Building Deep Tech with Ilir Aliu

Robotics Software Engineer ⁠Aryan Jagushte⁠ is my guest in today's 36th episode: Aryan has been focused on robotics, working as a Robotics Software Engineer, gaining experience in the Robot Operating System (ROS) in his academic education and working on projects using ROS1 and ROS2. He has hands-on knowledge of mobile robots and applies techniques like Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and navigation algorithms to develop autonomous robots for complex environments. Aryan is also working with aerial robotics and robotic arms. In addition to his technical work, Aryan has worked as a STEM educator, sharing his knowledge of robotics through teaching and projects. We have discussed university roadmaps, jobs, college, finding jobs on LinkedIn, friends and many more things.

In today's episode (#35), I speak with Haoru Xue, a PhD student at University of California, Berkeley, specializing in humanoid whole-body control: Haoru has had an exciting journey in robotics, working alongside top researchers at Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley. He’s been involved in projects like autonomous racing, where his team earned top spots in the Indy Autonomous Challenge. Beyond his research, Haoru is really focused on building robots that can make a real impact, something I can totally relate to. We also talked about his perspective on the open-source community in robotics. He shared how the vibe in the open-source world is still very much about helping each other out, even with all the competition. It’s something that really stands out in the field.

My guest today is Klas Nilsson, Founder and CTO of Cognibotics, with over 40 years in robotics! Coming from a non-academic background and always interested in math, his curiosity about machines led him to spend time first at ABB, and then many years in research at Lund University. Always striving to fill the blind spots, he transitioned from mechanical engineering to computer science. Eventually, he found enough evidence that something was missing in robotics, leading him to make another transition—this time as the founder of Cognibotics.

My guest today is Vladimir Baranov, founder of 🤖 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹, whose mission is to inspire a love of engineering in children worldwide: While there are many robotics classes for high school students, options for younger children are limited. Vladimir's project proves that kids are far more capable than we often think. With over two decades of experience across various industries, Vladimir’s passion for building and his entrepreneurial journey have been shaped by bravery, resilience, and a broad skill set. We discuss his challenges growing up, how he overcame them, what led him to the world of robotics, and why he’s dedicated to enabling as many children as possible to build robots through his courses.

⁠Jacopo Tani⁠, CEO of ⁠Duckietown⁠, an open-source robotics and AI platform that began as an MIT project in 2016, joins me today: Originally from Rome, Jacopo is a trained space engineer with a PhD, having worked at MIT and ETH Zurich on dynamic systems and control before transitioning into entrepreneurship. In this episode, he shares invaluable lessons on hard work, perseverance, mentorship, friendship, and seizing opportunities. He emphasizes the importance of staying focused on your goals while being adaptable to the path that unfolds. This is for anyone facing challenges, looking for insights on how to push through and grow along the way.

A legend in the tech world - Robert Scoble. Siri, Tesla, Instagram and others launched on his blog/show, today - he is my guest: Sitting down with him was nothing short of a wild ride! Robert's journey began in the late 70s, back when Silicon Valley was still a small community, not the tech powerhouse it is today. Always in tune with the pulse of innovation, Robert embodies the zeitgeist. He launched his tech blog in the late 90s and was among the first to see Tesla, Flipboard, Instagram, Siri, Uber, and many other technologies. Listen to this energetic, living almanac of tech history in the newest episode of Kinematic Conversations.

This episode holds a special place for me as I sit down with founder & former CEO of Micropsi Industries: Ronnie Vuine, my former boss, and I have had countless private discussions over the years, and now we’ve finally recorded an episode for my podcast. In this episode, we dive into his journey as a computer science student, where he studied under the renowned cognitive scientist Joscha Bach, known for his groundbreaking work on AI, consciousness, and philosophy. We explore the challenge of translating the human mind into computer science, the experience of building a robotics software company, and his take on the current humanoid hype.

Remi Cadene was at Tesla working on Optimus, and now builds robots at Hugging Face: Remi's academic journey took him from Paris, where he earned his PhD at Sorbonne, to postdoctoral studies at Brown University. He later joined Tesla in California, starting as an intern and eventually becoming a permanent research scientist. In this episode, we discuss his time overseas, his unique experience working with Andrej Karpathy at Tesla, and how his passion for open-source projects brought him back to Europe. Now, he's part of Hugging Face and leading Le Robot, an exciting new open-source robotics project.

Today we talk to Robomart Co-founder & CEO Ali Ahmed about their self-driving shops and his early passion for entrepreneurship. We discuss his non-technical background, why he stepped away from a PhD position, and how he followed his passion for building. Follow Ali through his journey of fast-growing startups and various entrepreneurial adventures that ultimately led him to the world of robotics.

Mathias Mantelli is a Robotics Software Developer from Brazil working on Embodied AI: Coming from a non-technical background, we discuss his journey in academia, culminating in a PhD in Mobile Robotics with a focus on localization and SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). Today, he helps robots move on their own by creating smart ways for them to navigate and avoid obstacles. He is particularly interested in fleet management for warehouse applications and semantic scene understanding in robotics. He shares more about his journey and offers wise words for those still struggling to find their way, not only in robotics but in life in general.