I am currently serving as the President of Clearpath Robotics and as a Board Member at Mycionics Inc.
Professional History
Clearpath Robotics
Throughout my university degree I had been building robots in my spare time with friends. I was the electronics specialist. Shortly before graduating, some of the university professors approached us to build robots for their research. My co-founders and I agreed and started on the first Heron unmanned surface vessel (a.k.a. an unmanned boat).
We were graduating in 2009 into a degree that was targeted at the manufacturing industry, the great recession of 2008-2009 had started. I was fortunate to get a job offer from a large consumer good manufacturer however I turned it down to pursue an entrepreneurial career. Together, we started Clearpath Robotics Inc in 2009.
I hopped on the phone and started cold-calling professors across USA and Canada. Some of them were happy to talk with me, many of them were not! However this work lead to our company’s first major sale ($300k) the following year.
At Clearpath Robotics, I designed the electrical system for the Husky robot. The same electrical system was still in use 10 years later. About a year after starting Clearpath Robotics cashflow became a real challenge. I moved over from the engineering team at that time to manage finance and the company’s general operations.
Clearpath Robotics is now an international robotics company serving hundreds of customers worldwide. Through my time at Clearpath Robotics I was, at times, the company’s CFO, COO and a board member.
OTTO Motors
In 2015, my co-founders and I noticed an emerging need for autonomous materials handling solutions. We founded OTTO Motors to provide high-technology materials handling solutions to warehouses and factories. Through our work at OTTO Motors, we believe we created the world’s largest fleet of SLAM-based material handling robots.
OTTO Motors is now a North American based provider of advanced materials handling solutions. For the majority of my time at OTTO Motors, I was the company’s COO.
In 2021, I decided to return to my roots and became the President of Clearpath Robotics. At that is what I’m still doing today!
At various periods of my career, I have directly managed hardware engineering, software engineering, finance, professional services, manufacturing, HR, IT, sales and marketing.
Personal Life
As you can see, my wife has the “looks” in our relationship!
I married my lovely wife Elisabetta in 2019. We had dated since 2014 and if we had waited another year to get married we would have had a pandemic wedding.
Between 2021 and 2022 I volunteered in a local youth homeless shelter. I washed dishes, served food and chatted with everyone there.
I spend some of my time mentoring founders and start-up companies. Some of those start-ups I discover through volunteering at the Velocity Incubator in Kitchener, Ontario.
I purchased a few houses several years ago in Kitchener. As a hobby, I work with a general contractor who converts these houses into multi-residential rental properties.
I love sports and often play volleyball. During the pandemic I cancelled my gym membership and started running outside. The Canadian winter is fine for running outdoors as long as you don’t want to have any remaining feeling in your body. I also like playing soccer and squash but I’ll play pretty much anything!
Statistics
University Degree: Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours Mechatronics Engineering) - Graduated in 2009
Number of Shawarmas Eaten: 1,000+ (best guess)
Number of Co-Op Students Hired: 250 (across all of Clearpath Robotics and OTTO Motors)
Most Memorable Trip Abroad: Italy & Greece
Distance Ran (last 12 months): 360km