Stephan Pleines Email & Phone Number

Redwood City, California, United States

Sunnyvale, California, United States

Led the development of a highly reliable AI-powered robotics product that operates in harsh, remote environments.• Brought John Deere See&Spray™ Ultimate to market, realizing the potential of the acquisition of Blue River by Deere.• Drove high velocity and high quality software development and matured the software engineering organization by championing best practices, including coding standards, code reviews, tests, and concept reviews.• Enabled integration of Blue River’s technology with that of Deere and 3rd party vendors into one cohesive product through close collaboration with other engineering teams.Managed teams of up to 16 embedded, systems, and robotics software engineers and engineering managers.• Led a high-performing team of fulfilled employees (0% voluntary turnover, multiple promotions) with a servant leadership mindset, by promoting psychological safety with weekly 1:1s, and by empowering and challenging engineers with individual development plans.• Hired 10 engineers, 2 managers, 2 contractors, 7 interns (2 conversions to full-time); strategically built the team.Fostered innovation and guided technical discussions.• Increased the speed of development, prototyping, testing, debugging by establishing the real-time software architecture.• Worked with CTO to submit ~1 patent application per month, made intellectual property process more transparent, reviewed and refined idea submissions, ensuring protection of valuable innovation.Guided engineering teams with clear priorities and efficient planning. Fostered an agile, collaborative engineering culture.• Created clear focus and set ambitious yet achievable deadlines by prioritizing features and work items with Product Management and other stakeholders. Maintained team’s technology and feature roadmap.• Boosted efficiency and adaptability to changing priorities by championing collective ownership and peer feedback.

Sunnyvale, California

Sunnyvale, Ca

Mountain View, Ca

Developed a autonomous truck platooning system built on a multi-process real-time Linux platform (C++).• Upgraded the radar tracking of the partner truck (control theory, sensor fusion, state estimation, simulation).• Designed and implement supervisory algorithms that run on the safety processor (CAN ISO 26262, ASIL C).

Sunnyvale, Ca

Agricultural after-market guidance and vehicle steering control with Trimble Autopilot™ (C, C++, ISO 11783, GNC, GPS/GNSS).• Won an Innovation Award for the NextSwath™ End of Row Turn Guidance System (optimal control, path planning).

Zürich Area, Switzerland

• Researcher at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control.• Conducted research in the field of control theory with a specialized focus on vehicle dynamics; identified optimal emergency maneuvers for passenger vehicles through comprehensive analysis.• Supervised both graduate and undergraduate students; presented on systems modeling through lectures attended by 200 students; developed challenging problem sets for students to accompany those lectures.

Msc, Mechanical Engineering

Specialization: Robotics, Systems, and Controls

Engineering

Activities and Societies: Caltech Alpine ClubVisiting student.