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Dr. Tom Galluzzo and his
team at IAM Robotics
receive the Information
Technology Award from
Carnegie Science Center.
BY NICOLE TAFE
D
r. Tom Galluzzo, CEO of IAM Robotics in Sewickley,
and his team are enhancing the fields of robotics
and automation technology day after day with the
development of the world’s first fully autonomous,
mobile material-handling robot.
Galluzzo and his wife, Shelly, have three kids—Abby, 8,
Alexander, 6, and Ella, 2—and have lived in Gibsonia for three
years. Galluzzo grew up in Williamsville, New York, and attended
college at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he
earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering. He later went on to
graduate school at the University of Florida where he earned a
PhD in robotics.
Galluzzo started IAM Robotics after working at Carnegie
Mellon in the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC).
He founded the company with Vladimir Altman, who was a
colleague at NREC.
“I was involved with all aspects of starting the company,”
says Galluzzo. “Early on, my focus was on computer vision
and artificial intelligence software that allows our robots to
see their way around a warehouse. Our robots are designed to
drive around e-commerce facilities, and they pick products that
are sitting on a shelf, so the products can then be packed and
shipped.”
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His company is a leader in the field of robotic technology for
the logistics industry. By combining perception, manipulation
and mobility technologies, IAM Robotics has created a game-
changing solution for the logistics industry that addresses a
growing labor problem by automating tasks that are difficult to
staff. Forbes and Modern Materials Handling magazines have
recognized IAM Robotics’ technology as one of today’s most
exciting innovations in logistics.
Galluzzo was recently awarded the Information Technology
Award, sponsored by Pittsburgh Business Times, by the Carnegie
Science Center. “Specifically, my award was for developing
Swift—our main product at IAM Robotics,” he notes. “I received
a plaque that I now keep on my desk. It’s nice to be recognized
for the hard work and effort that my team and I at IAM Robotics
have put into our company.”
Galluzzo and his team are always looking toward the future
with plans to continue to enhance current and future industries.
“These accomplishments in robotics are extremely important
because of the growing manual labor crisis in industry,” explains
Galluzzo. “As more and more people are educated in STEM
and more Baby Boomers retire, industry is being left with a
huge labor gap. Automation technologies and robotics are really
important to help sustain productivity being lost to unavailable
labor. This issue is growing both here in the U.S. and abroad.” n