# Tessa Lau

> Tessa Lau is the founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics, a Mountain View-based company that builds autonomous mobile robots for the construction industry. Her FieldPrinter robot uses building information model (BIM) data to print layout lines directly onto jobsite floors with 1/16-inch accuracy, replacing manual chalk-line methods that have dominated construction for centuries. Lau holds a PhD in machine learning from the University of Washington and spent 11 years at IBM Research before pivoting to robotics at Willow Garage and co-founding hotel-delivery-robot company Savioke. She launched Dusty Robotics in 2018, has raised $69.5 million including a $45 million Series B, and has helped contractors print over 100 million square feet of layout across thousands of buildings.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Dusty Robotics
- **Organizations:** Dusty Robotics, Savioke, Willow Garage, IBM Research, Cantos Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, CRA-W
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA/BS in Computer Science and Applied Engineering Physics, Cornell University, MS and PhD in Computer Science (Machine Learning / HCI), University of Washington
- **Known for:** Raised $69.5 million total funding for Dusty Robotics including a $45M Series B, FieldPrinter has printed over 100 million square feet of construction layout across thousands of buildings, Named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business (2015)

## Career timeline

- **1995-2001** — PhD research at University of Washington in machine learning and human-computer interaction
- **2001-2012** — Research Scientist at IBM Research, focused on business process automation and knowledge capture (11 years)
- **2012** — Research Scientist at Willow Garage, developing user interfaces for personal robots
- **2013-2018** — Co-founder and CTO at Savioke, deploying 75+ delivery robots in hotels and high-rises
- **2018** — Co-founded Dusty Robotics with Philipp Herget in Mountain View, CA
- **2019** — First year of Dusty operations - offered free print jobs to gather feedback rather than operating in stealth
- **Early 2020** — Received first paid invoice ($5,000) for a medical office building in the Bay Area
- **2022** — Raised $45M Series B round (May 2022)
- **2023+** — Dusty FieldPrinter surpasses 100 million square feet of printed layout across thousands of buildings
- **2025** — Keynote speaker at IEEE ICRA 2025 on the present and future of robotics

## Achievements

- Raised $69.5 million total funding for Dusty Robotics including a $45M Series B
- FieldPrinter has printed over 100 million square feet of construction layout across thousands of buildings
- Named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business (2015)
- Named Woman of Influence by Silicon Valley Business Journal (2017)
- Named Top 5 Innovative Women to Watch in Robotics by Inc. Magazine (2018)
- Designated a Rising Star by OZY magazine
- Deployed 75+ AI-powered delivery robots at hotels through Savioke
- Co-invented localization technology for construction sites achieving 1/16-inch accuracy
- Pioneered Layout-as-a-Service (LaaS) business model in construction
- Keynote speaker at IEEE ICRA 2025

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Keynote speaker at IEEE ICRA 2025 conference on the present and future of robotics
- **2024-10** — Spoke at ICBA 2024 Construction Innovation Summit on how robots address construction quality and conflict
- **2023-08** — Featured on Front Lines podcast discussing $69.5M raised and 100M+ sq ft printed milestone
- **2022-05** — Closed $45 million Series B funding round for Dusty Robotics

## Links

- Website: https://dustyrobotics.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tessalau
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/tessalau

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tessa-lau
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-22