New York Robotics Newsletter // January 2026

NEWSLETTER // JANUARY 2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR
from New York Robotics
🎉

  • As we kick off 2026, the momentum across the robotics ecosystem is unmistakable — from breakthroughs happening here in New York, to growth and collaboration accelerating regionally, nationally, and around the world.

  • The year ahead brings even more opportunities for collaboration, deployment, and impact as the community continues to mature. 2026 is already shaping up to be a big one for builders, operators, researchers, and companies turning robotics into real-world impact.

  • New Year, New You? If a new year has you thinking about a new role, this issue includes more than 50 job openings & internships across robotics and automation. Sometimes the most practical way to move forward is a change of position — and we’re glad to help make those connections.

  • If 2026 is about leveling up, consider this your sign!

  • 🍎 🤖

NY ROBOTICS NEWS

Boxing Humanoids Come to Manhattan

In late November, Shayla Lee (NYR's Director of Community Engagement), attended a REK (Robot Entertainment Kombat) event in Manhattan where VR-piloted humanoid robots battled in a boxing ring, creating an uncanny and thought-provoking spectacle that blurred the line between sport and science fiction.

Shayla wrote about her experience, how the crowd responded, the unique challenges of controlling robots in real time, and what this emerging form of high-tech entertainment could signal for the broader future of robotics. Have a read and dive into the experience and the deeper questions it raises about human-machine interaction and the evolution of robot-driven events.
Read More →
 

Free Online Robotics Courses by IEEE

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society has launched RAS University (RAS-U), a free, web-based global education platform designed to make high-quality robotics and automation learning accessible to everyone. RAS-U offers structured, interactive lessons for self-learners, students, industry practitioners, and educators, combining video lectures, in-depth explanations, and hands-on exercises across foundational and advanced topics.

The platform debuts with 15 lessons on robot perception, control, and learning, with an additional 20 advanced courses — spanning areas from humanoids to sustainable robotics — planned for release in Summer 2026.
Start Learning Robotics Today! →
 
 
 

As Industrial Robots Become Autonomous, NJIT Helps Keep Them Connected

Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology are working to make industrial robots more autonomous by keeping them reliably connected to wireless networks as they move through complex, real-world environments.

By applying reconfigurable intelligent surfaces—software-controlled reflectors that dynamically shape wireless signals—the team aims to maintain connectivity even in coverage gaps, rather than relying solely on adding more access points.

Their work, recognized with a Best Paper award at the ACM Mobile Ad Hoc Networking Symposium, could pave the way for more resilient communications in smart factories, warehouses, and beyond.
Read More →
 

SUNY Delhi plans $32M Mechatronics Facility


Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced a $32 million investment in a new state-of-the-art Applied Technology Facility at SUNY Delhi, located on the site of the university’s North Hall. The 15,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in 2030 to support SUNY Delhi’s mechatronics program, which prepares New Yorkers for careers in advanced manufacturing including machining, pneumatics and hydraulics, CADD, welding instrumentation controls, robotics, 3D printing and programmable logic controls.
Read More →
 

STARTUP PROFILE

KYBER LABS

Kyber Labs is a Brooklyn-based startup led by Tyler Habowski and Yonatan Robbins. The team is building towards general purpose robotic hand dexterity utilizing their novel hardware.

Their hands are fully back-drivable, torque transparent, high DoF, and low cost in order to enable the rich interaction data and scale needed for foundational dexterity models to be useful. The modular robot hand mounts on a robot arm or mobile system and can solve a variety of manipulation and grasping tasks without being tied to a humanoid form factor.

Recently, the Kyber team posted some demo videos on LinkedIn and X that have gone viral, showing assembly, fast nut tightening and detecting a feather! They were also featured on the “Over The Horizon" video podcast, where they discussed their technical approach with some industry experts.

They have several pilot customers lined up to test the system and are raising a seed round to scale production, build out their foundational manipulation model, and deliver systems to early customers.

Interested in being one of the first to access the Kyber Labs hand, join the waitlist below!
JOIN THE WAITLIST →
 

UPCOMING EVENTS

New York Robotics is excited to support AlleyCorp's newest initiative, Deep Tech New York (DTNY) – an invite-only summit in NYC on Jan. 28, 2026.

This inaugural, full day conference, centered on the theme “Conversations for Tomorrow” will feature a lineup of visionary leaders across the entire landscape of deep tech – including robotics, space, materials science, biotech, energy, mobility, and more.

The day will be full of TED-style speakers and demos, showcasing the remarkable technologies and research that will fundamentally reshape the next 50 years.
Request an Invitation →

Join NY Robotics at Manifest 2026

At Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics in Las Vegas — joining a panel discussion on “Reshaping the Future of Supply Chains With AI, Robotics, & Autonomous Systems” to explore what’s coming next as robotics, AI-driven perception, drone autonomy, and next-generation mobility mature and converge.

Together with Etienne Louvet (IONA), Ksenia Duarte (ex9), and Brian Davis (Persona AI) — and moderated by Charles G. (Trucking Sense on SiriusXM) — the panel will dig into the real breakthroughs reshaping warehouse automation, aerial intelligence, and real-time decision systems, and what it all means for building resilient, intelligent supply networks.

Manifest is the premier global event for supply chain and logistics innovation, happening February 9-11, 2026, in Las Vegas at The Venetian, bringing together Fortune 500 executives, tech innovators, investors, and logistics providers to explore future trends in AI, automation, sustainability, and more to transform how goods move globally.
Register now and save with a discount code →

CROSS-CAMPUS INNOVATION EXCHANGE

Campus Climate Tech and Columbia Climate Fund are hosting a cross-university Climate & Deep Tech Innovation Exchange, convening faculty, researchers, and engineering students from leading Northeast institutions to accelerate collaboration across climate tech, robotics, energy, and advanced engineering.

Held on January 23 at the Verizon Executive Education Center at Cornell Tech (Roosevelt Island), the event will bring together more than 250 founders, investors, and academic leaders for panels on commercializing university research, industry-led discussions on priority innovation areas, and opportunities to present research and explore startup pathways.

The program runs from noon to 5 pm, followed by dedicated networking, and includes workshops on co-founder matching and techno-economic analysis, an NYCEDC panel on city-led climate tech initiatives, and extensive time to connect with peers, employers, and collaborators. Startups, investors, and industry partners — alongside universities including Columbia, NYU, Cornell, CUNY, Princeton, Rutgers, NJIT, Yale, and more — will offer a front-row view into the next wave of climate and deep tech emerging from academia.
RSVP HERE →

ROBOTICS JOBS

FEATURED JOBS @ GAMBIT ROBOTICS

Founding Full-Stack Engineer

Founding Principal Engineer

Gambit Robotics is a seed-stage AI hardware startup co-founded by Eliot Horowitz (Founder/CTO of MongoDB) and Nicole Maffeo (ex-Google AI).

Gambit is launching their first product, an AI kitchen assistant that uses computer vision + thermal sensing to guide cooking in real time.

These are true founding-engineer roles — you’ll own large parts of the stack (frontend → backend → real-time systems), work hands-on with hardware, and ship quickly with a small, senior team.

If you (or someone you know) want massive ownership at the intersection of AI, robotics, and consumer hardware, the team at Gambit want to talk to you.

Learn more about careers at Gambit →


*Don't forget to let them know you learned about the role from New York Robotics

NEW YORK ROBOTICS
FOUNDING PARTNERS

FOUNDING STRATEGIC PARTNER

STRATEGIC PARTNERS
 

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