We Are Innovating Infrastructure

Edward Buddy Baca joined the Advanced Construction Robotics (ACR) team in January 2018 as the Lead Technician of the assembly and field technician staff. In 2020, Buddy was promoted to the position of Field Operations Manager, where he is responsible for managing the field operations team and the TyBOT and IronBOT fleets. In 2023, he was promoted to Director of Robotic Operations and oversees the robot supervisors, operations team, facility management, production, training, and robot fleets.

Prior to joining ACR, Buddy spent 15 years working as an aviation technician on various models of Helicopters. During that 15-year span, Buddy served for 5 years of active duty in the United States Marine Corps and worked as a wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service. Throughout his aviation career, Buddy worked as a quality assurance representative who oversaw the final safety checks of major maintenance actions that took place on helicopter flight systems. As a Marine, Buddy developed his leadership and management skills while working in a technical and stressful environment.

Buddy graduated with an Associate Degree from the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. He received the Golden Wrench Award from PIA and the Sikorski Aircraft Maintenance Award.

Dr. Jay Gowdy joined Advanced Construction Robotics, Inc. in 2016 where he leads the development and integration of a wide range of AI and robotics software to rapidly prototype, mature, and commercialize real-world, robust, and scalable autonomous products for the construction industry.

As Senior Scientist, Jay brings 30+ years of experience in developing and fielding robotic systems in both academia and industry.  His work in autonomous systems started in 1989 developing the software infrastructure and architecture for Carnegie Mellon's Navlab, one of the world’s first autonomous on-road vehicles.  His software toolset for integrating perception, planning, and control systems in simulation, playback, and live operation undergirded the software of Carnegie Mellon’s DARPA Grand Challenge efforts in 2004 and 2005. In addition to self-driving cars, Jay has developed numerous robotic systems, ranging from an agent-based multi-robot architecture for flexible assembly of precision electro-mechanical systems to software architectures for multi-legged walking robots. Jay has also developed and fielded a wide variety of technologies, such as 2D and 3D vision, motion planning, motion control, simultaneous localization and mapping, and machine learning systems. In industry, he spent 9 years taking an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) from Simulink models to optimized performance in C++ on an embedded DSP system that was sold to thousands of customers. The breadth and depth of Jay’s experience make him uniquely qualified to bring to market robust and maintainable autonomous robots that are true products, not just for a video or demonstration.  

Jay received a B.S. with a dual major in Applied Mathematics and Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon and a Ph.D. in Robotics from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

John Cameron, Director of Software & Data, joined Advanced Construction Robotics in 2022. He leads the software development team and oversees quality assurance as we bring the latest construction equipment to the industry

John brings 18 years of robotics experience and development team leadership. He has been an integral part of many cutting-edge projects, including a novel space reflector, 3D environment modeling algorithms, augmented reality interfaces for underwater ROVs, and the development of autonomous mobile piece-picking robots. Along the way John’s creations have earned three patents for 3D object identification algorithms and mobile robotics warehouse systems. John was a key author for the publication of RIA 15.08 Part 1, the world’s first industrial mobile robotics safety standard. He has helped startups grow from their first stages and has spent his career focusing on bringing “crazy ideas” to life. Now at ACR, John is determined to help those in the construction industry to work longer and achieve greater health.

John received his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Stony Brook University in New York in Mechanical Engineering. He received his master's degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University in 2005.

Matthew Shaffer joined Advanced Construction Robotics (ACR) in April 2017, where he is the Director of Hardware. He brings 20+ years of experience in robotics, remote weapon stations, and network appliance design for private, government, and foreign projects. Matthew is responsible for overseeing the hardware team and managing Engineering Processes such as Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

Matthew has a vast range of experience in the fields of robotics and engineering process, design, and implementation. He has designed system-level electronics, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and programmable logic devices (CPLD/FGAs) which have been used in robots for autonomous wounded soldier extraction and biological/chemical agent detection, as well as nuclear reactor vessel inspection. He has been the system-level architect on multiple projects including Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCAWS), Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device Detection (VBIED), and Semi-Autonomous Pipe Bomb Extraction (SAPBER). He also has led cross-discipline teams to define requirements, risk mitigation strategies, design specifications, and Design Verification and Validation Test (DVT) Plans.  He has also implemented engineering processes through department-wide policies at multiple companies.

Matthew obtained a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Patrick A. Weber joined Advanced Construction Robotics in January 2017. As Vice President, Engineering & Special Projects, Patrick leads the software and hardware engineering teams and manages ACR’s intellectual property.

Patrick’s technical expertise has been applied to a wide diversity of projects including hardware and software control systems for high voltage power electronics at Siemens Industry, and the concept, prototyping, and field deployment of numerous autonomous robotic technologies at Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC). These projects include developing machine vision software and electrical systems for an autonomous agricultural harvest sorting machine, systems architecture and electrical system design for an underground autonomous 3D mapping robot, sensor systems integration for CMU’s entry in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (CHIMP), retrofitting multiple vehicles for safe drive-by-wire autonomous control, and leading the technical development of an autonomous pipeline inspection robot.

Patrick obtained a B.S. in Computer Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and a M.S. in Software Engineering from Drexel University.

Stephen M. Muck Founded Advanced Construction Robotics, Inc. (ACR) in 2016 where he provides strategic oversight as Chief Executive Officer, bringing over 30 years of experience in business and construction-related fields. Under his direction, Steve established a unique and unparalleled partnership between world-class robotics experts, construction industry veterans, and an innovative business team to realize his vision of commercializing robotic products for the construction industry.

Throughout his career, Steve has started or acquired over twenty businesses and currently operates a portfolio of several companies focused on heavy civil construction. In construction-related endeavors alone, he oversees approximately $200 million in revenue annually with key interests in engineering, construction, explosive demolition, commercial diving, deep foundation installations, and oil & gas site work. Steve continues his leadership roles in many construction-related organizations and has participated in various community-related board activities. Steve also created the Muck Family Foundation, which supports a diverse charitable giving program.

Steve obtained a B.S. in Finance from Ohio University and an M.B.A. from Penn State University and has participated in the annual CEO/YPO Harvard Presidents’ Seminar for the past six years.