People

Aurora Voices with Jason Leu

the Aurora Team — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 16:58:01 GMT

Our Aurora Voices series celebrates the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and voices drive Aurora’s mission forward.

Aurora Voices with Lindsey Loewen

the Aurora Team — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 17:00:00 GMT

Our Aurora Voices series celebrates the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and voices drive Aurora’s mission forward.

Protecting our autonomous future

the Aurora Team — Wed, 31 May 2023 17:00:00 GMT

Designing and developing an autonomous driving system is a hard problem made up of many, many other hard problems. As we make progress toward our mission to deliver the benefits of self-driving safely, quickly, and broadly, the Aurora team is constantly working to solve these hard problems.

Celebrating Aurora’s moms

the Aurora Team — Wed, 10 May 2023 15:30:00 GMT

This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating all of the hard-working, thoughtful, and amazing mothers who bring their best to Aurora—and to their families—every day. Parents can offer unique skills to leadership roles, such as time management and critical thinking. These skills are invaluable at Aurora, as we reimagine the future of transportation for the next generation and beyond.

Aurora Voices with Bruce Botsford

the Aurora Team — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 16:30:00 GMT

Our Aurora Voices series celebrates the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and voices drive Aurora’s mission forward.

Paving the way: Partnering with regulators to build an autonomous future

Gerardo Interiano — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 16:00:00 GMT

There’s a lot more to broadly deploying autonomous vehicles than developing safe technology. Building a business around self-driving semitrucks and cars means fostering an ecosystem in which our products can benefit customers, consumers, and the general public. While this includes building a scalable business model and deep partnerships with our partners, we are also focused on coordinating with regulators and public officials to deploy our technology responsibly.

Women driving history

the Aurora Team — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:00:00 GMT

Meet the dynamic women innovating Aurora’s tech, company, and culture

I think that stories, and those told by women in particular, are integral to reaching a deeper and more honest understanding of those around us, and even ourselves.

- Kate Kirkland, Aurora Dispatcher

March is not only Women’s History Month, but this month, Aurora also expects to meet a major milestone toward commercial launch. As we are hard at work making history—leading the effort to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology and to change the face of transportation for the better—it seems fitting to pause and reflect on the fact that our movement forward as a company, and even as an industry, is inclusive of and reliant on the drive, talent, innovation, and collaboration of many talented women.

Historically, women have been underrepresented in the tech, automotive, and logistics industries. “We work in a heavily [male]-dominated field, which can sometimes reflect societal ills we face outside of work,” noted Diondria Whitehead, one of Aurora’s Vehicle Operations Team Leads in California.

While Aurora continues to make strides in gender equity and inclusion, there is always more work to be done. So, how do we ensure that when history gets made at Aurora, it includes the voices, faces, and contributions of the many women who serve our mission?

One way is to tell their stories and shine a light on the important ways they show up, every day, to drive the mission forward. That’s why we asked leaders from our “Women@” Aurora Unified Group (AUG) to nominate a few voices from across Aurora’s departments to feature this month.

While we all remain laser-focused on our mission to deliver the benefits of self-driving safely, quickly, and broadly, let us not forget: how we achieve that mission, and with whom, will lay the foundation for Aurora’s narrative for years to come. In the end, this is a story of progress—on the road and in the workplace.

Aurora Voices with Khobi Brooklyn

the Aurora Team — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Our Aurora Voices series celebrates the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and voices drive Aurora’s mission forward.

Aurora Voices with Lance Underwood

the Aurora Team — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Our Aurora Voices series celebrates the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and voices drive Aurora’s mission forward.

2023: The year of self-driving trucks

the Aurora Team — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Autonomous vehicles are coming off a year full of progress toward commercialization and acceptance:

Aurora Voices with Sophie Wang

the Aurora Team — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 17:02:17 GMT

Our Aurora Voices series celebrates the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and voices bring Aurora’s mission to life.

Aurora Voices with Gary McCarthy

the Aurora Team — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Leading with safety: In conversation with former NHTSA Administrator and Aurora Safety Advisory Board member, Dr. Jeff Runge | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Safety is at the core of everything we do at Aurora—from how we develop our technology to the organization we’ve built and the products we deploy. Helping ensure safe development, operations, and deployment means not just leveraging the leadership of our team, but engaging experts who have shaped the modern transportation safety landscape.

We’re proud to have Dr. Jeff Runge as the Chair of our Safety Advisory Board—the group of transportation leaders outside Aurora who provide an external perspective on our safety approach. Dr. Runge is a former Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and shares valuable feedback on how we systematically manage, control, and mitigate safety risks.

Aurora Vice President of Safety Nat Beuse recently sat down with Dr. Runge to talk about the importance of strong organizational safety systems and frameworks, as well as how the self-driving industry can build the trust and confidence of the general public. The recording of their conversation is included below alongside an edited excerpt of their discussion:

Meet Tovah, from Aurora’s Creative team | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Meet Venkat, from Aurora’s Motion Planning team | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Aurora Voices with Ashley McClain

the Aurora Team — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Aurora Voices: The Gallatin College Photonics Program | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Welcoming Stripe Executive Claire Hughes Johnson to Aurora’s Board of Directors | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Today we’re excited to welcome Claire Hughes Johnson to Aurora’s Board of Directors. Claire brings more than 15 years of experience in evolving businesses for scale and delivering enterprise-ready products at leading companies, including Stripe and Google.

Fueling the rocket for growth: Aurora expands its finance team | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 05:00:00 GMT

It’s not every year that a company more than doubles in size, announces a series of industry-defining partnerships, and goes public, but 2021 was that year for Aurora. Throughout the year we were able to move swiftly and decisively in no small part because of the foundational investments we’ve made in our technology and our team.

Introducing the Aurora Industry Advisory Council | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Today, we’re excited to launch our new Aurora Industry Advisory Council, a group of advisors made up of transportation and logistics visionaries, academics, and government leaders. With decades of collective experience across trucking, transportation, and government, the Council will offer its expertise as we develop and commercialize our self-driving technology. Specifically, the Council will advise on our product offerings and go-to-market and regulatory strategies to help us deliver value to all stakeholders in the logistics and transportation ecosystem across drivers, fleet owners, and local and federal governments.

Aurora Voices with Sen Lin | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

A letter from our founders to our shareholders | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

To our employees, partners, and shareholders,

Our goal at Aurora is to make the movement of goods and people more democratic, more productive, more dependable, and — crucially — much safer than it is today. We believe we can make transportation both less expensive and more accessible, and serve communities and industries in mutually beneficial and transformative ways. The work we do, the products we deliver, and the partnerships we build at Aurora all serve our mission: to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

Aurora Voices with Aurora Board member and Sequoia Capital partner Carl Eschenbach | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Aurora is excited to welcome the newest member of our Board of Directors, Sonos Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brittany Bagley, who brings a keen understanding of how to ship industry-defining products and a strong sense of fiscal stewardship. | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

We’re excited to welcome the newest member of our Board of Directors, Sonos Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brittany Bagley, who brings to Aurora a keen understanding of how to ship industry-defining products and a strong sense of fiscal stewardship.

Meet Robert Sumwalt, , the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Meet Robert Sumwalt, the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

At the heart of Aurora’s technology and mission are the individuals behind it. In our series, Aurora Voices, we share the unique voices and stories of the people of Aurora, celebrating our backgrounds as well as personal and professional experiences. Today’s we’re expanding our series to feature a conversation with NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, who recently came to speak at Aurora for National Safety Month.

Aurora welcomes new leadership for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Talent Acquisition | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Women of Aurora with Daniela Landey | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 03 May 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Women of Aurora with Tara Green | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Women of Aurora with Nastasha Tan | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 04:00:00 GMT

At Aurora, our mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. To achieve that mission, it’s essential that we foster a diverse team with a multitude of experiences and perspectives, so we can truly deliver self-driving technology to people and communities broadly. As we continue to build an inclusive and diverse culture, we are committed to supporting and empowering the women at Aurora as they develop their careers and transform the future of transportation.

Women of Aurora with Audrey Wooding | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Meet Nat Beuse, Aurora's Head of Safety | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Looking back on 2020 with some of the people behind our progress | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Aurora Voices with Sagar Behere | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Aurora Voices with Randy Reibel | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Aurora welcomes new global leadership | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:00:00 GMT

As development and commercialization speed up, executives join from General Motors, Lyft, and Cray Inc.

2020 has been a year none of us expected, but we’re proud of the progress we’ve been able to make. We’re testing our fleet in Texas, expanding to a new Pittsburgh headquarters, and we’re excited to announce we’re now 600 people strong and have hired new senior engineering and business leaders. While developing the best technology safely and quickly is at the core of everything we do, bringing the Aurora Driver to market is also a top priority — first in middle mile trucking applications, then in last-mile goods delivery, and finally, in passenger mobility networks. Our new leaders strengthen our ability to do this:

Aurora Voices with Henry Partida | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Aurora Voices with Veer Nairyani | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Meet Veer Nairyani, our industrious highflier from our Systems Engineering team.

At the heart of Aurora’s technology and mission are the individuals behind it. In our series, Aurora Voices, we share the unique voices and stories of the people of Aurora, celebrating our backgrounds as well as personal and professional experiences.

Veer Nairyani is a Systems Engineer at Aurora. He works closely with different engineering teams and stakeholders to organize the technical efforts that bring the Aurora Driver to life. He is involved in the Driver’s design, development, implementation, testing, and deployment processes. Outside of work, Veer’s interests and talents are just as expansive: from desert camping to riding waves to astronomy.

Read on to learn about Veer’s multidisciplinary role building the Aurora Driver and how he’s constantly shooting for the moon.

Tell us about your path that led you to Aurora.

Veer: My introduction to Aurora was rather serendipitous. I had the pleasure of hearing Chris Urmson speak during an autonomous vehicles panel at CES (Consumer Electronics Show). I was particularly impressed by Chris’ clarity when answering tough questions and his ability to articulate the nuances of the unique strategies and common challenges in the AV industry. While I hadn’t actively been thinking about changing jobs, Chris’ deep understanding of the space convinced me to reach out to the team.

I’ve also had positive experiences in the past with some of the other leaders of Aurora. It was evident that Aurora’s leaders had a clear vision for the company, coupled with tremendous experience in the industry. I thrive in environments where I get to work on complex problems alongside an extremely competent team, and this was exactly what Aurora offered.

What sparked your interest in systems engineering and autonomous vehicles?

Veer: I chose to pursue systems engineering after college because it afforded broad exposure to various engineering disciplines. Systems engineers are specialized generalists who work closely with subject-matter experts. I jokingly say that as a systems engineer, I know a little bit about everything and everything about nothing. I was excited to pursue a role that serves to bridge the gap between different types of engineering, emphasizes the ability to grasp the big picture, and translates product ideas into system-level engineering designs.

As to why autonomous vehicles — another appeal of systems engineering is the opportunity to work on extremely intricate problems. Systems engineers typically exist at companies of large scale and/or companies working on complex products. In my opinion, developing and delivering self-driving technology is one of the most complex technical problems outside of aerospace. (Full disclosure, I’m fascinated by all things space-related.)

Women of Aurora with Lia Theodosiou-Pisanelli | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Meet Lia Theodosiou-Pisanelli, our former US trade negotiator and multilingual Director of Partner Product and Programs.

As we build a diverse culture at Aurora, we are committed to empowering and elevating leaders with unique experience to transform the world of technology.

In our series, Women of Aurora, we share the personal and professional journeys of the women of Aurora. In this edition, we’re excited to introduce Lia Theodosiou-Pisanelli, Director of Partner Product and Programs.

Read on to learn about Lia’s unique career path, from serving as a US trade negotiator to carving out her role at Aurora.

Aurora welcomes former FedEx executive Gloria Boyland | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 04:00:00 GMT

We’re excited to welcome former FedEx executive Gloria Boyland to Aurora. As an advisor to the company, Gloria will leverage her extensive industry experience and logistics expertise as we continue to build out our products, strategy, and partnerships throughout the transportation ecosystem.

Aurora's CEO, Chris Urmson interviews the legendary Reid Hoffman | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 04:00:00 GMT

One of the best things about working at Aurora is not only having the support of top-tier investors, but being able to learn from them.

Having co-founded PayPal and LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman is often called the “oracle” of Silicon Valley. He is also deeply interested in positively shaping how technology impacts society, electing to invest in companies like Aurora and working with leaders like President Obama. Given the breadth of challenges in our world today, it felt especially timely and inspiring to hear Reid’s perspective on so many important issues. Below is a roundup of the most insightful things we learned from Reid when Chris interviewed him in a virtual fireside chat.

Tenacity and Grit: a spotlight on ATG’s technical strengths | Aurora

Chris Urmson — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 04:00:00 GMT

By Chris Urmson

Today, we announced we are welcoming Uber ATG to the Aurora family.

We are uniquely positioned to transform the world of transportation, and every decision we make as a company is in service of our mission. ATG’s team and technology will be pivotal to delivering the Aurora Driver safely, quickly, and broadly.

Aurora's Independent Path to Commercialization | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Building a self-driving car and making it useful is not only an extremely challenging technical problem, but also an expensive one. While many of our peers have been faced with the tough decision to exclusively partner or go out of business, we’re lucky that we have high-quality investors committed for the long-term, an unparalleled technical team, and the financial runway to make our own choices.

From day one, our choice has been to focus on delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. Who we partner with and how we bring this to market will evolve over time, but we will always pick the path that allows us to best deliver on our mission. Given recent conversations about the industry’s structure, we thought we’d share more about our current path of independence and why it’s served us well.

Women of Aurora with Jessica Cobos | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Aurora CEO Chris Urmson and Zoox’s Mark Rosekind discussed the future of AVs | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Are we there yet?

Last week, our CEO Chris Urmson, and Zoox’s Mark Rosekind joined PAVE — Partners for Automated Vehicle Education — for a virtual panel to discuss several of the big questions about self-driving cars. As a founding member of the organization, we take pride in educating the public about the importance of self-driving technology since the benefits have the potential to impact thousands of people, if not millions. Below, and with a couple of edits for clarity, are the most impactful things we learned from Chris and Mark when they discussed topics that ranged from safety to timelines to mythbusters and everything between.

Aurora adds new leadership as the company hits 500 people | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 27 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Growing team demonstrates Aurora’s commitment to safety and team development

Our company is only as powerful as the people we hire and our technology is only as world-class as the people who build it. Though the world has changed over the last few months, we continue to make progress: we’ve started to get our vehicles back on the road, we’re actively hiring, and we are welcoming 22 interns, who joined us remotely for the summer from all over the country — Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts, Iowa, Utah, and more!

Women of Aurora with Ashley Olsen | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 25 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Aurora Voices with Luke Starcher | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Accelerating our business in new ways | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT

By Chris Urmson

It’s been more than a month since we all started working from home. And although the world has changed, our focus on delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly has not. Among many things, the current situation has demonstrated the need for self-driving transportation that can move people and goods safely and quickly.

What we learned about our CEO when we let the kids of Aurora “ask him anything” | Aurora

the Aurora Team — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT

One of our key values at Aurora is “Win Together.” Under business-as-usual circumstances, this means that we win together with our “regular” co-workers. However, in these challenging times, we’ve had to find ways to win with our “new” coworkers, also known as our partners, pets, and children.

To that end — and to have a little fun — we decided to challenge our CEO, Chris Urmson, to the ultimate test: a candid conversation with the children of Aurora where they could ask him anything. Chris dressed up for the affair and fielded a slew of questions ranging from, “explain every type of lidar” to “can I teach you how to make slime?”

Suffice to say, we all learned a lot about our CEO and the Aurora Driver. In no particular order, here are our favorite moments from our very first “Ask Me Anything” with the kids of Aurora and Prof. Chris Urmson.

1. Building a self-driving car is a little harder than it looks.

Aurora’s 2019 California DMV Disengagement Report | Aurora

Chris Urmson — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT