The third annual Heartland Robotics and Automation Conference took place Oct. 24 at the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln. Attendees heard from industry experts and networked with local startups, researchers and university organizations exploring advancements in robotics. It was a day of celebrating Nebraska innovators and sharing insights in design thinking and career development. 

The conference is an initiative of the Heartland Robotics Cluster: a coalition led by Invest Nebraska to foster engineering skills in the state’s workforce and develop new technologies in industries such as agriculture and manufacturing. The Heartland Robotics Cluster was a recipient of a $25 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. 

Here are five takeaways from the event:

1. Design with humans in the loop

Diligent Robotics Co-founder and CIO Vivian Chu — the first keynote speaker — shared her experience building and integrating the company’s robot assistant, Moxi, into hospital settings. The robot is designed to help staff avoid burnout by performing routine tasks, such as delivering supplies and medications. 

As the robot works alongside humans, Chu said part of the company’s onboarding process is understanding the specific needs of hospital leaders so they can leverage Moxi’s functions effectively. This also helps educate hospital staff about the robot’s limitations and what types of tasks are or are not a good fit.

According to Chu, Moxi’s appearance and actions are designed to respond to, and even bring positivity to, an otherwise stressful environment. It has sensors to better position itself in a busy hallway, an LED display for eyes and a voice to ask for help with elevator navigation. 

Moxi is designed for utility and creating “a bit of joy,” Chu said. If people see a robot as an additional resource working alongside them, she said, they will be more accepting of its presence and will assist it when complicated situations arise. 

2. Get out of the lab 

“You can’t predict the real world,” Chu said. Using the example of a hospital setting, she said there are too many dynamic factors to consider that a controlled lab cannot provide. 

By getting Moxi out of the lab, Chu said her team could start collecting data on unforeseen occurrences, such as badge scanners to unlock doors appearing in unique locations or hospital staff putting hats and other decorations on the robots. This information enables the team to tune and improve Moxi’s functions, consider modifications to Moxi’s design and deploy additional lessons in the onboarding process — such as a “costume protocol” on what Moxi can and cannot wear. 

3. Storytelling helps communicate and grow complex ideas

The final keynote of the day was a fireside chat with speakers Eric Abrahamson, Jim Harvey and Brian Sisco. They shared their experiences acting as creative consultants and technology acquisition advisers for the U.S. military and adjacent industries, such as through events put on in collaboration with SOFWERX. 

“The farther away something is from being reality, the closer you have to get a prototype there to get people to understand what it is,” Sisco said. 

By providing mockups and visual representations of ideas through video and generated content, founders can be more efficient with expressing their complex solutions in a digestible manner — especially if only given a limited amount of time to talk with an investor. Panelists also discussed how teams with diverse expertise can use drawn-out hypothetical scenarios on storyboards as catalysts for new ideas and improvements. 

4. The trades and STEM skill sets are in high demand

During the breakout sessions, a panel representing manufacturers across Nebraska highlighted the continued need for workers in the trades and those with STEM skillsets — especially in smaller towns where talent is leaving.  

To address this issue, panelists said they were hopeful and supportive of statewide apprenticeship and internship programs, such as Gov. Jim Pillen’s recent executive order that launched the Good Life, Great Careers Initiative. They also encouraged more financial incentives to upgrade machines and upskill workers at manufacturing facilities, as well as more programs and competitive robotics teams in schools to get students interested, certified and aware of career pathways available to them. 

During the conclusion of the conference, student robotics team Rebel Robotics out of Norfolk received the HRC Robotics Award to honor the team’s victory at the 2025 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championships. 

5. Nebraska does have opportunities to build careers

From University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s newly available robotics engineering undergraduate major to new programming opening up through Northeast Community College’s iHub in Norfolk, speakers, panelists and attendees throughout the day pointed to the state’s efforts to launch careers in robotics and manufacturing.

One success story that demonstrates what is possible in Nebraska was from breakout session speaker Ryan McCormick, who described his journey from UNL and internships in the state to becoming a robotics mechanical engineer for NASA.  

Organizers ended the conference with an announcement that the application window for the next cohort of the Nebraska Innovation Fellowship is live. Participants receive funds, tools and mentors to develop working prototypes and ventures. Interested applicants can apply online through Nov. 30.