Jul 19, 2023
Innovation Works announces the appointment of Kevin Dowling as interim lead of the Robotics Factory. Dowling, a tech leader who was involved with three IW companies and a founding member and board chair of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network, brings with him an impressive repertoire of experience and leadership to helm the Robotics Factory program.
Kevin's career highlights include a 17-year tenure as Scientist and Senior Engineer at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute and holding the position of CEO at Kaarta. He has also worked in technology leadership roles at PRI Automation, Color Kinetics (acquired by Philips), and MC10.
Listen and learn how Kevin's unique blend of technical knowledge and business acumen will be invaluable in driving the development of the Robotics Factory.
Launched in partnership with the Pittsburgh Robotics Network and other regional partners, the Robotics Factory is a part of a $63 million grant awarded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative as part of their Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
The Robotics Factory, under the leadership of Innovation Works and with four-year support from the EDA, will operate a series of inter-related programs.
As this podcast was posting, IW announced The Robotics Factory will locate in the Tech Forge building in Lawrenceville, part of the long “Robotics Row” that runs from the Strip District.
The first cohort of six companies chosen to participate in the Accelerate program will re-locate to the Lawrenceville location as soon as feasible. Also, the factory’s new space will serve as a designated home for the Scale program. The Scale program offers unmatched expertise in product prototyping and services, facilitating the creation of production-ready products. Providing in-house design for manufacturing, supply chain management, prototyping support, and access to the region's comprehensive manufacturing resources, this new hub signifies a critical milestone in the program. By integrating manufacturing considerations at the initial design stages, companies can accelerate growth, deploy technologies, and achieve scalability more swiftly.