Ken Washington is vice president and general manager of Consumer Robotics at Amazon, where he is responsible for developing consumer robot devices and services, including Amazon’s first household robot, Astro.
Before joining Amazon, Dr. Washington was chief technology officer at Ford Motor Company, overseeing the development and implementation of the automaker’s technology strategy. His portfolio at Ford included propulsion systems, sustainable and advanced materials, additive manufacturing, next-gen vehicle architectures, controls, and automated systems.
Prior to joining Ford in 2014, Dr. Washington was Lockheed Martin Corporation’s first chief privacy officer, vice president and chief technology officer for Lockheed Martin IT, and vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center. He previously served as the chief information officer for Sandia National Laboratories.
He was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 2020, and is the recipient of the 2012 Black Engineer of the Year Award in Research Leadership.
Dr. Washington has a BS, MS, and PhD in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University and is a fellow of the MIT Seminar XXI program on International Relations.
