Tom Panzarella appointed chief technology officer at Seegrid

Seegrid Corporation, a leader in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solutions for material handling, announced today the appointment of Tom Panzarella to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Panzarella’s appointment underscores Seegrid's commitment to innovation and industry advancement in the rapidly evolving field of robotics and automation, the company said.

"I am very pleased to appoint Tom to the role of Chief Technology Officer," said CEO and President Joe Pajer. "Tom's exceptional leadership and dedication to technological innovation have been pivotal in shaping Seegrid's market leading AMR solutions. With Tom at the helm of our technology and development teams, I am confident that Seegrid will continue to revolutionize the future of material handling automation."

As CTO, Panzarella will lead Seegrid's technology initiatives, including the development of autonomous solutions that empower customers to optimize their material handling workflows. His strategic vision will drive the advancement of Seegrid's proprietary autonomy technology, Seegrid added.

"I am honored to take on the role of Chief Technology Officer at Seegrid," said Panzarella. "Seegrid's commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions is truly inspiring, and I am excited to lead our talented team of engineers as we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in autonomous material handling."

Panzarella began working with Seegrid in 2017 while he was building his first perception-based start-up company, Love Park Robotics (LPR). Seegrid partnered with LPR to successfully apply LPR's pallet detection technology in its AMR solutions. 

After LPR was acquired in 2018 by ifm, he founded a second start-up named Box Robotics. Box was focused on rebuilding the AGV perception stack with human-like spatial awareness by leveraging long-range 3D LiDAR, Deep Learning, and HD Maps—in direct alignment with Seegrid's long-term technology vision.

Seegrid acquired Box Robotics in September 2020, making Panzarella and his co-founder John Spletzer technology leaders within the company, focused on the successful commercialization of the Box technology stack in our AMR solutions today.

Panzarella has over 27 years of experience in engineering and robotics. As the new CTO, Panzarella will steer Seegrid’s technology and product development, working closely with our customers on the required technology and innovation initiatives, and represent Seegrid across the technical bodies that are driving the growth of autonomy across the industry.