Dr. Challen Enninful Adu has a PhD in Robotics from the University of Michigan doing research on safe motion planning and optimal control of high dimensional robot systems. His work spans various robotic systems, from ground vehicles to manipulators and legged robots. He is currently an applied scientist at Amazon robotics working on deformable manipulation and deploying robots with a sense of touch at scale.

He holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh university and a masters in robotics from the University of Michigan. During his PhD, he won various research fellowships and awards like the Robotics Institute fellowship and the ARC research excellence award.

Sasha Brown is an operations leader with 13+ years of experience managing systems, people, and cross-functional initiatives across education, nonprofit, and community-based settings. She currently serves as Network Senior Manager, Recruitment Strategy and Operations for KIPP Nashville Public Schools, where she leads regional enrollment strategy, recruitment operations, school support, data tracking, and community partnerships across a network of schools. Her background includes building scalable systems, improving operational compliance, managing teams, and using data to drive performance and accountability. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Melanie Jetter is an environmental health scientist with a background in environmental science and public health. She is passionate about using data driven approaches to develop and implement strategies that address environmental justice, climate justice and health equity in communities that are most vulnerable to environmental hazards and the adverse effects of climate change.

Melanie has a passion for data analytics and statistics including previous experience as a survey statistician with the U.S. Census Bureau collecting and analyzing survey data.

Melanie holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Environmental, Earth, and Ocean Sciences and a Master’s of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts.

Stephanie LaBoo serves as a Principal Safety and Compliance Engineer at Amazon Robotics, bringing extensive expertise in materials and environmental compliance, as well as robotics safety engineering. She actively collaborates with the broader safety engineering community to establish methodologies for properly assessing and mitigating safety risks, particularly as artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies become increasingly integrated into robotic systems. Her work encompasses the development of internal policies, frameworks, and requirements designed to proactively identify and mitigate potential safety risks throughout the product lifecycle.

Before joining Amazon, Stephanie worked for The Boeing Company for 23 years across research and development, chemical process safety, manufacturing, and regulatory compliance.

She has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and environmental law certificate from the University of Washington.

Ben believes that great technology should be easy for anyone to pick up and use. As a User Experience Specialist, he loves jumping into different industries to figure out exactly how people interact with the world around them. Right now, he is part of the thinqueBytes® Customer Experience and C3 teams, researching how people engage with STEM topics to help build better educational content. He is also the Department Lead for UI/UX at a gaming startup, Spark of Genius, as well as an independent contractor building a fresh online platform for local industrial automation experts at Electro Power INC. Backed by his UX degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and his experience as a Stanford-trained University Innovation Fellow, Ben is driven by a clear goal: developing technology that creates genuine, measurable value for users.

Dr. Maya Luster currently works for GM's Autonomous Robotics Center as a Senior Robotics UX Researcher. Maya earned her Ph.D. from Purdue University in Industrial Engineering with a focus in Cognitive Engineering/Human Factors. Her research expertise is in the areas of Human-Robot Teaming and Interaction. She also earned her B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Industrial & Systems Engineering from Mississippi State University (MSU) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), respectively. In addition, she holds a board certification as an Associate Human Factors Professional (AHFP) through the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE).

James is a Senior Software Systems Engineer at General Motors, where he works on the safety systems behind self-driving vehicle technology, helping ensure that autonomous cars can respond safely when something goes wrong. His background spans robotics, hardware, and software engineering roles at companies including Amazon, Torc Robotics, and Overland AI. He is finishing a master's degree in Computer Science with a focus on Machine Learning and Robotics from Georgia Tech and has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Natasha Randall is a product and innovation strategist specializing in human-robot interaction (HRI) and the consumer home robotics market. She is an Assistant Professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where she teaches product and innovation strategy alongside ethics of artificial intelligence. Her expertise lies in how product design choices shape trust, perceived value, and market adoption.

Prior to pursuing her PhD at Indiana University, Dr. Randall spent nearly a decade in industry leading business operations, product marketing, and product release management, directing market positioning and launch execution for new products. This background as a researcher, educator, and industry operator gives her a practical, market-driven perspective that she brings to both the classroom and the broader robotics and emerging technology space.

Dr. Aravind Samba Murthy is a Robotics Systems Engineer with Amazon Fulfillment Technologies and Robotics. Previously, he was a Sr. Manager with Walmart Advanced Systems & Robotics (now part of Symbotic), working on micro fulfillment automation for accelerated grocery pickup and delivery. He has also worked on autonomous vehicles design at Cruise, built mobile robots at Amazon Robotics, and designed elevator control systems at Thyssenkrupp Elevators. Aravind has a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering and an MBA degree, both from Georgia Institute of Technology. He has published 11 conference papers and 3 patents in the fields of industrial automation and transportation electrification. 

Michelle Warren is a mid-level Electrical Engineer and Software Engineer with a strong passion for perception systems, bulk electronic systems (namely transmission), and STEM-powered community outreach. Michelle has 10+ years of multifaceted experience, with pivotal roles at the Boeing Company, specializing in RADAR integration and autonomy systems, and at the United States Patent Office as a patent examiner, examining patents in the Guidance & Navigation Controls field — most recently supporting Protection & Controls Field Services at Georgia Power. Her expertise in machine learning, sensor fusion, perception systems, and materials science is demonstrated through impactful internships and graduate research. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Howard University and a Master's Degree from Georgia Tech.