When SCS alumnus Paulo Camasmie dreams up a new product, he does it with a singular goal in mind — to improve lives.

That was his focus when he founded Catrike, a bike company that makes recumbent trikes for riders of all abilities. It was a major factor when he developed Atticus, an autonomous electric car prototype. And now, it's the driving force behind Nino, an autonomous general-purpose personal assistant. Reminiscent of Rosie from "The Jetsons," Nino will be programmed to help people with everyday tasks around their house or office. 

"I want to make a robot that can help people spend more time on the things that matter most to them," Camasmie said.

To do that, Camasmie knew he needed to take his career in a different direction. So after decades in industry and as an entrepreneur focused mostly on engineering, he began researching graduate programs in robotics. He found the Robotics Institute's master's program in robotics systems development and applied.

To his surprise, he was accepted.

"I knew I was prepared academically, but I wasn't a typical undergrad college student," he said. "But I had a lot of experience and a lot of passion. I knew what I had in me. It was amazing that Carnegie Mellon's admissions also saw that. I think that says a lot about CMU. They look at the candidate as they are."

On campus, Camasmie sought as much hands-on experience in robotics as possible.

"I took every class that I could on manipulation, control and hardware," he said. "I gravitated toward classes that allowed me to build, control and play with robots."

Camasmie graduated in 2020 and founded his third company, Symbol Robotics, in 2023. Nino will be Symbol's first robot. He hopes both the robot and the company will bring positive change to the world.

"I want Symbol and our robots to be a symbol of integrity, a symbol of values, a symbol of using technology for good," Camasmie said. "This is going to be the work of my life."

Read more about Camasmie's career journey in the full story on the CMU website.