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Short Bio:

David Calkins is a widely respected robot builder and expert. He has taught robotics and computer engineering at San Francisco State University and various grade schools, is the president of the Robotics Society of America, Founder of the international RoboGames (world's largest robot competition), and has lots of other pedantic titles that no one really cares about.

He hosted the weekly TV show "Systm" for Revsion3, where he tought people to make highly useful things like flamethrowers, lightsabers and beer-delivery robots. He's been featured in TV specials on Discovery, History, TechTV, and many other networks, including building a robot which explored the dungeons and sewers of Alcatraz. His most vexing robot is Chapek, which makes cocktails and insults people (mostly him.) He plays with Legos a lot, proving his mother correct that he would not, in fact, ever grow up. He's built over 100 robots, most of which have since had parts cannibalized for some other project. Those 'bots are now plotting to cut off one of his arms to see how he likes it.

Long, winding, boring bio for people who spend too much time on the net:

David Calkins is a widely respected robot builder and expert. He is a former professor ot robotics and computer engineering at San Francisco State University, is the president of the Robotics Society of America, Founder of the international ROBOlympics competition, Program Chair of the RoboNexus Consumer and Entertainment Expo, and co-chair of the RoboSot competition for FIRA - the Federation of International Robosoccer Association. He was one of only ten US members of the Japanese Trade Association's Robotics Mission to Japan, an official US-Japanese robotics technology business development and research mission.

As one of America's most respected robotics authorities, David Calkins offers a rare blend of both technical and marketing insight into the world of robotics. He speaks on robotics to such diverse groups as the Young Presidents Organization, Stanford University, the San Jose Tech Museum, the Business4Site conference, the RoboNexus and RoboBusiness conferences, JavaOne and many others. Mr. Calkins stars in the San Francisco local weekly TV show "Mister Robotics", and was also featured in two documentaries: the Discovery Channel's special "Dungeons of Alcatraz" (in which he designed and built a robot used to explore tunnels beneath Alcatraz) and the Tech TV special "Bucket of Bolts". He has also been a featured guest speaker on History Channel's "Tactical to Practical", Tech TV's "ScreenSavers" and "Call for Help", G4's "Attack of the Show", Outdoor Channel's "Inside R/C", GSN's "Games Around America," and has been profiled by CNN, Time, and the New York Times. He is also a prolific author in his own right; he writes two monthly columns for Servo Magazine and Robot Magazine, and has been published internationally.

Mr. Calkins works with NASA's Robotics Education Project to involve kids in the building and competition of robots. Calkins also enthusiastically mentors the San Francisco's John O'Connell High School USFIRST robotics team. On the business-side, Calkins has been a consultant for Sun Corporation's JavaNator robotic development group, Evolution Robotics original ER-1 robot, and assisted DARPA on the creation of the rules for their Robotic Grand Challenge. In addition to serving as president of the Robotics Society of America since 2000, he also serves on the Board of Advisors for QBox (a mechanical, kinetic and electronic arts group) and BotBall (Robotics Educational Foundation). Calkins also judges for BotBall, FIRST Lego League, ComBots, and the Robot Fighting League.

Press clippings from ROBOlympics/RoboGames can be found here.

Positions/Titles