Jeff Frick

I am not telling you something to sell you something. I am sharing something to entertain, educate, and get you to stop and think for a minute. | Top Voice | Friday Five | Turn the Lens | Work 20XX

With over 30 years of experience in the media industry, I am a podcast host and a media entrepreneur who is passionate about the future of work, leadership, and innovation. I have founded and led Menlo Creek Media, a company that helps leaders, marketers, and communications professionals navigate and leverage an AI-driven asynchronous world, by offering executive training for podcast hosts and guests, content creation and media library curation and amplification programs, and community development programs.

I also host two podcasts, Work 20XX and Turn the Lens, where I facilitate the spread of best practices, insights, learning, and wisdom on topics that matter to the modern workforce and society. I aim to be a trusted source of information and inspiration for my listeners, by featuring smart and diverse guests, engaging in lively and thoughtful conversations, and sharing nuggets of knowledge. My goal is to help people get more impact with their communications and content investments and to empower them to thrive in a time of rapid change and uncertainty.

Founder & Principal

Please visit www.MenloCreek.com for a more comprehensive list of services and resources. 

Helping Leaders, Marketers, and Communications professionals navigate and leverage an AI driver asynchronous world. 

Host of 'Work 20XX'  with Jeff Frick show on the Future of Work 
Host of 'Turn the Lens' with Jeff Frick on Leadership and of other topics of interest.

Manipulation is about negotiating with the world. Whereas a lot of robotics, there's not much negotiation. If you're in its way, you better hope you're stronger. - Jeremy Fishel

Compliance is critical because when you bump into something you want time to react to that information. - Jeremy Fishel
-----
Collisions. 
It's robot industry vocabulary for bumping into things.

Feeling isn't only about control, 
it's also about reacting to the world, in time to prevent harm.

Jeremy Fishel: Nature's Best Manipulator, Man's Best Controller: Hands | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick

Episode page with extensive show notes, transcript, links and references 
https://lnkd.in/gN9spBJb 
YouTube - https://lnkd.in/gdgMY8ie 
Spotify - https://lnkd.in/g9G8gbkM 
Apple Podcast - https://lnkd.in/gNZrG7tV
or where ever you podcast 

For more on Humanoids Summit, including May 2026 Summit in Tokyo visit 
https://lnkd.in/ga487tGq 

For more from Humanoids Summit SV 
https://lnkd.in/gyxXZcVT 

#Robotics #HumanoidRobots #Compliance #RoboticManipulation #EmbodiedAI #FutureOfWork #RobotSafety #AIRobotics #Innovation #HumanoidsSummit #TurnTheLens #EdColgate #HANDERC #DeepTech #TurntheLens #RoboticsEngineering #WorkplaceTechnology #SanctuaryAI #HumanoidsSummit #Robots #Hands

When you remove someone's sense of touch, their capabilities drop off tremendously. - Joe Michaels

Bringing that back into the robot equation and giving the human the feeling of what that robot is doing and creating a closed loop. - Joe Michaels

It makes a very natural and powerful control system. - Joe Michaels
--
Humans and machines working together for an enhanced version of both.

Teleoperation, for literal operation as well as fine grain training.

Feedback is an essential component to control, whether teleoperating from a distance in dangerous places, or rehearsing high-risk situations in the safety of digital worlds and simulation environments.

And yes, Sigourney Weaver and her P-5000 Powered Work Loader Exoskeleton from Alien immediately jumps to mind.

Joe Michaels: Teleoperation, Controlling Complex Robots by Feel | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick
Episode page with transcript, show notes, links, and references
https://lnkd.in/eYVnUAdT
YouTube - https://lnkd.in/g8TytYCb
Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gvfDZsnX
Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/gA4UeFSy
or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Released in collaboration with Humanoids Summit. Humanoids Summit is sponsored and produced by ALM Ventures.
For more on Humanoids Summit, including the May 2026 Summit in Tokyo, visit
https://lnkd.in/ga487tGq

For more from Humanoids Summit SV 2025 -
https://lnkd.in/gA4XmZiE

#teleoperation #touch #feel #feedback #training #remoteoperation #finegrain #1HMX #humanoidssummit #turnthelens 1HMX #robots #robotics #Robotics #HumanRobot #HapticFeedback #Dexterity #FutureOfWork #Teleoperation #RoboticsEngineering #AI #Automation #PhysicalAI #HumanMachineInterface #Innovation #EmbodiedAI #Work20XX

Visiting Pakistan, I was seven, the first time I met someone missing a limb. She was living in poverty in the streets, missing her right leg and using a tree branch as a crutch. - Aadeel Akhtar, PhD

That's what inspired me to go into this field. - Aadeel Akhtar
--
Moment of impression.

Call it a calling, an obsession, a mission.
In a world that feel anything but certain or stable,
some experience a moment of clarity that sets a course that will not be denied. 

Very helpful if you want to be an entrepreneur. This was the ninth version of Aadeel's hand. Some lessons can only be learned by doing, not drawing.

Transforming Lives and Robotics: Jeff Frick talks with Aadeel Akhtar, PhD, PSYONIC - via Humanoids Summit
https://lnkd.in/gjw5GeSV
For more on Humanoids Summit
https://lnkd.in/ga487tGq
#Robotics #BionicLimbs #Prosthetics #FutureOfWork #HealthTech #MedTech #Innovation #SocialImpact #Entrepreneurship #Founders #PurposeDriven #HumanAugmentation #EmergingTech #TechForGood #Robots #Hands #InclusiveTech #Humanoids #HumanoidsSummit #TurnTheLens #PSYONIC

For robots, we have a term in the industry. My robot 'collided.' — Bernt Børnich

Everything we do through our life is a collision. When I pick up this bottle, I'm colliding with it. If I put my hand on this table, I'm colliding with the table. If I take a step, I'm colliding with the ground. — Bernt Børnich

Humans don't collide. We just interact with the world.
I can do this in a very stable manner, very low impact, not dangerous to myself or the environment. — Bernt Børnich
----
High energy with gears and ratios.
or
Low energy that moves slowly and has time to
react before something significant happens.

Bernt and the team worked 10 years on the motors to bring low-energy capabilities to their humanoids.

Safety first. That includes 'collisions,' or as we say in the human world, bumping into things.

How 1X is Changing the Game: Jeff Frick Chats with Bernt Børnich, 1X
Humanoids Summit YouTube Channel
https://lnkd.in/g8jYtFjb

Who's going to Tokyo? 
https://lnkd.in/ga487tGq

#Robotics #HumanoidRobots #RobotSafety #FutureOfWork #Automation #AIHardware #Cobots #RoboticsDevelopment #EmergingTech #EnterpriseRobotics #ManufacturingTech #HumanRobotInteraction #TechInnovation #IndustrialRobotics #SafetyFirst #1X #HumanoidsSummit #TurnTheLens #Robots #Humanoids

Pursuing vertical integration for its own sake is actually to be a bit misguided. Vertical integration should always be in service of either making the best thing or actually optimizing in the short or the long term for iteration speed. - Evan Wineland

We're able to control that much more of the end user experience. - Evan Wineland 

We only do it as much as is necessary to make the thing right. - Evan Wineland 
----------------------
Vertical Integration

Guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Both Evan and Kaan Dogrusoz, his co-Founder at Weave Robotics were most recently at Apple.

But the specific qualifier, 'in service of iteration speed' 
is notable and a little counter intuitive.

Seems logical that off the shelf components from multiple suppliers would develop faster as a group. And Evan qualified, they only do as much as necessary. And necessary is that which interacts with the objective, and the environment. The OS, the grippers, and more, they write and develop from scratch to increase the iteration speed to accomplish their list of task objectives. A large part of at this stage, folding laundry.

Evan Wineland: Deploying is the Point. Affordable Robots that Work | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick 
Episode page with transcript, show notes, links, and references https://lnkd.in/gZnpAQSc 
YouTube - https://lnkd.in/gb-HbVxZ  
Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gHtgWHYw 
Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/gk3Mnzja 
or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Release in collaboration with Humanoids Summit. Humanoids Summit is sponsored and produced by ALM Ventures. 

For more on Humanoids Summit, including May 2026 Summit in Tokyo visit 
https://lnkd.in/ga487tGq 

For more from Humanoids Summit SV 2025 - 
https://lnkd.in/gHDGNhdX 

#VerticalIntegration #ProductStrategy #TechLeadership #Innovation #FutureOfWork #IterationSpeed #UserExperience #StartupStrategy #EnterpriseTech #WeaveRobotics #HumanoidsSummit #WorkTwentyXX #TurnTheLens #ProductDevelopment #TechInnovation #BuildingProduct #FounderMindset

People have been working on robotic hands gosh, for 40, 50 years, really as long as we've been thinking about robots. What's new? AI. - Ed Colgate

The ability to take something so complicated as this hand and actually do something useful with it. That wouldn't be possible without AI. - Ed Colgate
--
AI, GenAI, Foundation Models, Transformers, and the relentless pace of better, faster, cheaper hardware (from GPU to mechanical parts) means robotic hands finally have the potential to mirror the performance of the most dexterous manipulator in nature, the human hand.

Ed Colgate and the extended HAND ERC community are building the foundational technology for the next decade's technological advances in robotic hands, including sensing, actuation, design, simulation, learning, control, social, legal and industrial studies.

Ed Colgate: Soft Hands, Dexterous Robots | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick
Transcript and Show Notes https://lnkd.in/grjhZf2y 
YouTube - https://lnkd.in/gsv4UKKs
Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gTCHeBx2 
Apple Podcast - https://lnkd.in/ghkjsVgY 
Substack - 
or wherever you podcast 

HAND ERC 
The National Science Foundation 'Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity' Engineering Research Center (HAND ERC)
https://hand-erc.org/

Released in collaboration with Humanoids Summit. Humanoids Summit is sponsored and produced by ALM Ventures. 
For more on Humanoids Summit, including May 2026 Summit in Tokyo visit 
https://lnkd.in/ga487tGq 

For more from Humanoids Summit SV 2025 - 
https://lnkd.in/gPcYu2Xt 

#Robotics #Robots #PhysicalAI #Hand #Hands #RoboticHand #HANDERC #ProstheticHand #Humanoids #HumanoidsSummit #TurntheLens #AI #GenAI #EmbodiedAI #RoboticHands #AIInnovation #FutureOfWork #ManufacturingTech #Automation #HumanoidRobots #MachineLearning #RoboticsEngineering #DeepTech #AIApplications #IndustrialRobotics #EmergingTech #TechLeadership

Black Flag Design

Leading an ambitious band of creative technologists to shape the future of AI, craft interactive prototypes, and test business ideas.

Team Captain

Shape Publications

Helping everyone see the creative beauty in Artificial Intelligence. Curating creative technology and artistic experiments and publishing an online magazine launching in early 2024.

Editor in Chief

Voltage Control

Organizing local events exploring the practice of facilitation and enhancing the local professional community.

Facilitation Lab Regional Lead

Designit

Facilitate strategic design projects for Fortune 500 clients. Empower teammates to explore and push creative boundaries. Guide the design delivery of products alongside interdisciplinary teams.

Design Director

Lead Designer

Senior Designer

•	Facilitated innovation workshops for Fortune 500 companies.
•	Designed high fidelity prototypes for use in moderated customer interviews.
•	Moderated customer interview sessions and reported key insights.
•	Implemented human-centered design methods among enterprise teams.
•	Demonstrated innovative service design to create delightful product experiences.

Facilitator & Prototype Designer

City of Austin

Facilitate working groups focusing on transportation and local mobility bond development. 
Develop graphic standards for right of way street tree standards for largest land development code rewrite in city’s history. 
Design and implementation of two products that communicate the value of the City of Austin’s assets to both internal and external stakeholders. 
Synthesize input from key stakeholders involved with public utilities, transportation, and management. 
Design information used to report on construction and renewal of assets. 
Design, development, and implementation of an Asset Management Plan document.

Designer, Asset Management Office

ManageLife

• Incorporated the business as a C Corp in Delaware doing business in Texas.
• Manage a team of six interdisciplinary developers and designers across multiple countries.
• Direct design research and production of computer vision technology in the home management field.
• Front-end development in Javascript, Ionic, Angular, C#, and Unity.
• Identify potential technology partnerships and relationships with home service providers.
• Research mobile augmented reality information capture, display, and consumption.

Co-founder, VP of Design

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service

• Facilitate the commercialization of technologies at FEMA, Texas Task Force 1 designed for first responders and disaster scenarios. 
• Coordinate a team of four designers in project scheduling, production and delivery.
• Maintain client relationships throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Assist clients in the development of both form and function in products and marketing materials.
• Produce 3D models and renderings for rapid prototyping and 3D printing.

Product Designer

The University of Texas at Austin

• Teach Visual Communication with intensive interest in generative parametric modeling and design.
• Critique and encourage student work to exceed the project statement and to find interests in design.
• Grade and evaluate project assignments, while working closely with fellow teachers and students.
• Software proficiencies that were encouraged include 3ds Max, Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Revit, Dynamo

Graduate Teaching Assistant

I organize and lead Black Flag Design, a creative technology collective that specializes in prototype design and product experimentation. We're rapidly moving to the forefront of innovation, focusing on creating exceptional experiences and solutions that have a profound impact. We're dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible, delivering tangible technology prototypes for our clients.

Previously as a Design Director at Designit, I facilitated strategic design projects for Fortune 500 clients, empowering teammates to explore and push creative boundaries. I guided the design delivery of products alongside interdisciplinary teams, using dynamic workshops and human-centered design principles to create innovative solutions.

I hold a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University, where I also served as the Lead Designer for the Product Development Center as a part of the state agency called TEEX. We prototyped and explored commercialization strategies for many business in the Defense and Emergency Response industries.

My personal guarantee is to always to blend my passions for design, technology, architecture, and civic engagement to create meaningful impact. I am always eager to learn, exchange ideas, and connect with nature.

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jeff Frick's LinkedIn Performance

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