Robotics Advisory Board

Distinguished members rotating from industry, academia and government comprise the Robotics Advisory Board.

The group is an invaluable resource to the Robotics Department in shaping our program with the insight of external feedback. Members meet regularly to discuss departmental vision, strategies and issues and provide advice to the chair.

Jon Barr

COO, Varda Space Industries

Sara Blackmer

Managing Member & Senior Partner, Solyco Capital

CEO, FluidLogic

Jeff Burnstein

President, Association for Advancing Automation (A3)

Ashish Deshpande

Professor, Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

Director of Research Science, Reality Lab Research, Meta

Neil Dueweke

Strategic Advisor to the CEO, FANUC America

Danny Ellis

CEO, SkySpecs

Mazen Hammoud

Director, Motion Tech Strategy, Ford Motor Company

Astha Kukreja

Staff Systems Engineer, Latitude AI

John Leonard

Samuel C. Collins Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering

Associate Department Head for Education, MIT MechE

Roland Menassa

VP of Manufacturing Technology, Champion Home Builders

Elena Messina

Principal, Prospicience, LLC

Darnell Moore

Principal Technical Program Manager of University Partnerships, Amazon Consumer Robotics

Doug Neal

Managing Director, eLab Ventures

Leon Pryor

Senior Game Producer, META Oculus Studios

President Co-Founder, Motor City Alliance

Mitch Rohde

Independent Consultant

Retired CEO and Founder, Quantum Signal AI

Katherine Scott

ROS Developer Advocate, Intrinsic 

Susan Smyth

Retired Chief Scientist for GM Manufacturing, General Motors