Taking A.I. to New Depths: Sam Tolkoff '96
Sam Tolkoff '96 (B.S., civil engineering), came in on the ocean floor – not just the ground floor – of the high-tech submersible robotics industry. In fact, Tolkoff's career has mirrored that of the robotics industry, which began at MIT's Towing Tank Laboratory in the Ocean Engineering Department.
There, engineers developed a “robo-tuna” (featured on the Discovery Channel), among other experimental autonomous submarines, and there, Tolkoff completed degrees in mechanical engineering and ocean engineering in 1998.
After working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, he joined Bluefin, a leading designer and manufacturer of autonomous underwater vehicles, which are compact acquatic robots that operate by means of onboard artificial intelligence.
“We're doing pretty well,” says Tolkoff, recently appointed to head Bluefin manufacturing and operations, “with 20 to 30 percent growth per year.”
Tolkoff recently took time out from his tech world to reconnect with old friends. He returned to the Union campus to visit his mentor, Ashraf M. Ghaly, professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Materials, and reports that Reinis Kanders (electrical engineering, '96) does contract work at Bluefin.
The U.S. Navy first identified the need to sort out fake submerged hazards from deadly mines during the Persian Gulf War, but it took about 10 years to develop the technology. While Bluefin vehicles will help the Navy, they also have become increasingly vital in the telecommunications and utility industries and in petroleum exploration and scientific research.
Working independently at depths of up to 6,000 meters, these unmanned, submersible craft have helped the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society search for giant squid and assisted scientists with cutting-edge research. They've also helped place underwater fiber optic cables and oil and gas pipelines.
Bluefin was a startup on the fringe of the MIT campus when Tolkoff joined the firm. “I was the fourth person hired and the only mechanical engineer,” he notes. “We were launched just down the street in an old auto parts store.” The company grew to 12 employees and earned $2 million in itsfirst year. It now employs 50 and expects to earn $10 million in 2004.
A Theta Delta Chi member, this Union alum thinks back in appreciation of the College's combination of a liberal arts environment with the focused academic discipline of a high-quality engineering department. “Most people looked at Union as a school of engineering, or a liberal arts school,” he said. “But it was both for me.”