Ken Gray Joins RISE Robotics as Vice President of Business Development

Former Caterpillar executive brings three decades of global business experience to the electromechanical systems startup focused on reducing the energy consumption of heavy machinery in the material handling, trucking, construction, mining and defense industries

RISE Robotics, a leader in high-performance and cost effective electric linear actuation solutions, announced that Ken Gray has joined the company as Vice President of Business Development. Gray brings his extensive background in construction and mining equipment innovation to the role, which oversees the expansion and commercialization of RISE Technology in industrial applications through collaborations with key heavy equipment manufacturing partners.

“RISE Robotics’ mission is to enable that imagination to become reality. I’m excited to partner with the team and board to make RISE technology synonymous with Solid-State Hydraulics™.”

Gray is an internationally recognized manufacturing executive, who spent more than 25 years in senior product and innovation roles at Caterpillar in the U.S., Asia and Europe. He is credited with the development of Caterpillar’s first hybrid construction machine, lauded as one of the ten most innovative products in the iconic brand’s 95-year history. In his more than three decades of experience developing, manufacturing, marketing, and supporting construction and mining equipment, Gray has established an extensive global network among heavy equipment customers and dealers. Prior to being named Caterpillar’s first Global Director of Innovation, Gray held worldwide P&L responsibility for their large and small excavator product lines.

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“Ken Gray has been leading the effort to improve the efficiency of heavy machinery for more than a decade,” said Arron Acosta, CEO of RISE Robotics. “We are thrilled to welcome Ken to our mission as he lends his incredible experience to unlocking new possibilities for RISE technology. His unmatched industry relationships coupled with his determination brings together titans of industry – his friends as well as his former rivals – to collaborate on transformative new technologies moving heavy machinery closer to electrification and ultimately sustainability.”

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“Imagine a machine without pumps, valves, blocks, tubes, hoses and seals that uses one-quarter of the energy of the best of today’s machines. Imagine no leaks, no fuel, no emissions. Imagine a machine that’s remarkably quiet and out-lifts, out-digs and operates smoother than anything that’s ever been built,” said Gray. “RISE Robotics’ mission is to enable that imagination to become reality. I’m excited to partner with the team and board to make RISE technology synonymous with Solid-State Hydraulics™.”

Gray holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University and has completed executive development programs at Bradley University, the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, Singularity University and Stanford University. Gray’s products have been recognized with Caterpillar Chairman’s Awards for Innovation, Quality and Continuous Improvement, an Edison Award, a Platts Global Energy Award, a CALSTART Blue Sky Award, an Environmental Leader Top Product of the Year Award, and an Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Award among others.

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