Gedaliah Knizhnik

ABOUT ME

I'm a passionate roboticist and software engineer who takes a systems approach to robotics. I work to create platforms that can perform efficiently, effectively, and robustly in real world conditions by leveraging effective software and well built, innovative hardware. I believe that the best built systems balance practical considerations of speed, safety, and real-world performance with theoretical guarantees and algorithms.

As a professional, I work as a Staff Software Engineer for Forterra (formerly RRAI), where I write controls, planning, and perception software in C++, Python, and ROS. I focus on mobile robots and manipulators and develop real-time, multi-threaded systems that allow humans and robots to work together safely and efficiently in real-world conditions.

In my academic life, I earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania, with Dr. Mark Yim in the Modular Robotics Lab and Dr. Ani Hsieh in the ScalAR Lab. My research focused on inexpensive underactuated aquatic systems that leverage unique mechanical designs to function like far more complex robots, can work together to overcome their individual limitations, and can leverage their environment for more effective navigation despite limited energy budgets and actuation.

Before coming to Penn I earned my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park (Class of 2017). While there I worked with Dr. Sarah Bergbreiter in the Microrobotics Laboratory on developing a bridge inspection robot that could climb metal structures to inspect hard to reach locations. There too, we used a unique combination of flexible and rigid plastics to allow the robot to transition from horizontal to vertical with ease.

In my spare time I'm experimenting with baking; I got pretty into sourdough over the course of COVID-19 restrictions, and I’m always looking for new recipes to try. I love to run, even if I'm not very good at it, and to spend time with my wife and kids.

Qualifications

  • BS in Mechanical Engineering (Summa Cum Laude) - 2017, University of Maryland, College Park

  • MSE in Robotics - 2020, University of Pennsylvania

  • PhD in Mechanical Engineering - 2023, University of Pennsylvania

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