2025 GRASP Lab Summit: What’s Next in Robotics? – Day 1

*This will be a special event by invitation only.

Confirmed Panelists for the 2 day event:

Vivan Amin – Director & Principal Research TPM, Embodied AI at Microsoft Research
Steven Chen – CEO & Co-founder, Treeswift
Steve Cousins – Executive Director, Stanford Robotics Center
Matanya Horowitz – Founder & CTO, AMP
Brian Ichter – Co-Founder, Physical Intelligence
Alwyn Johnson – Co-Founder, CEO & Principal Investigator, Recupero Robotics
Brannon Jones  – Venture Investor, AlleyCorp
Gavin Kenneally – CEO, Ghost Robotics
Scott Kuindersma – Sr. Director of Robotics Research, Boston Dynamics
Adarsh Kulkarni – Head of Robotics, Scale
Robert Mandelbaum – Director, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories
Dean Miller – CEO, Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies
Matt Piccoli – Co-Founder & CTO, Vertiq
Guillermo Pita Gil – CTO, Burro
Noah Ready-Campbell – Founder, CEO & Engineer, Built Robotics
Al Rizzi – CTO, The RAI Institute
Siddhartha Srinivasa – Distinguished Engineer, Cruise; Professor of Robotics, University of Washington
Justin Thomas – Director of Autonomy & Mapping & Controls, Exyn Technologies
Mark Yim – Director, GRASP Lab; Faculty Director, Design Studio (Venture Labs); Asa Whitney Professor, MEAM
Peter KT Yu – CTO, XYZ Robotics

Day 1 Schedule:
Thursday, April 17th
8:30 AM – Check-In & Light Breakfast
9:00 AM – Welcome & Intro
9:30 AM – Shark Tank: How do Robotics Companies Go Wrong? (Panelists: Vivan Amin, Steve Cousins, Brannon Jones, Dean Miller; Moderator: Dr. Mark Yim)
10:30 AM – Break
10:45 AM – Robot Rumble: Humanoids vs Non-Humanoid Design (Panelists: Brian Ichter, Gavin Kenneally, Scott Kuindersma, Mark Yim; Moderator: Dr. Michael Posa)
11:45 AM – Break
12:00 PM – Lunch
12:30 PM – Demos & Poster Session
2:00 PM – Breaking Grad: Academia, Industry, and Common Pitfalls of Both (Panelists: Adarsh Kulkarni, Matt Piccoli, Sidd Srinivasa, Justin Thomas; Moderator: Dr. CJ Taylor)
3:00 PM – Break
3:15 PM – How I Met Your Robot: The Ways in Which Robotics Has and Will Affect Our Lives (Panelists: Steven Chen, Matanya Horowtiz, Alwyn Johnson, Robbie Mandelbaum; Moderator: Dr. Michelle Johnson)
4:15 PM – Break
4:30 PM – Reception
5:30 PM – Streamed Webinar: Penn Engineering’s – A Fireside Chat with Yann LeCun – “The Future of AI”
7:00 PM – Dinner
8:30 PM – End of Event