Locomation CEO and leadership

I am a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Locomation, a provider of safe and reliable automated driving technologies for ground transportation industry. Prior to Locomation, I was a a Special Faculty / Commercialization Specialist at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) of the Robotics Institute (RI) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where I'd joined as a Senior Robotics Engineer. Prior to joining NREC as full-time staff, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at CMU, leading the efforts on building intuitive and expressive interfaces to interact with semi-autonomous robotic systems that are intended to assist elderly and disabled, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the RI at CMU, leading the Assistive Dexterous Arm (ADA) project at the Personal Robotics Lab, and working on the CHIMP robot at NREC for the DARPA Robotics Challenge.I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University, Turkey, where my thesis contributed a case-based mobile manipulation framework. I received my MSCS degree from the Department of Computer Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, and my BS degree from the Department of Computer Engineering at Marmara University, Turkey. I've been an active member of the RoboCup society since 2004 and in particular I contributed to / lead research and development pursued within Cerberus and UT Austin Villa RoboCup Standard Platform League robot soccer teams. I've also been a member of the technical and organizing committees of several RoboCup events since 2008, and I was a general co-chair of the RoboCup 2011 Istanbul event. I also built autonomous vehicles as a member of the UT - Austin Robot Technology DARPA Urban Challenge team, and Team Cappadocia, which got the 4th place in the MAGIC 2010 competition.For more information, please visit my website at http://tekin.mericli.com, and feel free to contact me for your questions and advise requests.

Alonzo Kelly is a co-founder, director, and the Chief Scientist of Locomation. Professor Kelly started his career as an engineering manager for the Space Shuttle in the 1990s while also obtaining a degree in computer science. He went on to gain Ph.D. credentials in the newly formed robotics department at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he joined the technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and has collaborated with JPL on the Mars rovers from the Pathfinder mission to the present. Professor Kelly has made numerous fundamental contributions to robotics including the inverse dynamics approach to local planning that is now standard on autonomous vehicles (AVs) everywhere. This algorithm was the basis for CMU winning the DARPA Urban Challenge that placed AVs in the mainstream media for the first time. Prior to the Urban Challenge, numerous pioneers including Professor Kelly had already been active in the AV field for almost twenty years.

Results-oriented financial and operational professional with proven successful achievements in technology, manufacturing and distribution companies including Big Four accounting firm experience. Primary expertise in the areas of financial and operational management. Proven key contributor to the negotiation and closing of sales opportunities. Trusted liaison for Board of Directors and Investors. Versatile, hands-on, entrepreneurial mindset. Very resourceful and determined. “Can Do” attitude. Track Record as Value-Add Impact Player.

I am a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Locomation, a provider of safe and reliable automated driving technologies for ground transportation industry. Prior to Locomation, I was a a Special Faculty / Commercialization Specialist at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) of the Robotics Institute (RI) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where I'd joined as a Senior Robotics Engineer. Prior to joining NREC as full-time staff, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at CMU, leading the efforts on building intuitive and expressive interfaces to interact with semi-autonomous robotic systems that are intended to assist elderly and disabled, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the RI at CMU, leading the Assistive Dexterous Arm (ADA) project at the Personal Robotics Lab, and working on the CHIMP robot at NREC for the DARPA Robotics Challenge.I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University, Turkey, where my thesis contributed a case-based mobile manipulation framework. I received my MSCS degree from the Department of Computer Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, and my BS degree from the Department of Computer Engineering at Marmara University, Turkey. I've been an active member of the RoboCup society since 2004 and in particular I contributed to / lead research and development pursued within Cerberus and UT Austin Villa RoboCup Standard Platform League robot soccer teams. I've also been a member of the technical and organizing committees of several RoboCup events since 2008, and I was a general co-chair of the RoboCup 2011 Istanbul event. I also built autonomous vehicles as a member of the UT - Austin Robot Technology DARPA Urban Challenge team, and Team Cappadocia, which got the 4th place in the MAGIC 2010 competition.For more information, please visit my website at http://tekin.mericli.com, and feel free to contact me for your questions and advise requests.

Alonzo Kelly is a co-founder, director, and the Chief Scientist of Locomation. Professor Kelly started his career as an engineering manager for the Space Shuttle in the 1990s while also obtaining a degree in computer science. He went on to gain Ph.D. credentials in the newly formed robotics department at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he joined the technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and has collaborated with JPL on the Mars rovers from the Pathfinder mission to the present. Professor Kelly has made numerous fundamental contributions to robotics including the inverse dynamics approach to local planning that is now standard on autonomous vehicles (AVs) everywhere. This algorithm was the basis for CMU winning the DARPA Urban Challenge that placed AVs in the mainstream media for the first time. Prior to the Urban Challenge, numerous pioneers including Professor Kelly had already been active in the AV field for almost twenty years.