Joe Bartels

Joe Bartels has extensive experience in robotics and automation. Joe began their career in 2009 as an Engineering Intern at Nebraska Public Power District, where they worked on the management and design of various engineering projects. In 2011, they became a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Advanced Surgical Technologies Laboratory, where they researched and designed robots for minimally invasive surgery. In 2012, they interned at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where they developed a remote seismic transducer system prototype and designed mechanical parts for the ATHLETE's counter-rotating auger mechanism. In 2013, they became a PhD Student and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, where they developed novel depth imaging systems for use in robotics and automation. In 2020, they became the CEO and Co-founder of Phlux Technologies, where they are enabling advanced applications in robotics and automation with a new class of programmable 3D sensors.

Joe Bartels earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2010. Joe then attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 2006 to 2008, studying Mechanical Engineering. Following this, they returned to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and earned a Master of Science (MS) in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in 2013. Bartels then moved to Carnegie Mellon University, where they obtained a Master of Science - MS in Robotics in 2016 and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Robotics in 2019.