Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding his pioneering efforts in the industrial robot industry and the commercialization and challenges of bringing robotic inventions to market. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The interviewee is Charlie Duncheon, CEO, Cofounder and Chairman of the Board at Celltrio, Inc, a manufacturer of automation-based solutions for the life sciences industry. Duncheon shares his nearly 40-year journey as a robotics industry executive and entrepreneur, including his achievements and challenges.

Findings

Charlie Duncheon received a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. At Monsanto, the first company he worked for after college, he worked his way up to be the Chairman of the Corporate Robotics Task Force. Duncheon then chose to work for the startup Fared Robot Systems, Inc., where he became the VP of Sales. In 1984, he joined Adept Technology at its inception and became Senior VP. About 20 years later, Duncheon founded his own consulting company, Duncheon Associates, and from the multiple consulting contracts he executed in automation, he was asked four different times to serve as the company CEO of the new companies: Artificial Muscle, Inc., EIG America, Grabit, Inc. and Celltrio, Inc., the last three which he also cofounded.

Originality/value

Charlie Duncheon, with a passion for robotic engineering and love for new challenges, led seven different robot companies to successful growth. His major accomplishments include establishing an unprecedented worldwide channel of 100+ integrators while at Adept Technology, growing Adept to $100m+ revenues and an initial public offering; being promoted to CEO of Artificial Muscle, Inc., later acquired by Bayer Material Science LLC; founding EIG America and transferring lithium battery technology from EIG Korea to the US market; and cofounding Grabit, Inc., raising two venture backed rounds of several million dollars. Duncheon is the recipient of the Joseph Engelberger Award for Leadership in Robotics. He is currently an Executive in Residence at Purdue University and a mentor for Plug and Play Tech Center. He was elected President of the Robotics Industries Association (RIA) and served a total of eight years on the RIA Board. He holds patents for automated material handling and electroadhesion grippers. His proudest accomplishment was the successful publication of his book, Reflections of a 5th Grade Girls Basketball Coach.

中文翻译：

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普兰斯基访谈：查理·邓川（Charlie Duncheon），机器人技术连续企业家，Celltrio首席执行官兼联合创始人

目的

本文的目的是提供由《工业机器人杂志》的乔安妮·普兰斯基（Joanne Pransky）进行的“问答采访”，作为一种方法，以传授一位著名的，由机器人行业工程师转变为企业家的企业家在技术，创新和创新方面的综合经验。工业机器人行业以及将机器人发明推向市场的商业化和挑战。本文旨在讨论这些问题。

设计/方法/方法

受访者是Chartri Duncheon，他是Celltrio，Inc的首席执行官，联合创始人兼董事会主席，该公司是为生命科学行业提供基于自动化的解决方案的制造商。Duncheon与机器人产业的执行官和企业家分享了他近40年的历程，包括他的成就和挑战。

发现

Charlie Duncheon拥有普渡大学的工业工程学学士学位和爱德华兹维尔的南伊利诺伊大学的工商管理硕士学位。在大学毕业后为他工作的第一家公司孟山都（Monsanto），他一路攀升，成为公司机器人技术工作组的主席。然后，Duncheon选择为新兴公司Fared Robot Systems，Inc.工作，在那里他担任销售副总裁。1984年，他在Adept Technology成立之初就加入了该公司，并成为高级副总裁。大约20年后，Duncheon成立了自己的咨询公司Duncheon Associates，根据他在自动化领域执行的多项咨询合同，他被要求在四个不同的时间担任新公司的公司首席执行官：Artificial Muscle，Inc.，EIG America，Grabit，Inc.和Celltrio，Inc.，也是他后来共同创立的最后三个公司。

创意/价值

查理·邓川（Charlie Duncheon）对机器人工程充满热情，并热衷于应对新挑战，带领七家不同的机器人公司取得了成功的成长。他的主要成就包括：在Adept Technology期间建立了前所未有的全球100多家集成商渠道，使Adept的收入增长到1亿美元以上，并进行了首次公开募股；被提拔为人造肌肉公司的首席执行官，后来被拜耳材料科学有限责任公司收购；创立EIG America，并将锂电池技术从EIG Korea转移到美国市场；共同创立了Grabit，Inc.，进行了两轮几百万美元的风险投资。邓川（Duncheon）获得了约瑟夫·恩格尔伯格（Joseph Engelberger）机器人技术领导奖。他目前是普渡大学（Purdue University）驻校高管，即插即用技术中心的导师。他当选为机器人工业协会（RIA）的总裁，在RIA委员会一共八年担任。他拥有自动材料处理和电粘附夹具的专利。他最骄傲的成就是成功出版了他的书，对五年级女子篮球教练员的几点思考。