Session No. 6C

New Age New Solutions

Session Description: This session looks at different solutions from different perspectives to solve newer technology related challenges.

Moderator: Vijay Varadarajan, P.E., HNTB

• Determining People’s Habit and Trends Through Technology, Mark Pittman, Chief Executive Officer, Blyncsy
• Autonomous Transportation: One Step at a Time, Tekin Meriçli, Chief Technology Officer, Locomation 
• DoD Simulation Technology for AV Development, Michael DeKort, Chief Executive Officer, Dactle

Speaker Bios

Mark Pittman is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Blyncsy. Prior to starting Blyncsy, Pittman worked in areas as diverse as political campaigns, start-ups, and a Fortune 500 Company. Pittman was Director of the Lassonde New Venture Development Program at the Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah. While at the University of Utah, Pittman earned a JD, an MBA and an MS in International Affairs and Global Enterprise. Pittman also completed bachelor degrees in Political Science, International Studies, and Economics. As the founder of Blyncsy, Pittman is passionate about improving the world through technology and innovation. 

Tekin Meriçli, Ph.D. is a co-founder and the CTO of Locomation. Prior to Locomation, he was a Special Faculty – Commercialization Specialist at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute where he had joined as a Senior Robotics Engineer. Since 2003, Dr. Meriçli has been practicing systems engineering across a wide variety of robots and systems including autonomous and semi-autonomous ground vehicles, mapping, state estimation, and operator assist systems, perception and motion planning for ground and aerial robots, industrial automation and process improvement, wheeled tour guide and service robots, intelligent assistive robotic manipulators and search and rescue robots, and various legged robots. He also has over 40 publications in the areas of robotics and computer sciences, including best paper award recipients.

Michael DeKort is a former system engineer, engineering and program manager for Lockheed Martin. He worked in aircraft simulation as the software engineering manager for all of NORAD and the Aegis Weapon System. His key Autonomous Vehicle Industry Participation include Lead, SAE On-Road Autonomous Driving SAE Simulation Task Force; Member SAE ORAD Verification and Validation Task Force; Expert, DIN/SAE International Alliance for Mobility Testing & Standardization (IAMTS) group to create sensor simulation specs; Stakeholder for UL4600, Creating AV Safety Guidelines; Member of the IEEE Artificial Intelligence & Autonomous Systems Policy Committee (AI&ASPC); Presented the IEEE Barus Ethics Award for Post 9/11.