Tessa Lau, PhD

Founder/CEO

Dusty Robotics

Dr. Tessa Lau is an award-winning roboticist who is the founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics. Dusty is revolutionizing the construction industry as the best solution to ensure design integrity in the field through automated layout and a streamlined BIM-to-field process. Prior to Dusty Robotics, Dr. Lau was co-founder, CTO, and Chief Robot Whisperer at Savioke (Relay) Robotics, where she automated hotel delivery and orchestrated the global distribution and management of consumer-facing robots. Dr. Lau got her start in robotics at Willow Garage, the legendary research lab and technology incubator known as one of the most influential forces in modern robotics. Willow Garage was responsible for the creation of an open-source robot operating system that's still being used by academics, engineers, and hobbyists around the world today. Dr. Lau is a frequent speaker at business, technology, and construction conferences and has received numerous awards, including 2023 Construction Dive's Up and Coming Women in Construction, Silicon Valley Business Journal's Women of Influence, SVR's Innovation Award, and the Award for Excellence from the Association of Computer Machinery. Currently living in Silicon Valley, Dr. Lau holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Washington.