a passionate engineer always seeking new challenges.

PhD, MASc, and BEng from Ontario Tech University.

Background Michael has over 15 years contributing to autonomous robots and mobile manipulators through research and industry.

Expertise He specializes in localization, trajectory generation, perception, and human-machine interaction, and brings 10+ years as an educator.

Work Focusing on software, Michael has built and collaborated on robotic systems from prototypes to field-deployed solutions.

Personal Interests Outside robotics, he enjoys scuba diving, rock climbing, and forest trekking.

CPA licensed in Colorado with an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Background Lynn has worked in small and large organizations across business and scientific roles.

Expertise She brings six years of accounting experience from public accounting and early-stage startups.

Personal Interests Lynn helps businesses grow by providing reliable financial information for informed decisions.

Nashley has a varied background in performing arts, wellness, nutrition, and event planning.

Education She holds a Master’s in Chemistry from Texas Woman's University and is passionate about supporting innovative, meaningful work.

Background She lived in Chicago, working in concert dance in both technical and performance roles, and recently moved from Houston, where she worked with a nutrition company.

Strengths & Outlook Creativity, strategic thinking, and hard work are attributes she’s proud of. She looks forward to what Boulder offers and supporting the PickNik team.

M.S. in Electrical Engineering (Controls and Robotics) from NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering.

Early Path Inspired by robotics at MIT Leg Lab, Griswald pursued the field after serving in the US Navy.

Background Drawn by ROS and the PR2 at Willow Garage, he contributed to autonomous docking, navigation, and perception at Fetch, Neato, and Bossa Nova Robotics.

Expertise Experienced in designing automated on-robot testing systems and delivering robust, production-quality robot software.

M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Padua.

Background Giovanni has worked as a Developer, Analyst, and Solution Consultant across several fields for 20+ years.

Expertise His favorite languages are Modern C++/Qt and Java. He loves math and computer graphics.

Personal Interests Giovanni is a professional photographer specializing in 3D lenticular photography.

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky, B.S. from the University of Dayton.

Expertise Through research at UK and work at Badger Technologies, David developed expertise in motion planning and 3D sensor perception.

Research Focus His graduate research centered on real-time path planning for a robotic arm in an unstructured environment.

Personal Interests Outside robotics, David enjoys playing soccer and snowboarding.

M.S. and B.S. in Mechatronics and Information Technology with a robotics focus from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Expertise Experienced in using C++ and ROS2 to build robotic applications.

Key Projects Contributed to MoveIt2’s hybrid planning feature.

Personal Interests Passionate about robotics and manipulation, eager to deepen knowledge in motion planning and control.

M.S. in Aerospace Engineering (autonomous systems) and B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Mandarin, both from University of Colorado Boulder.

Expertise Henry enjoys programming in C++ and Julia, tinkering with simulated robotics, and learning about motion planning, controls, and robotics.

Personal Interests Outside robotics, Henry plays hurling as a midfielder and enjoys playing and watching chess.

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, concentration in Controls and Dynamic Systems, from NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering.

Early Path Bilal’s interest in robotics began in high school with FIRST Robotics and grew in college through the robotics club and Trinity College International Firefighting Home Robot Contest. Julia, tinkering with simulated robotics, and learning about motion planning, controls, and robotics.

Background Before pursuing robotics full-time, he worked on simulations for dynamic systems—from motors to aircraft.

Paul earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire.

Research Focus His Ph.D. research focused on learning from demonstration (LfD) for robot trajectory generation.

Expertise He has worked with robots from ABB, Rethink Robotics, Clearpath Robotics, and Universal Robots.

Personal Interests Paul is a robotics enthusiast who enjoys learning new concepts.

Studied at Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Software Technology and Management.

Early Path Started his career as a frontend web developer while at university.

Expertise He has a decade of expertise in web development.

Current Focus Currently concentrates on React development and manages a team.

B.S. in Computer Science with a linguistics concentration from Harvey Mudd College.

Early Path David’s interest in robotics began in college with motion planning algorithms and ROS.

Expertise Since graduating, he has worked mainly as a backend software engineer at Google on projects like Stadia.

Personal Interests Outside work, David enjoys mountain sports such as climbing and skiing.

PhD in Robotics at Colorado School of Mines and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

Research Graduate research focused on nonlinear control, state estimation, and model parameterization for autonomous magnetic-tipped surgical needles.

Postdoctoral Work Postdoc on autonomous lunar rover localization and navigation using ROS.

Personal Interests Outside robotics, Richard enjoys mountain biking, skiing, and spending time outdoors.

Graduated with a B.S. in Computer Engineering from NYU, with a minor in Robotics.

Early Path Discovered his passion in high school through FIRST Robotics and continued on NYU RoboMasters team.

Background Experienced in programming C++ and Python for game engines, embedded devices, and robotics systems.

Personal Interests Outside work, Shaurya loves rock climbing and playing various tabletop and virtual games.

Noah has over 7 years designing and building intuitive user interfaces for web and mobile apps.

Expertise As a front-end developer, he specializes in Javascript and component-based architecture.

Interests He has a strong interest in web-based 3D visualization and real-time data streaming apps.

Personal Interests Outside development, Noah tinkers as a hobby roboticist with an open source project featured on maker blogs.When away from the computer, he enjoys long hikes and runs with his two dogs.

Degree in Journalism from the University of Colorado.

Background Dana has pursued a diverse career that includes more than ten years working abroad in Eastern Europe and Turkey in public relations and teaching English as a second language.

Experience Since returning to the US, she's worked in Human Resources, IT support, and most recently as a c-suite executive assistant—a role she enjoys for its variety and the opportunity to support the success of her teams.

Personal Interests Outside work, Dana enjoys cooking, writing, decorating, skiing, and hiking the many trails of Boulder County.

M.S. in Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and B.S. in Computer Science at Colorado State University.

Early Path Will’s interest in robotics began in high school with the FIRST robotics program and continued in college with local robotics challenges.

Background His development career has focused on low-level Linux projects and enterprise storage robotics while obtaining his Master’s degree.

Personal Interests Outside work, Will is an avid reader and a trampolining enthusiast.