Self-driving cars are the future—and that future is fast approaching in part thanks to nuTonomy CEO Karl Iagnemma. One of the few companies building self-driving software, the Cambridge-based nuTonomy started test-driving autonomous vehicles in the Seaport’s Flynn Marine Park earlier this year, and its recent partnership with Lyft could mean some Bostonians will be able to hail a self-driving vehicle by the end of 2017.
“NuTonomy in some sense is really an outgrowth of my life’s work,” says Iagnemma, who established a mobile robotics research lab at MIT after getting his doctorate there in 2001. “All of the technology in driverless cars is robotics technology, so the research I was doing at my lab at MIT, and the research a handful of us were doing worldwide at different universities, has become the core technology for today’s driverless cars.”
Iagnemma has already helped get nuTonomy’s software on the road in Singapore, where public trials have allowed locals to hail rides in autonomous electric cars (which arrive with a nuTonomy engineer who observes performance and can take the wheel if needed). Data from those trials and testing in Boston—where vehicles may encounter very different driving conditions, including dense traffic and harsh weather—will help guide what’s likely to be a game-changing technology.
“There’s the economic opportunity of being able to offer a mode of transportation that’s cheaper than today’s available modes,” Iagnemma says. “And then there’s the potential social impact of improving the technology that today leads to a million-plus deaths worldwide—people getting behind the wheels of their cars.”
“At MIT, I had the great good fortune to work alongside professor Woodie Flowers, a legend of MIT’s mechanical engineering department. Woodie showed me how a brilliant, humble and ethical engineer comports himself on a daily basis. I consider myself lucky to have been influenced by him.”
The Leader Board
Who inspires Boston’s movers and shakers? Ten local talents making a mark in their fields tell us who influenced them along the way.
By Matt Martinelli Aug. 4, 2017
Karl Iagnemma
Self-driving cars are the future—and that future is fast approaching in part thanks to nuTonomy CEO Karl Iagnemma. One of the few companies building self-driving software, the Cambridge-based nuTonomy started test-driving autonomous vehicles in the Seaport’s Flynn Marine Park earlier this year, and its recent partnership with Lyft could mean some Bostonians will be able to hail a self-driving vehicle by the end of 2017.
“NuTonomy in some sense is really an outgrowth of my life’s work,” says Iagnemma, who established a mobile robotics research lab at MIT after getting his doctorate there in 2001. “All of the technology in driverless cars is robotics technology, so the research I was doing at my lab at MIT, and the research a handful of us were doing worldwide at different universities, has become the core technology for today’s driverless cars.”
Iagnemma has already helped get nuTonomy’s software on the road in Singapore, where public trials have allowed locals to hail rides in autonomous electric cars (which arrive with a nuTonomy engineer who observes performance and can take the wheel if needed). Data from those trials and testing in Boston—where vehicles may encounter very different driving conditions, including dense traffic and harsh weather—will help guide what’s likely to be a game-changing technology.
“There’s the economic opportunity of being able to offer a mode of transportation that’s cheaper than today’s available modes,” Iagnemma says. “And then there’s the potential social impact of improving the technology that today leads to a million-plus deaths worldwide—people getting behind the wheels of their cars.”
Who influenced you?
“At MIT, I had the great good fortune to work alongside professor Woodie Flowers, a legend of MIT’s mechanical engineering department. Woodie showed me how a brilliant, humble and ethical engineer comports himself on a daily basis. I consider myself lucky to have been influenced by him.”
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