The Business of Making
Semi-autonomous Systems
and the Increasing
Entrepreneurial Opportunities
To boldly go where no man can go, but your friendly robot can …

Saturday, April 22, 2006

at California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California
Registration and Continental Breakfast:
8:00AM Baxter Hall
Program: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Baxter Lecture Hall
Networking: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Baxter Lecture Hall
Cost: $40 ($10 for students with full-time student ID;
free to Caltech students)

"Optics, robotics and wireless are rapidly expanding technologies which are competing with, not just augmenting, the human species. Vehicles and devices for air, land, and water, are evolving into high efficiency, low energy items - with greater effect than merely providing short term profit potentials. Examples are given, but the main point is only derived by considering the consequences." - Dr. Paul MacCready, AeroVironment, Inc.

At the same time robots have also become ubiquitous tools in the manufacturing of almost anything that we use in our homes or at work -- welding robots on car assembly lines, pick and place machines that adapt to small changes, or even a vacuum cleaner for your home. With each generation of hardware and software, the combination of robotic motion, wireless technology and artificial simulation of the five senses is leading to devices that are capable of operating with less and less direct human control.

Our April 22nd Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum program will focus on the convergence of optics, robotics and wireless technology, and how they combine to provide us with amazing tools to conduct activities in places too remote or dangerous for man. Man may not go there, but robots now can.

Our keynote speaker is Dr. Paul MacCready who, in 1977, became internationally known as the "father of human-powered flight" when his Gossamer Condor made the first sustained, controlled flight by a heavier-than-air craft powered solely by its pilot's muscles. He will talk about his current work on autonomous remote vehicles and other systems that apply his personal motto “Do More with Less”. Dr. MacCready has accomplished these things with a commercial enterprise that combines government and industrial customers. He can talk not only about the science, but also of the financial obstacles and opportunities.

Also on our program is Richard Satava, MD., a pioneer surgeon in the field of remote surgery and telemedicine, who will share with us his highly acclaimed insights on where that field is heading, where unmet needs exist, and where there will be business opportunities. Our panel will include other entrepreneurs and experts in the financing of these ventures who, together, will converse about the business of making semi-autonomous devices:

• What are the attributes for a commercially successful, remotely operated mechanism?
• How will MEMS and other novel technologies enable more successful and economical applications?
• What are the commercial and technical obstacles that must be overcome before the full potential of these technologies can be realized?
• Who will finance the development of commercially viable autonomous systems?

Don’t miss this meeting and learn more about these robots and how to control them remotely!

Keynote

Dr. Paul MacCready
Chairman & Founder
AeroVironment, Inc.

Research Presenter

Richard Satava, MD
Professor of Surgery
University of Washington Medical Center

Case Presenter

Alec Hudnut
Chief Executive Officer
Evolution Robotics Retail (an Idealab! company)
Entretec PricewaterhouseCoopers Entrepreneurship Award Winner

Panelist

John Garcia
Managing Partner
Angel Strategies, LLC

Mitchell London
Former President of Red Zone Robotics
Adviser to the Red Team entry of Carnegie Mellon University
at DARPA's Red Challenge

Moderator

Rogelio Nochebuena
President
Nochebuena R&D

Producers

Ira Moskatel
Attorney
Arnold & Porter LLP

Rogelio Nochebuena
President
Nochebuena R&D

Date
Saturday morning, April 22, 2006

Location
Registration and Continental Breakfast: 8:00 a.m. at Baxter Hall, Caltech
Program: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Baxter Lecture Hall
Networking: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon at Baxter Hall, Caltech

Cost
$40.00 ($10.00 for students with full-time student ID's; free to Caltech students)

PROGRAM SPONSOR

FOUNDING SPONSORS

	Caltech Industrial Relations Center
	Caltech Alumni Association
	MIT Alumni Association

The Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum is administered in
conjunction with Pasadena Entretec