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The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) has launched an initiative to spice up the robotics sector throughout the state, an effort funded by way of $5 million in funding. The new division, established throughout the Innovation Institute at MassTech, will assist catalyze a complete statewide cluster growth effort for robotics that may deal with enlargement of analysis and growth (R&D), testing, commercialization, and workforce growth.
The division shall be led by the brand new director of the Department of Robotics, Peter Haas, who involves MassTech from the non-public sector, the place he was the CEO of Avendly, the restaurant robotics firm. Prior to his startup work, Haas served because the analysis director for pc imaginative and prescient AI software program at IDC and the affiliate director of Brown University’s Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative. As a pacesetter within the robotics house, he has spoken at The Economist’s World Ahead Gala and DHL Robotics Days, plus was on the qualifying groups for each the AI and robotic Avatar X-PRIZE competitions.
“This new robotics department will help Massachusetts craft an innovative wave of robotics technologies that will solidify our global leadership in this field,” stated financial growth secretary Yvonne Hao. “We are committed to equipping our students and workforce with the proper tools to envision future advancements as they create autonomous products that will play a pivotal role in shaping the industry’s future. Peter Haas has the knowledge and expertise needed to ensure that we stay ahead of the competition.”
“Robotics extends beyond Boston and Cambridge; it is a statewide industry in Massachusetts, with cohorts of robotics companies clustered in Central Massachusetts and North of Boston, as well as the marine-focused autonomy startups clustered across Cape Cod and the South Coast,” stated Carolyn Kirk, government director of the MassTech Collaborative. “Peter’s multifaceted expertise in robotics, both as a technologist, university leader, and startup executive, make this a major addition to our MassTech team. His career experience will make him a natural partner for our existing stakeholders across the Massachusetts robotics ecosystem. He is the right person to help us design and launch game-changing programs that support research, workforce, and ecosystem development and will help us maintain our global leadership in robotics and autonomy.”
3 keys to rising Massachusetts robotics ecosystem
The new Robotics Department will design applications to handle three key focus areas:
Ecosystem Development: Programs to strengthen connections between stakeholders to develop and additional form state’s profile as a world chief in robotics
Technology Commercialization: Aim to offer startup assist companies, entry to sources, and professional mentorship to early-stage robotics corporations
Workforce Development: Efforts to handle business’s want for middle-skill staff educated to work with robotic methods and increase entry to careers in robotics, notably for populations which have confronted underrepresentation within the tech and innovation financial system
“The Robotics cluster in Massachusetts is leading the way among robotics clusters across the nation. It is a powerhouse in warehouse and logistics robotics, and has a density of unique academic programs that is unparalleled, leading the United States in per capita robotics patents,” stated Haas. “It also has a diversity of sectors represented that is exceptional among the robotics clusters, from undersea to humanoid and consumer to defense. If you want to design or build robots, few places can match the talent pool the exists in the Bay State. This funding gives MassTech the opportunity to build on an amazing foundation to make Massachusetts a renowned global destination for robotics innovation.”
MassRobotics Accelerator
The first program funded beneath the brand new initiative is the brand new accelerator program launched in early November 2023 by Boston-based MassRobotics, the “world’s leading global independent robotics innovation hub.” The inaugural MassRobotics Accelerator powered by MassTech will assist 10 robotics corporations by offering “programming, individual mentorship, and immersion in the world-class robotics network” that exists throughout Massachusetts, together with the robotics and autonomy startups housed at MassRobotics’ headquarters in Boston’s Seaport. The first accelerator cohort, which shall be introduced in early 2024, will take part in a 13-week program that may present direct mentorship, entry to expertise and enterprise sources within the area, and an funding of $100,000 in non-dilutive funding to spice up their improvements.
“The funding for a robotics department within Mass Tech Collaborative will be impactful to the growing robotics industry here within the Commonwealth,” stated Tom Ryden, government director MassRobotics. “The department will be in a unique position to highlight the wide range of efforts and resources Massachusetts has to make it the premier place to start and grow robotics and automation companies.”
The MassRobotics Accelerator will culminate in a Demo Day on the Robotics Summit & Expo on May 2, 2024. Participating startups can have the chance to pitch their corporations to buyers, business leaders, and the broader tech group. MassRobotics is a strategic accomplice of the Robotics Summit & Expo, which is produced by The Robot Report and mum or dad firm WTWH Media.
“I’m really excited to hear about MassRobotics’ new non-dilutive accelerator program funded by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative,” stated Peter Howard, CEO of RealTime Robotics, headquartered in Boston. “Both MassRobotics and the Collaborative have incredibly experienced and insightful robotics entrepreneurs, capable of both choosing great technologies, and nurturing great teams. Realtime Robotics had the good fortune to land at MassRobotics shortly after both they and we formed. They were fantastic partners in helping us build our business and make the right connections. They have grown into a regional, national, and now internationally renowned robotics incubator. The Collaborative’s funding is being put in great hands that will ensure great things come to life with it.”
The newly launched robotics initiative builds upon MassTech’s assist and funding within the state’s robotics sector over the past decade-plus, together with over $28 million in awards advance the robotics sector in Massachusetts. Previous investments embody a multi-year dedication to MassRobotics’ Jumpstart Fellowship program, which gives coaching alternatives for various highschool ladies to achieve a foothold within the robotics business, in addition to bigger investments in robotics testbeds statewide.
Other focus areas for Innovation Institute at MassTech
The Innovation Institute at MassTech has made a number of main investments in robotics infrastructure and expertise growth by way of its Collaborative Research & Development Matching Grant Program and Technology and Innovation Ecosystem grant applications, together with:
- A $2 million grant to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for New Autonomous Systems Lab, a testing floor for modern autonomous applied sciences which are advancing future capabilities within the automotive, transportation, healthcare, robotics, and automation and manufacturing sectors
- A $4.4 million funding in Boston University’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Teaching and Innovation Center (RASTIC), a three-year, $8.78 million venture managed by BU in collaboration with MassRobotics and 6 business companions
- A grant of $2 million to assist the creation of BlueTech OCEAN (Open Collaborative Experimentation and Acceleration Network) at MITRE in Bedford, a two-year venture that supported the current launch of a world-class check tank for marine robotics and an information sharing collaboration
- Over $3 million in assist for a analysis heart led by Harvard and BU centered on assistive robotics and wearable applied sciences, to spur the event of rehabilitation, diagnostic, and assistive gadgets which are extra light-weight, inexpensive, and linked, instruments designed to assist folks with neuro-motor impairments.
MassTech’s new robotics division will strategically deploy funding with the goal of boosting the robotics ecosystem’s affect on the state’s tech and innovation financial system, as properly with industries with sturdy regional significance, together with superior manufacturing, healthcare, local weather tech, and protection. The capacities developed by way of this initiative are meant to spice up the state’s aggressive benefit and spur job progress, to assist tackle growing competitors from areas globally.