Paul Birkmeyer

Paul is the CTO and co-founder of Dishcraft Robotics, a company creating novel robotic hardware and software to improve the quality of life and productivity of kitchen staff in commercial kitchens. Paul was drawn to robots from an early age because of the awe and wonder of watching your creation come to life in the real world and developed a deeper passion for the field when he recognized the empowerment that comes from creating something that can have real, tangible impact for good. In graduate school at UC Berkeley, Paul worked on how to design robots intelligently and wholistically such that the mechanisms, sensors, electronics, and software complement each other to create simple yet robust solutions to specific problems. This design mentality led to the technologies that launched Paul’s first company, Dash Robotics, where he was a co-founder and CTO. Started during his Ph.D. and derived from his research, Dash Robotics focused on making low-cost, build-it-yourself, bio-inspired legged robots available to kids to promote STEM engagement. While moonlighting to help build and grow Dash Robotics, Paul was also a research engineer at SRI Robotics where he contributed to projects including lightweight wearable robotics, autonomous racing motorcycles, and dynamically-walking humanoid robots. Paul also helped push novel manipulator and arm designs at iRobot that are being used in products today. Of all the projects Paul takes on, he tries to keep his focus on making systems that are cutting-edge, yet practical and towards something deployable in a larger market. After all, the real goal of robotics is to make something that can actually be helpful in the world, right? If you want to start a conversation with Paul, offer to talk about robots or technology over a nice cup of coffee.