Our Team

PhD Computer Science at CU Boulder focusing on motion planning and Mechanical Engineering B.S. at Georgia Tech. Dave has 13 years experience working in the field of robotics automation and is a leader in the open source MoveIt and ROS communities. His insights into robot-agnostic platforms for different morphologies, theoretical approaches, and different end-user requirements give him a well-rounded understanding for powerful robotic software. He has worked and consulted for all types of robotics companies including Google Robotics, Open Robotics, and Willow Garage.

PhD Computer Science Carnegie Mellon University and M.S. Computer Science University of Twente (the Netherlands). Mark has worked in robotics for more than 20 years, with a focus on motion planning. He has been leading the development of the Open Motion Planning Library, which is used by MoveIt as the default planning library. He has over 80 peer-reviewed publications. He has extensive experience deploying novel algorithms on a variety of robotic platforms, ranging from NASA's Robonaut2 to autonomous underwater vehicles and self-reconfigurable robots.

PhD and M.S. Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, B.S. Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at University of Tulsa. Nathan's graduate research focused on developing team planning techniques and interaction strategies improving operator supervision of large robot teams. Through this research, he has extensive experience with simulation platforms and field deployment logistics for unmanned vehicles on land, sea, and air.

CPA licensed in Colorado with an M.S. in accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Over her career Lynn has worked for small and very large organizations in both business and scientific roles. Lynn brings six years of accounting experience from a mix of public accounting and early stage startups. Lynn's passion is in helping businesses grow by providing reliable financial information to help make informed decisions.

B.S. International Affairs in Counter Terrorism Theory from Georgia Tech. Trained as a design engineer who's built electro-mechanical tools, integrated digital systems, and lead product market strategy in human-centered services. He's worked in biotech labs, on the shop floor, and coordinated disaster relief efforts in the developing world. When not putting in creative energy he leads sailing, paragliding, and mountaineering expeditions.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Erin has over 20 years of proposal management experience. Her career as a procurement professional began in an organic manner, working first as a writer and coordinator, then moving into proposal management and capture management. Building sustainable, long-term business relationships and tailored solutions for companies is Erin’s focus. A gifted writer, Erin crafts compelling, compliant business proposals that improve win-rates and build honest business relationships aligned with our values and a commitment to excellence.

B.S in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. Jonathan has 25 years of experience in software development, working in both consulting and product settings. He’s spent the last 15 years especially focused on delivering outsourced software solutions for customers and developing professional organizations that deliver quality software and excellent customer experiences. Jonathan believes that strong communication and excellent technical capability form the backbone of developing quality solutions.

B.A. in Industrial Design from Karelia University AS. Built, led, branded, marketed, and raised large funding for multiple technology companies internationally as well as won multiple awards for innovation and pitching internationally. An evangelist for the future of robotics and a firm believer in owning and honing a unique category within it.

PhD from Drexel University. Bill is a PhD roboticist with diverse robotics experience, primarily in the assisted living robot space, but also in semiconductor packaging, modular robotics, and space technologies. An expert in robotics product design, Bill has experience in how development can mesh with customer needs and use-case definitions, so cutting-edge capability can deliver utility to customers. Bill has a PhD from Drexel University and knows too much math to be very useful.

M.A. in English from the University of Dayton; PMP, ACP from PMI.org. Kyle is a technology professional and project / account manager with over 25 years managing and delivering software, hardware, and telecommunications projects and products. Prior to PickNik, Kyle worked in project delivery for Hewlett-Packard, the University of Colorado, and Ball Corporation, among others. For the last ten years, he has focused on software built with open and frequent customer+user communication, creating confidence in product value well before it ships.

PhD from the University of Texas, B.S. ME/EE from Colorado School of Mines. Andy has focused on bringing a more responsive, delicate touch to industrial robots, with emphasis on control theory. Andy has collaborated with roboticists in the nuclear, oil/gas, and aerospace domains. Some of his favorite projects were joint current based collision detection, balancing an egg between Motoman SIA5 manipulators, and design of teleoperation software for a dual-arm Clearpath robot.

Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. Sina specializes in robot modeling and design of control and planning algorithms. He has worked on a variety of robotic platforms from manipulators to self-driving vehicles for over 15 years. Prior to PickNik, he held a position as a faculty of CU Boulder.

M.S. Computer Science at University of Hamburg with focus on motion planning and machine learning, B.S. Computer Science with focus on distributed systems. Broad experience with autonomous robots and scenarios with unstable dynamics like liquid pouring or pushing of objects. Expertise in motion planning, trajectory optimization, constrained and Cartesian path planning as well as 3D-perception and image processing. Winning team participant in the IROS 2018 Mobile Manipulation Hackathon.

B.S. Comp Engineering from DeVry Univ. Tyler has a talent for C++ and Python programming, having created many different software applications over the past decade. In 2013 he supported Special Operations in Afghanistan, and at DeVry Tyler built a stereo vision sensor for a robot competing in the CO Robotics Challenge. He has since developed software defined radio libraries for wireless communication and sensing applications. In that position, Tyler worked on a large legacy codebase adding new signal types and improving the accelerated math library.

M.S. Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Controls and Robotics from NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering. Inspired from a young age by the advances in robotics at MIT Leg Lab, Griswald pursued the field following service in the US Navy. Development of ROS and the PR2 at Willow Garage drew him to the Bay Area, where he was a key contributor to autonomous docking, navigation, and perception at companies such as Fetch, Neato, and Bossa Nova Robotics. Having designed and developed automated on-robot testing systems, he is experienced in delivering robust, production quality robot software.

M.S. Mechanical Engineering from University of Utah with focus on robotics and motion planning, B.S. Mechanical Engineering with focus on control theory, system modeling and a minor in Computer Science. Wide ranging experience working with robotics from human controlled exoskeletons and custom snake robots to industrial grade robot workcells and autonomous forklifts. Marq has 13+ years working with robotics systems from concept to prototype to production for companies including Intel, Nike, Amazon and DARPA. Marq's recent work has focused on a MoveIt! based high speed pick and place application and leading an AI based vision team in developing a fully autonomous ecommerce order fulfillment system.

B.S. Electrical engineering Politecnico di Torino. Davide has worked as a Robotics Engineer, Project Manager, and Developer more than a decade.

M.S. in Computer Science at University of Padua. Giovanni has worked as a Developer, Analyst and Solution Consultant in several fields for more than 20 years. His favorite languages are Modern C++/Qt and Java. He loves math and computer graphics. Giovanni is a professional photographer, specializing in 3D lenticular photography.

B.S. Computer Science from Oregon State University with a focus on robotics. Kyle has worked on legged robots for 7+ years on a variety of quadruped and humanoid projects, previously at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D. He specializes in hardware integration, low-level actuator control, motion planning, dynamic simulation, and 2D/3D data visualization.

M.S. Automation and Control Systems Engineering from Aalto University with a focus on mechatronics. Jere is a C++ enthusiast with background in computer vision and image processing. Before becoming a full-time roboticist, he worked with challenging computer vision problems with the most recent being analyzing medical images using deep neural networks.

M.S. Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland focusing on space systems and robotics, M.S.c Mathematics from the University of Oxford, B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Wesleyan University. Erik has more than a decade of experience building software systems for a wide variety of applications. Most recently developing control software for a robotic satellite servicing mission at NASA. A Colorado native turned Boston transplant, he spends most of his free time hiking, snowboarding, and playing with his dog.

BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. Sebastian has over 10 years of experience straddling the line between robotics engineering and education. He has been the technical lead and educator for MathWorks' sponsorship of the RoboCup competitions, developed a home service robotics software framework at MIT CSAIL while providing ROS expertise to various projects, and developed behaviors and supported field tests for autonomous truck unloading with the Boston Dynamics Stretch robot. Sebastian runs a personal blog where he shares his expertise in task and motion planning, autonomous behavior, systems, and software development with the goal of making knowledge accessible to all.

Tahnee has over 20 years experience in business operations over a variety of industries including architecture and advertising. She was the Administrative Manager to the Design Team for the 2010 Olympic Village in Vancouver, Canada, a project that included coordinating over a dozen offices working to design and build 24 buildings in four years. Her passion is to see an efficient and effective organization while ensuring client satisfaction.

M.S. Computer Engineering and B.S. Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University (concentration in AI, ML and VR application development). Abi got into robotics primarily through extra curricular activities. A tinkerer by nature, she learned mechanical and electrical CAD software, machining, 3D printing, soldering, ROS and computer vision techniques while working on building an AUV and automating a Ford Focus.

M.S. Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and B.S. Mechanical Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with minors in Computer Science and Robotics. Joe's work has focused on perception-driven robotics applications in ROS2, especially with systems that move on and around previously-unseen surfaces. His graduate research explored guiding surgical robots using MRI data and other real-time volumetric imaging techniques.

M.S. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas, B.S. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama. Cassidy’s graduate research focused on increasing the automation of remote contact tasks using affordance templates with compliance. Cassidy brings extensive experience coordinating with oil and natural gas companies for the use of robotics by novice users in hazardous environments.

PhD in Engineering (Department of Informatics) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology focusing on physical human-robot interaction and developing RoboTrainer - mobile robot for strength and coordination training. M.S. and B.S. in Electrical and Control Engineering at University of Zagreb, Croatia. Denis has more than a decade of experience with ROS in different fields. He is a real "T"-Engineer with an excellent understanding of mechanics, electronics, and software to integrate and run robots under ROS. He designed controllers for various industrial and mobile-robot applications.

Jenn has over 10 years of well-rounded experience as an executive assistant and office manager. Over her career, she has worked in healthcare, construction, finance, and technology. Jenn has worked in small start-ups, big corporations, and everything in between. Jenn’s passion is to make sure all the p’s and q’s of projects, processes, and people are sorted out and handled efficiently.

Diploma in Applied System Science from Osnabrück University (Germany), with over 20 years of experience in open source and robotic software development and maintenance. Jochen has worked on everything from kernel and hardware drivers, to operating systems and middleware, up to web development with a focus on robotic perception, mapping and ROS, both in academia and industry.

B.S. Computer Engineering from the University of South Florida. Anthony is a trained C++ and Python programmer who has spent the majority of his professional career developing Qt Applications. He developed an interest in robotics during his years of school and picked it up as a hobby, eventually turning it into his profession.

M.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering and B.Eng. Biomedical & Mechanical Engineering from Carleton University with a focus on dynamics and bipedal locomotion. Stephanie’s experience includes engineering robots for reactor inspection in nuclear power facilities and developing dynamic simulation tools for robotic manipulators destined for space. Stephanie has also collaborated on projects in healthcare technology and worked on SLAM, ROS, and 3D printing projects.

Ezra has over five years of experience in software engineering, and has always had a passion for building user interfaces. He’s spent most of his career supporting spaceflight, which led him back to his love of robotics he’d discovered while competing in FIRST in high school. Ezra enjoys the variety of working across all levels of the stack, all the way from web applications and cloud architecture to serial communication or raw packets over a socket.

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University. Chris is a robotic software engineer with 6 years of experience in ground vehicle robotics from small inspection robots to 10-ton trucks. His engineering interests include control theory and high quality C++ code. In his free time he likes to work with 2D graphics and go skiing.

M.S. Mechatronics and Information Technology with specialization in robotics and B.S. Mechatronics and Information Technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Sebastian is experienced with using C++ and ROS2 to realize various robotic applications. His previous work includes the development of MoveIt2's hybrid planning feature. He is passionate about robotics and manipulation and eager to deepen his knowledge in motion planning and control.

M.S. Aerospace Engineering with a focus in autonomous systems and B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Mandarin, all at the University of Colorado Boulder. Henry enjoys programming in both C++ and Julia, tinkering with simulated robotics applications during his free time, and learning about new developments in motion planning, controls, and robotics as a whole. Outside of robotics, Henry also plays the Irish sport of hurling as a midfielder and enjoys playing and spectating chess.

M.S. Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Controls and Dynamic Systems from NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering. Bilal's interest in robotics started in high school where he took part in FIRST Robotics. In college, his interest bloomed when he joined the robotics club and participated in the Trinity College International Firefighting Home Robot Contest. Before pursuing robotics full-time, he spent much of his career working on simulations for dynamic systems, ranging from motors to aircraft.

PhD, MASc, and BEng from Ontario Tech University. Michael has spent over 15 years contributing to the autonomous robot and mobile-manipulator system's body of knowledge through academic publications and industrial applications. He has specialized in localization, trajectory generation, perception, and human-machine interaction and is always happy to share his knowledge using over 10 years of experience as an educator. With an emphasis on software development, Michael has designed, built, and collaborated on many robotic systems ranging from proof-of-concept prototypes to field-deployed robotic solutions. When he's not pursuing his passion for robotics, he can be found scuba diving, rock climbing, or trekking through the forest.

Noah has over 5 years experience designing and building intuitive user interfaces for web and mobile applications. As a front-end developer, Noah specializes in Javascript and building apps with component based architecture. He takes a strong interest in web-based 3D visualization and real-time data streaming applications. Outside of web and mobile application development, Noah tinkers as a hobby roboticist and has had one open source project featured on various maker blogs and websites. When away from the computer, he enjoys long hikes and runs with his two dogs.

B.S. Mechanical Engineering from University of Colorado in Denver. Sushan has 6 years of CAD and manufacturing experience and over 4 years in Software QA. Sushan loves breaking things and working on anything that goes fast. In his free time, Sushan flies and races drones as a sponsored FPV pilot under the tag "BRDSRTRL".

Nashley has a varied background ranging from the performing arts, wellness, nutrition and event planning. Nashley has a Masters of chemistry from Texas Woman's University and is passionate about supporting innovative and meaningful work. Creativity, strategic thinking and hard work are a few of the attributes that she is most proud of. She lived in Chicago, IL working in concert dance in both a technical and performance role and has most recently moved from Houston, TX where she worked with a Nutrition company. She looks forward to what Boulder has to offer and supporting the team with PickNik.

B.S. Engineering Physics from Colorado School of Mines, with a specialization in Robotics and Intelligent Systems. Chance has worked on a wide range of robotics and industrial control applications utilizing C++, Python, and Rust. Chance is passionate about space exploration and hopes to utilize robotics and AI to improve lives. He has expertise in autonomous robotics, digital signal processing, distributed systems, and applied physics.

BS, Computer Science - Brigham Young University. Ashton has been around robotics for over six years and has a computer science background. He has participated in robotics research, contributed to open source robotics software, and has also worked on commercialized robotics products. He enjoys working at the intersection of software engineering and robotics with the goal of creating robotic systems that are safe, reliable, and scalable. Outside of work, Ashton enjoys music and spending time outdoors.

B.S. Computer Engineering from the University of Extremadura. Esteban is a seasoned software engineer with a strong passion for robotics. He has worked in this field since 2010 and has contributed to many Open Source projects. With deep expertise in C++, Python, and QT, Esteban is currently interested in applying his knowledge to DevOps and tools development for automation and robotic deployments.

Ph.D. Candidate in Robotics from the University of Michigan. Peter’s interest is in robotic manipulation, and his PhD research focuses on data-efficient learning for manipulation of deformable objects, like rope and cloth. He has worked in 4 research labs and interned at 3 different companies during his undergraduate and graduate studies. Peter is also committed to DEI, mentorship, and ethical use of AI.