About
Alex Dobbin works in physical AI, robotics, and spatial computing.
Eight years of applied work across aviation, manufacturing, utilities, and transportation — concept through live deployment, across North America, Europe, Asia, and APAC.
Experience
Slalom — New York
Senior Consultant, Physical AI / Innovation Lab · 2025–present
Project lead for Slalom's Innovation Lab focused on Physical AI. Owns the firm's largest robotics programs and the technical partnerships behind them. Recent work: a multi-year tarmac robotics deployment for a global airline; humanoid simulation and solution ownership for a Japanese industrial conglomerate (Isaac Lab + Gemini Robotics). Represents the firm at CES, Mobile World Congress, Google Next, AWE, and across 30+ global markets.
Consultant, Innovation Lab & Physical AI · 2022–2025
Built and delivered applied robotics and physical AI programs across aviation, manufacturing, utilities, and transportation. Highlights: a 24/7 autonomous inspection robot for an industrial manufacturer (lab R&D to live factory floor); an airport perception system for an international carrier; a five-year emergency-management technology roadmap for a US utility. Established joint go-to-market with five robotics startups; generated $2M+ in pipeline.
Associate Consultant, Innovation Lab — Founding Team · 2021–2022
Founding team of Slalom's Innovation Lab. Built the foundational technical infrastructure, R&D programs, and design system that enabled the lab's first client-facing engagements. Supervised a 10-person intern cohort; 3 hired full-time.
SHoP Architects — New York
Designer, Fabrication Labs & Spatial Computing · 2019–2021
Led design of a real-time AR/BIM visualization tool for clients and construction teams (live 3D building data on-site through AR). Built a photogrammetry pipeline for remote construction QA. Operated a cloud-based 3D printing farm — repurposed during COVID-19 to produce and donate 100,000 protective face masks to NYC hospitals. Owned the SHoP Detail Library (1,800+ drawings; +12% documentation productivity).
Junior Designer, Fabrication Labs · 2018–2019
Joined SHoP's Fabrication Lab. Built fluency in 3D printing, CNC milling, laser cutting, woodworking, and the digital modeling toolkit (Rhino, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Blender) across 25+ concurrent projects.
Education
- Bowdoin College — BA, Economics; minor in Visual Arts. 2014–2018. Varsity football, club alpine skiing.
- Harvard University, Graduate School of Design — Design Discovery, summer 2017.
- Danish Institute for Study Abroad, Copenhagen — Architecture studio, spring 2017.
Selected skills
- Physical AI & robotics
- AMR deployment in industrial environments. Humanoid robotics: whole-body locomanipulation, sim-to-real. NVIDIA Isaac Lab and Isaac Sim. Google Gemini Robotics. Human-in-the-loop architectures. Sensor fusion. Edge and cloud inference. Multi-robot coordination with AGVs.
- AI / ML
- Agentic systems. Applied LLMs. Multimodal models. Object detection and multi-object tracking. Defect detection. AI-driven inspection workflows.
- Spatial computing & AR/VR
- AR field deployment for construction QA and industrial training. Photogrammetry. Reality capture and 3D digital twins. Unity, Unreal Engine.
- Computational design
- Rhino. Grasshopper (parametric scripting, workflow automation). V-Ray. Blender. AutoCAD. Revit. CAD-to-CAM pipelines.
- Digital fabrication
- 3D printing (multi-platform farm management). CNC milling, laser cutting, woodworking, metalworking. Material specification and value engineering.
- Strategy & program ownership
- Enterprise GTM. Hyperscaler partner programs. Multi-year, multi-stakeholder programs from concept to production. Five-year roadmaps. Executive briefings. Technical-to-business translation.
Recognition
- Oslo Architecture Triennale 2021 (with Citygroup collective).
- AIA New Practices New York 2020 Award.
- Guest curator, Modernism for All — The Bauhaus at 100, Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
Civic
- First Responders Children's Foundation, NYC — STEM mentor for high-schoolers (2022–present).
- Schools Out NYC — middle-school STEM tutor (2018–present).
- buildOn Connecticut Chapter — Co-President, 2012–2015. Fundraised $72,000; built three schools in Malawi and Nicaragua.