IoT WebTalk: Enabling 5G Autonomous Robots in the Factory

Avik is co-founder and CTO of Ghost Robotics, a startup company commercializing legged robotics in Philadelphia. The company currently has two products, a 45kg quadruped aimed at industrial applications, and a 12kg quadruped aimed at research applications.

Previously, Avik completed a postdoc at Harvard SEAS and a PhD at the GRASP laboratory in the University of Pennsylvania studying methods for the design and control of bio-inspired robot locomotion. At Ghost Robotics, he is responsible for the overall hardware and software architecture of the robots and the algorithms used for their mobility.

Matthew Cherewka serves as the Director of Business Development and Strategy at Vecna Robotics. In his role, Matt collaborates closely with customers and partners, helping them understand, develop, integrate and implement intelligent automation into their operations and business strategies to prepare them for success in the next industrial revolution.

Matt has deep experience advising a range of global clients on robotic integration strategies, business cases, and startup launches. Before Vecna Robotics, Matt worked with a wide range of startups, investors, consulting firms, and even Sci-Fi filmmakers to commercialize new robotic technologies and grow the market, including developing biomimetic robots for Disney. Matt has also worked closely with Six Sigma black belts to implement automation solutions in struggling manufacturing companies.

Matt is an alumnus of Bucknell University with dual degrees in mechanical engineering and business management. In his spare time, Matt plays the electric fiddle in several bands around New England.

• Robert Toppel founded e1ectr0n, Inc. in 2018. Prior to that he led a management buyout of Axiom Electronics in 2006. He served as President at Axiom until June 2021 where he guided the development and introduction of several successful new products.
• Mr. Toppel was a principal in Breeze Test Instruments, a manufacturer of logic analyzers in Colorado that he co-founded in 1983 and later sold to Tektronix. As an entrepreneur, Mr. Toppel is experienced in managed capital acquisition, engineering, administration, sales and marketing. He holds a B.A. in Physics from the University of Colorado in Denver.

Jo Gilbert is a Technical Director at the GSMA. She leads the GSMA Digital Industries activities which brings together mobile network operators, enterprises, and the wider ecosystem to connect the benefits of 5G in the industrial sector.  With a career spanning 20 years in the telecom sector, Jo has supported organisations to harness new and emerging technologies such as identity, IoT, big data, artificial intelligence and 5G.