June 15, 2022
Waltham, MA — Product development firm Boston Engineering today announced the appointment of Michael A. Rufo as Vice President of Research and Development (R&D). Mike will assume oversight and management of all company intellectual property (IP) generation from ideation through commercialization. As the steward of corporate technology, Mike will work to ensure knowledge transfer and efficient use of technology and capability across the company for the benefit of our customers.
Mike will continue to be responsible for developing and overseeing government R&D contracts relating to uncrewed vehicles, robotics, novel mobility systems, and maritime data collection devices. He is uniquely qualified for this role, with over 25 years of experience involving these technologies, as principal investigator and project manager of systems for NOAA, the US Navy, USSOCOM, the US Army, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), among others.
Among the many programs he has led at Boston Engineering, projects have included game-changing profiling maritime buoys and novel autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) based on biomimetic propulsion and control for high maneuverability and high efficiency. Other novel development projects range from robotic ship hull inspection to soft actuator-based grippers for explosive ordnance disposal.
Mike was previously a Senior Engineer and Project Manager at QinetiQ North America/Foster-Miller, Inc. where he was primary inventor, project manager, and lead engineer on several successful government projects including underwater, marsupial, harsh environment, air-dropped, miniature, pyrotechnically-actuated, and other advanced systems. Mr. Rufo led many months of laboratory, tank, field, and subsystem testing in these efforts.
Mr. Rufo has extensive experience in harsh environment, maintenance, and field robotics as an integral member of iRobot teams that generated an autonomous down-hole robot for traversing miles into oil-well bores and a crawler to traverse within the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Mr. Rufo was also a primary inventor of many semiconductor factory automation subsystems while working in the new products group at PRI Automation.
“I am honored by, and thankful for, the opportunity to serve in this new role. My goal has always been to provide novel and impactful technologies to our nation’s warfighters, first responders, and to those that support them. Together with my team, I am looking forward to the challenge of coordinating and bringing Boston Engineering innovation and solutions to these markets and then expanding our efforts to positively impact how those in other markets work and live.”
Mr. Rufo earned BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and a Certificate in Project Management from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He holds two U.S. patents, is a published author and sought-after speaker, and has been recognized by many government, industry, and professional organizations and media outlets for his expertise and accomplishments.
About Boston Engineering
Boston Engineering provides product design and engineering consulting from concept development through commercialization. The company specializes in solving complex challenges in defense and security, medical devices, and commercial industries. Founded in 1995, Boston Engineering is certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 standards. Boston Engineering is an Ansys Certified Channel Partner and PTC Platinum Partner. The company is headquartered in Waltham, Mass., and is online at www.boston-engineering.com.
Contact
Rachel Cashman
781-314-0741
rlamy@boston-engineering.com
