Rodney Brooks founded Rethink Robotics in September 2008. Rethink Robotics has developed a new class of industrial robot that is safe, inexpensive, easy to train, easy to install, and is flexible and adaptable. The first product released by the company is Baxter, made in the USA and distributed nationally.

Rodney Brooks was co-founder of iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) , its CTO, and sometimes Chairman, from 1990 to 2011. He was on the faculty at MIT from 1984 until 2010, where he was the Panasonic Professor of Robotics, and director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Tim DeRosett is Director of Marketing at YASKAWA Motoman. YASKAWA is a global leader in robotics, motion and drives for manufacturing and material handling. Tim has over 20 years experience in sales, marketing and business development within the automation industry.

Richard Erb has more than 10 years of experience organizing face-to-face events in the telecom, information technology and robotics industries. After receiving his undergraduate degree in Economics and Business Administration from Colby College, he earned his Masters of Science in Business Management from Lesley University.

Currently, Richard Erb is General Manager of Robotics Trends, a division of EH Publishing, Inc. Previously, as Vice President of International Events for Pulvermedia, Inc., Erb lead efforts to launch VON (Voice on the Net) events in Mexico, Sweden, Italy, Israel, Russia, Japan and China.  Prior to Pulvermedia, he worked for CrossTech Media, where he was responsible for revenue creation for both traditional and hosted-model face- to-face events. In his current position with Robotics Trends, Erb has been a catalyst for building community, introducing and organizing online events, and building the flagship RoboBusiness physical event into a world-class robotics business, technology and applications-focused executive networking summit. 

Ken Goldberg is craigslist Distinguished Professor of New Media at UC Berkeley, where he and his students investigate robotics, art and social media. Goldberg directs the Automation Sciences Research lab and is Faculty Director of the CITRIS Data and Democracy Initiative. Goldberg earned dual degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (1984) and MS and PhD degrees from Carnegie Mellon University (1990). He joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1995 where he is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR), with secondary appointments in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science (EECS), Art Practice, the School of Information, and in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UCSF Medical School.

Goldberg has published over 170 peer-reviewed technical papers on algorithms for robotics, automation, and social information filtering; his inventions have been awarded eight US Patents. He is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), Co-Founder of the African Robotics Network (AFRON), Co-Founder of the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM), Co-Founder and CTO of Hybrid Wisdom Labs, Co-Founder of the Moxie Institute, and Founding Director of UC Berkeley's Art, Technology, and Culture Lecture Series. Goldberg was awarded the Presidential Faculty Fellowship in 1995 by President Clinton, the National Science Foundation Faculty Fellowship in 1994, the Joseph Engelberger Robotics Award in 2000, and elected IEEE Fellow in 2005.

Dan Kara is President of Electra Studios, a new start-up providing educational and research robotics products and services, which are supported and augmented by integrated media offerings.  He is also analyst-at-large for Robotics Business Review where he focuses on robotics research, emerging technologies and vertical market segments exploiting robotics technology.

Prior to founding Electra Studios, Dan was President and Co-Founder of Robotics Trends, an integrated media and research firm that publishes RoboticsTrends.com and Robotics Business Review. He was also developer and chairman of the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition series, the RoboDevelopment Conference and Exposition series, the RoboNexus Conference and Exposition series, and the CES Robotics TechZone.

Dan has also worked as Executive Vice President of Intermedia Group, VP of Advanced Information Technology Research at Sentry Group, Director of Research at Ullo International, and Chief Technical Officer of Software Productivity Group.

Erin a product storyteller with robotics experience across academia and industry, in both the Boston and Silicon Valley hotspots, with projects ranging from flexible logistics, supply chain, FDA approval, consumer products, military casualty extraction, assistive devices, robotic tele-presence, and manufacturing. Erin takes a vested interested in finding ways to catalyze the robotics market by identifying unique value propositions for new robotic products, and by creating community and cooperation between companies and thought leaders.
 

Jan Westerhues is an Investment Partner with Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) in Frankfurt, Germany. RBVC is the corporate venture arm of Robert Bosch GmbH, one of the largest private conglomerates with over 50 billion Euros sales. The VC fund invests worldwide in Start-up companies either directly or via Venture Capital Funds. Investment focus is technology companies along the line of Bosch current and future business. RBVC provides capital for minority stakes in Start-ups from early to expansion stage.

Prior to this position Jan was responsible for Bosch Corporate Strategy in the Asia Pacific region and has six years of experience in strategy consulting before joining the Bosch Group. Jan holds a degree in engineering and business administration (Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing.) from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany and is a CFA charterholder. He speaks German, English, Spanish fluently and has a basic knowledge of Mandarin.