Neurala & NASA: How AI that was designed for Mars impacts our life on Earth

Bymaxversace

Oct 29, 2018 #cars, #collision avoidance, #compute edge, #drones, #learning, #NASA, #spinoff

A feature article from NASA on Neurala’s work developing AI algorithms that live at the Edge. From Mars Rover constraints to everyday application on drones, mobile devices, and more: https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2018/it_1.html

By maxversace

Max Versace is an AI executive, scientist and entrepreneur specializing in brain-inspired AI, neuromorphic computing, Edge AI and Physical AI. He is VP of Emergent AI at Analog Devices and former co-founder and CEO of Neurala.

Media Coverage

Space Foundation Hall of Fame

Apr 16, 2026 maxversace

Media Coverage Press Release

Neurala Announces 2024 Year in Review: A Year of Growth and Innovation

Jan 14, 2025 maxversace

Media Coverage Talks

Immigrant Nation Podcast

Jan 9, 2025 maxversace

About

I am an Italo-American scientist, entrepreneur, and AI pioneer focused on turning advanced brain-inspired research into practical products with global reach. I co-founded Neurala Inc., a Boston-based company building artificial intelligence that emulates brain function in software. Powered by our proprietary Lifelong-DNN, Neurala created Neurala VIA, an AI-powered visual quality inspection solution that helps manufacturers modernize vision inspection. What began as research with NASA and DARPA has since become commercial AI deployed in approximately 80 million systems worldwide, spanning robotics, drones, smartphones, cameras, and industrial automation. (Neurala)

Today, I lead Analog Devices’ Emergent AI program, pioneering advanced AI and AI compute for the vast product portfolio of the company.

I came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and hold two Ph.D.s in Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks: Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University; Experimental Psychology, University of Trieste, Italy. Before Neurala, I was a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Boston University, where I co-founded the Boston University Neuromorphics Lab and helped pioneer brain-inspired AI and robotics research that moved from the lab into real-world products. My work has been featured in TIME, IEEE Spectrum, Fortune, Nasdaq, The Boston Globe, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and Associated Press, several TedX talks , among others.

My academic and career reflect both deep technical work and successful commercialization across more than 25 years of theoretical and applied AI work. The companies and technologies I have helped build have been recognized through the CB Insights AI 100, the Draper Venture Network Most Innovative Company award,Disruptor Daily’s Top 100 Most Disruptive Companies, the Edison Award for Best New Product in Social Innovation, the TechConnect Defense Innovation award, and UNESCO, among others. Thanks to our pioneering work with NASA, the AI technology developed with my colleagues at Boston University and Neurala was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame, recognizing the path from space robotics research to real-world AI impact on Earth, the first AI technology recognized by the Hall.

Neurala & NASA: How AI that was designed for Mars impacts our life on Earth

Bymaxversace

By maxversace

Related Post

Space Foundation Hall of Fame

Neurala Announces 2024 Year in Review: A Year of Growth and Innovation

Immigrant Nation Podcast

You missed

Edge AI is not a place, it’s a constraint

How AI-powered robotics helped shape NASA’s research and made it into our Earthly devices

Space Foundation Hall of Fame

How tinkering with brains could lead to the Space Technology Hall of Fame