Stephen Jacobsen

Timeline

1. 1940–1973

   Degrees at Utah and MIT

   He is born in Salt Lake City in 1940, graduates in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah in 1967, and earns a master's degree there in 1970, mentored by the surgeon Willem Kolff. He then takes a PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT, where Robert Mann is his mentor. In 1973, he returns to Utah to work on the artificial kidney and other artificial organs, and later founds the university's Center of Engineering Design.

2. 1980–1987

   The Utah Arm and Dextrous Hand

   In 1980, he produces the Utah Arm, a prosthetic limb that gives the user precise and sensitive control over both hand and elbow, and has students form Motion Control Inc. to manufacture it. From 1981 to 1987, he works with John Hollerbach and John Wood at the University of Utah on the Utah/MIT Dextrous Hand, a four-finger robot hand with 16 joints and 32 artificial tendons.

3. 1983

   Founding Sarcos

   In 1983, he founds Sarcos Research Corporation, which starts as a bioengineering research institution, and joins the University of Utah faculty as a research professor of bioengineering. By 1990, the company's work extends to theme-park robots, animatronic film props and steerable catheters. In 1992, he accepts a joint appointment in Utah's Department of Computer Science.

4. 1987–1990

   Election to the NAE

   In 1987, he wins the Leonardo da Vinci Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 1990, he is elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, and he receives the Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology.

5. 2007–2009

   Sarcos goes to Raytheon

   Raytheon acquires Sarcos in 2007, and the exoskeleton developed at Sarcos and Raytheon is a significant inspiration for the Iron Man films. In 2007, he receives the Pioneer of Robotics Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He leaves Sarcos in 2009 to start Sterling Technologies.

6. 2011–2012

   Hall of Fame and lifetime award

   The Utah Technology Council inducts him into its 2011 Hall of Fame. In 2012, he receives the Utah Genius Lifetime Achievement Award and the University of Utah's Distinguished Innovation and Impact Award.

7. 2016–2022

   Death and the Jacobsen Tower

   He dies in 2016. In 2022, the University of Utah College of Engineering dedicates the Jacobsen Tower, a new space in the Rio Tinto Kennecott Building, in honor of his legacy.

8. 2023–2024

   Sarcos becomes Palladyne AI

   In 2023, the company he founded turns to artificial intelligence software for robotic applications and ends its hardware operations. In March 2024, Sarcos changes its name to Palladyne AI.