ARM Institute welcomes a longtime Pittsburgh entrepreneur as its new CEO

Every year, Pittsburgh’s universities train a new wave of talent, and while some stay to build locally, others take their ideas elsewhere.

A longtime robotics entrepreneur with decades of experience shaping Pittsburgh’s tech scene is sticking with the city as he assumes a new leadership role at the ARM Institute. 

Meanwhile, two early-stage founders from the University of Pittsburgh are heading to Philadelphia to grow their startups, and the cofounder of a well-known autonomous trucking company has taken on a new leadership role at General Motors to support its push into self-driving vehicles.

Read on below the chart for more on these power moves and other professional changes in the region. 

ARM Institute appoints robotics entrepreneur as new CEO

A new chapter begins at the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute today, as its newly appointed CEO officially steps into the role. 

Jorgen Pedersen, a local robotics entrepreneur, has contributed to the growth of the Pittsburgh robotics scene for more than 25 years. He was one of the founders of Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center and later founded RE2 Robotics, a leading developer of human-like robotic arms for unstructured environments. Pedersen succeeds Ira Moskowitz, who recently retired from the position after being appointed to the role in 2020.

When RE2 was acquired by Sarcos Robotics in 2022, Pedersen worked as Sarcos’ COO for a year during the transition. He then joined the board of directors for the Pittsburgh-based manufacturing consultancy Catalyst Connection and the Pittsburgh Robotics Network, where he was eventually appointed president. After that, he became the Robotics Entrepreneur in Residence at Innovation Works’ Robotics Factory, where he mentored early-stage robotics founders. 

“We’re at a pivotal moment where robotics and AI are no longer future technologies — they’re ready to transform US manufacturing today,” Pedersen said in a prepared statement. “I’m honored to join the ARM Institute in its mission to drive innovation, strengthen our industrial base and prepare a workforce ready to thrive alongside advanced technologies.”

The ARM Institute is structured as a public-private partnership of over 450 member organizations. Pedersen will continue the ARM Institute’s work of fostering collaboration between government, industry and academia to make robotics, automation and AI more accessible to manufacturers. 

Pittsburgh loses two founders to Philly-based fellowship program

Two researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are leaving the city to develop their innovations across the state. 

Molecular pharmacology graduate student Olayemi Grace Akinyele and AI health researcher Thomas Tam have been selected for the University City Science Center’s year-long Founders Fellowship program in Philadelphia. The life sciences builders will receive hands-on experience on tackling challenges related to aging populations. 

Akinyele will work on developing her bioengineered platform that would preserve mitochondria, the parts of the cell that produce energy, even after they’ve been removed from the body. Since mitochondria have emerged as a biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer’s, the new technology could make it easier to research the disease in the future. 

Tam will also leave Pittsburgh to continue working on his AI-powered medication guardrails, which aim to fix the current error-prone process of tracking medications across different care settings. Tam’s venture was previously supported by Carnegie Mellon’s Project Olympus Incubator Program and the Pittsburgh-based Patient Safety Fellowship. 

Cofounder of Aurora leaves for General Motors

Aurora cofounder Sterling Anderson announced his resignation as the autonomous trucking company’s chief product officer in May, following the launch of Aurora’s self-driving trucks in Texas. 

The news was made public in a regulatory filing, where the company said Anderson’s departure “did not result from any disagreement with the company concerning any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices.” 

During the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Anderson said Aurora’s recent launch gave him the confidence to leave the company at this time. 

“Aurora has reached a critical inflection point; product strategy is firmly established,” he said. “The technology is on the road, the team is in place to scale it, and the momentum we’ve created in the industry is palpable.”

A few days later, General Motors announced Anderson as the company’s new executive vice president of global product and chief product officer. Anderson joins the team as General Motors works to incorporate autonomous technology into its vehicles. 

Later that month, Aurora made the call to put “observers” back in the front seat of its autonomous trucks, per a request made by Paccar Inc., the company that manufactures the trucks. 

More power moves: 

• North Shore-based aluminum producer Alcoa named Thomas J. Gorman as its non-executive chairman of the board in May. 
• About 105 Leviathan Energy employees will lose their jobs as the company closes its Monroeville and Canonsburg offices following the $1.8 billion acquisition of Olympus Energy. 
• Innovation Works eliminated its portfolio executive role, cutting three team members. Based on founder feedback, Innovation Works says it updated its service model to give portfolio companies direct access to managing directors, a mentor network and a new service desk to route, track and manage requests. 
• California-based defense tech company Anduril is hiring for several software roles in Pittsburgh, despite not currently having a physical presence in the city. The company develops autonomous weapons used by Ukraine. 
• Point Park University appointed Shari Payne as the permanent provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Payne had served as interim provost since January. 
• Kristen Martin, a former professor of IT and technology ethics, will serve as the next dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College starting in July. 

• After the local software firm Smith Micro had a 50% drop in revenue last year, it brought back Tim Huffmyer to resume his former role as CFO and take on the COO position as well.