As the founding CEO of mapper, Dr. Nikhil Naikal has recruited a skilled team of scientists, engineers, and designers inspired to build the next generation of high precision machine maps that are crucial to the success of self-driving vehicles.

He developed his passion for mapping while working with CMU’s Tartan Racing team that won the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007 and honed his expertise in high-precision navigation while working at Bosch Research and subsequently at Flyby Media, which was acquired by Apple in 2015.