Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Justin Koch is a robotics engineer whose work spans some of the most demanding environments imaginable — from the depths of Earth's oceans to the surface of Mars. His research focuses on robotic manipulation, autonomous systems, and field robotics operations, with particularly significant contributions to NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance mission. Koch contributed to the mission's first 210 sols of surface operations, helping coordinate the groundbreaking collaboration between the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter — humanity's first coordinated ground-aerial robotic operation on another planet — work that has collectively earned over 30 citations across multiple publications. Before venturing to Mars, Koch made meaningful contributions to underwater robotics, developing the AquaSimian limb, a sophisticated 7-degree-of-freedom manipulator for subsea servicing, and designing dexterous robotic arms for Mini-Class ROVs — expanding the capabilities of smaller, more accessible underwater vehicles. More recently, his work has extended into clinical settings, piloting autonomous mobile robots for laboratory logistics at Mayo Clinic. Across these diverse domains, Koch exemplifies the versatility of modern robotics research, translating complex autonomous systems into practical, real-world applications in extreme and high-stakes environments.