What we’re about
Philly has countless tech meet-ups and events, but where's all the hardware love? We want to bring together a strong community of folks eager to build businesses with physical products, be it a cold fusion engine or a bionic fork. Whether you're an engineer, designer, CEO, investor, or anyone interested in being a part of the hardware start-up eco-system, come join us and let's create an amazing addition to the tech scene.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- 9th Philly Hardware Meetup @ Burro Robotics!Burro Robotics, Philadelphia, PA
Hey, we are changing platforms to Luma!
Check out the complete event & RSVP here!
Join us for the 9th Philadelphia Hardware Meetup! Come join us to hear from our guest speakers as well as share what’s on your desk. We always have time for an open mic.
This time, we'll be at Burro's offices. Check this page for more info on building entry.
Hardware Meetups happen across 30+ cities monthly and help bring together different professionals to connect and meet each other.
We have a great set of featured speakers for the evening:
- Vibhor Sood is the Co-Founder & Director of Engineering at Burro, a robotics company that has deployed hundreds of autonomous robots globally to support labor-intensive industries like agriculture. Over the past eight years, he has played a key role in taking the company from an early-stage startup to a team of over 50 employees and a fleet of 450+ robots in the field. With a strong foundation in systems thinking, he has led engineering teams across perception, planning, controls, and hardware, while also driving product architecture and field-focused solutions.
- Tom Zhang is the Founder and CEO of Daxo Industries, a robotics company that started in agriculture and is rapidly venturing into the dexterous manipulation market. Tom founded Daxo during his PhD, and over the past two years, he led the development of Zapper, a hands-free stem clipping device for apple orchards. Now over 500+ Zappers are used in major apple production regions worldwide. With a robotics PhD from Penn GRASP Lab, Tom has over 10 years of experience in robotic systems development, including mechanical design, manufacturing, modeling, control, and AI systems integration.
Agenda
- 6:00-6:30pm: Arrive, mingle, grab some food and a beverage
- 6:30-6:45pm: Opening remarks
- 6:45-7:30pm: Guest Speakers + Q&A with the audience
- 7:30-8:00pm: Open Mic. Anyone in attendance can give a demo or short presentation on their hardware product, startup, or project.
- 8:00-8:30pm: Mix, mingle, and close out the night.
Thank you to our partners
NextFab provides the resources to help innovators build and scale hardware-based startup companies. Through their makerspaces, product development services, and ventures group, NextFab supports hardware entrepreneurs from ideation through commercialization.
informal is a freelance collective for the most talented independent professionals in hardware and hardtech. Whether you're looking for a single contractor, a full-time employee, or an entire team of professionals to work on everything from product development to go-to-market strategy, the informal collective has the perfect collection of people for the job. With expertise in diverse projects ranging from consumer electronics to automotive, green tech, and medical devices, informal members work with clients at every stage to design, manufacture, and ship top-quality physical products, built to succeed.
If you want to help support the next meetup, please reach out to nate@informal.cc for sponsorship inquiries.
