William Robert Norris

Background

About William Robert Norris

Dr. Norris' experience spans 30 years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as a business owner/ consultant, as an executive at Deere & Company, a researcher at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA), and the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Lab. While at Deere & Company, he served in multiple business, program management and engineering positions in the Deere Moline Technology and Innovation Center as well as Deere & Company's Commercial and Consumer Equipment division. His focus was on the introduction of robotics products and AI solutions for military, homeland security, private security, residential and emergency responder market segments. In his role, he directed the revolutionary creation of the first large-scale, manufactured autonomous/ unmanned ground vehicle from concept development through product delivery including service and support. As an entrepreneur in residence with the Kauffman foundation sponsored Innovation Fund North Carolina and business owner, he developed expertise creating and directing multiple large-scale technology application programs and technology start-ups. The work consisted of guiding numerous projects through technology development, product development, service, and support at both the OEM and start-up level. Dr. Norris’ business consulting expertise included high tech marketing, business development, technical management as well as coordination of high tech business and marketing strategies. An engineering professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Norris has created a highly successful autonomous system research program with over 20 students and 10 programs in 3 years, He is in the process of creating a Center of Excellence at UIUC with the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center. Dr. Norris has BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and holds an M.B.A from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in Durham, NC. He served with the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division managing a paratrooper unit and is a veteran of the Desert Shield and Desert Storm campaigns.