Matthew Reiland

Matthew Reiland was born and raised in southeastern Wisconsin. He graduated from Purdue University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology (BS-EET). His older sister graduated from Purdue with a degree in Accounting, and his younger sister graduated from Purdue with a degree in Pharmacy. While at Purdue, Reiland was a member of Sigma Pi Fraternity. He later earned a Master of Science from Kettering University in Lean Manufacturing Operations.

After graduation, Reiland began his career at General Motors as an entry-level engineer working on automation projects in GM assembly plants. Over time, he advanced through the organization, and in 2005 he assumed responsibility for GCCS2, the software architecture that runs automation systems in GM plants globally. In 2008, his career led him to a three-year assignment at NASA's Johnson Space Center, where he assisted in the software development of Robonaut-2, which launched on STS-133 to the International Space Station.

After completing the project at Johnson Space Center and spending 15 years at General Motors, Reiland moved back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to start a new automation team at what is now the Komatsu Automation Center of Excellence. The team's goal is to design and build some of the world's largest robots to help harvest the materials needed for society to continue advancing. Reiland has been awarded 19 patents ranging from collision avoidance systems to robotic electric vehicle charging concepts and robotic finger control through synthetic tendons.

He currently leads a research team at Komatsu that assists in the development of a mine-wide fleet of autonomous surface mining machines.