About Us

We build machines that empower humans to live to our fullest potential. We believe that it is not Man vs. Machine, but Man + Machine that will take humanity into the next stage of evolution. We are passionate about the role that technology can play in our society, and are uncompromising in our commitment to excellence in our engineering and products. We aim to blur the lines between art and technology, and build a company culture around pushing the limits of what is possible.

Our History

Apptronik is a spin out from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. We were founded in Early 2016 with the goal of bringing forth the next generation of robots that will change the way we live and work. Our team is made up of a diverse group with multi-disciplinary expertise and we all share a passion for using technology to change the world for the better.

Our Team

The Leadership Team
Dr. Nick Paine
Co-Founder, CTO
Dr. Nick Paine
Co-Founder, CTO

Nick Paine received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering all from University of Texas at Austin. His Ph.D. studies focused on the development of the UT Series Elastic Actuator, a compact high performance actuator for robotics. This technology was adopted by numerous organizations worldwide including NASA-JSC, IHMC, Changwon National University, Stone Age Robotics, and Daegu Institute of Science and Technology.

From 2012-2013 he was a member of the NASA-JSC DARPA Robotics Challenge team where he helped develop high-performance hardware and software for compliant control of the Valkyrie humanoid robot’s legs and arms. From 2014-2015 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Human Centered Robotics Lab at UT working on forced convective cooling of electric motors and embedded system design.

Jeff Cardenas
Co-Founder, CEO
Jeff Cardenas
Co-Founder, CEO

Jeff specializes in new product development and go-to-market strategy. He received his Master’s of Science in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin. He previously worked in the Global Commercialization Group at the IC2 Institute at UT Austin, working with innovators from around the globe to take innovations out of the research lab and to the market. He holds an undergraduate Business degree from UT Austin, and worked in the Technology practice of Deloitte Consulting. He previously founded several start-ups and a non-profit. He has a passion for entrepreneurship and using technology to solve social issues and improve the world.

Kay Sheils
Chief Financial Officer
Kay Sheils
Chief Financial Officer

Kay has worked with entrepreneur-led companies in venture and middle markets for the majority of her 20-year institutional finance career, with a focus on disruptive technologies and impact sectors.  Kay’s most recent experience has been as CFO to Icon Technology, a 3-D printing construction technology company headquartered in Austin, TX. Kay is also a Founding Partner of CapStream Group, an entrepreneur-focused investment bank headquartered in Austin, TX, and serves as advisor and/or investor to several other early-stage companies.

Kay’s previous experience includes Managing Director of Investment Banking at Seaport Global, where over twelve years she led numerous financings and advisory engagements for entrepreneur-led companies, and specialized in helping management teams structure complex capital and build for growth. She also served as Director of Business Development at CircleUp, a firm focused on capital investment in early-stage entrepreneurs.Kay spent the early part of her career in New York at Morgan Stanley and Jefferies. Kay holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University and a master’s degree from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

She currently lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, John Kingsbury, their two sons, and their beloved terriers.  She is a passionate animal advocate and dog rescue nerd.

Barry Phillips
Chief Commercial Officer
Barry Phillips
Chief Commercial Officer

Barry Phillips is Chief Commerical Officer at Apptronik where he oversees Sales, Marketing, Business Development, and Customer Success. Barry joins Apptronik after being the CMO of Fetch Robotics (acquired by Zebra Technologies), Maxta, Panzura, Egnyte and Wanova (acquired by VMware), where he led Marketing, Sales, and Business Development. Prior to Wanova, Barry was the Group Vice President and General Manager of the Delivery Center Product Group at Citrix Systems. Barry joined Citrix through the acquisition of Net6. He began his career in United States Naval Aviation where he logged over 1,000 hours in a P-3C Orion. Barry holds a Bachelors of Computer Science from the United States Naval Academy and a Masters of Computer Science from UCLA.

Greg Steele
Interim VP of Operations
Greg Steele
Interim VP of Operations

Greg Steele is our Interim VP of Operations. Greg has spent his career in Operations roles in technology companies taking them from start-up to full scale production. He held the position of Senior VP of Engineering at Enphase Energy for 4 years, the Senior VP of Operations at the same company for 4 year and was the COO and VP of Operations for Advanced Fibre Communications for 7 years. Greg is currently on the Board of Exchange Bank and serves as the Board President for the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County.

Advisors
Dr. Luis Sentis
Co-Founder, Scientific Advisor
Dr. Luis Sentis
Co-Founder, Scientific Advisor

Luis Sentis is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin and a contractor for NASA Johnson Space Center. He received his Ph.D.and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He went on to become a postdoctoral fellow in the Computer Science Department at Stanford. He holds a B.S. (Honors Thesis) degree in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He started his career in Silicon Valley as R&D Engineer.

In Austin, he also leads the Human Centered Robotics Laboratory, and experimental facility with many PhD students and humanoid robots. He was the UT Austin’s Lead for DARPA’s Robotics Challenge with NASA Johnson Space Center. His research focuses on designing human-centered robots, whole-body control software architectures, high performance series elastic actuators and embedded control systems, and motion planning for dynamic locomotion. He has received various awards such as the NASA Elite Team Award for his contributions on designing the Valkyrie humanoid robot, the 3rd Prize at the RoboCup@Home Domestic Standard Platform League, and the Best ICRA 2017 Paper Manipulation Award. He has over 100 scientific publications.

Gordon Daugherty
Board Member
Gordon Daugherty
Board Member

Coming Soon

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