Jorgen Pedersen

Mr. Jorgen Pedersen is the Chief Executive Officer of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute.  

The ARM Institute is the nation’s leading manufacturing innovation institute for robotics and artificial intelligence. The Institute leverages a unique, robust, and diverse consortium of 450+ members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience.  Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. 

 Mr. Pedersen has more than twenty-five (25) years of technology leadership experience managing all aspects of robotics, manufacturing, and R&D companies with strategic relationships in the government, defense, technology, and manufacturing sectors.

A highlight of Mr. Pedersen’s career was starting RE2 Robotics, a leading developer and innovator of intelligent modular manipulation systems, in 2001. As Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Pedersen hired and managed a team of over 100 employees, delivered hundreds of high-use robotic solutions to the Department of Defense and commercial customers that were manufactured in Pittsburgh, PA, secured Series A funding after bootstrapping the business for 13 years, forged key strategic relationships in aviation, construction, and medical markets leading to a 300% increase in revenue post Series A, and spearheaded government proposals that led to $75M+ of contracts. Mr. Pedersen also led the negotiations and due diligence for the successful acquisition of RE2 Robotics by Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation for $100M in 2022.

Most recently, he served as the Robotics Entrepreneur in Residence at Innovation Works’ Robotics Factory. In this role, he mentored early-stage robotics founders and C-level executives on a variety of topics ranging from fundraising, business development, government proposal development, strategic planning, manufacturing, and culture. He is active in the Pittsburgh region’s AI and robotics community, serving on the board of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network.  Mr. Pedersen is a national leader in the unmanned systems community, with experience serving as the Chairman of the Robotics Division of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the Board of Trustees for NDIA, and the Board of Directors for the National Advanced Mobility Consortium.

Mr. Pedersen has contributed to the growth of the robotics market for more than 25 years, beginning his career as one of the founders of Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC). He holds an M.S. degree in Robotics and a B.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.