Category: Automotive

We sat down with each of our Advisory Board Members to ask them about their vision for the future of self-driving cars…
Mr. Pfotenhauer began his career at Intel in the mid 1970’s and has since been involved with numerous technology companies. Since joining Morgan Stanley in 1996, he developed and leveraged an expansive network of investment banking and wealth management resources to help clients formulate exit strategies for their businesses. He is a Senior Investment Management Consultant with Morgan Stanley, advising private client and corporate executives. Pfotenhauer obtained both a BA and MBA in Business from California Coast University.

Q: Where do you see ADAS solutions, autonomous vehicles, and/or artificial perception, heading within the next few years? The next decade? Beyond?
I was fortunate enough to work for Intel from the mid 70’s to the mid 90’s — and participated in the advent of desktop and mobile computing, which had their foundation on Intel products.

In the last 25 years, I’ve continued to look around the corner to try and spot the next “big thing”. We now have the advanced computing tools that allow companies to apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) within their decision making and take advantage of big data. These trends converge around the auto industry and its next inflection points — EVs and autonomy.

Q: What do you see as the next logical step for the auto industry?
When I think about the auto industry, it’s remarkable how many inflection points it has gone through. The internal combustion engine of 1876 made cars feasible, while mass production which began in the early 1900’s made them affordable. The starter engine of 1912 rendered hand cranks obsolete, and then the first transcontinental highway in 1913 opened up the nation. The pickup truck of the early 1930’s made the vehicle more functional, while the automatic transmission, power steering, and braking of the 40’s and 50’s made it easier and safer for just about anyone to drive.

Seat belts, anti-lock brakes, and airbags increased the safety, while GPS and maps made us all more efficient. Now we have begun the climb up the 5 levels of automation — we won’t get anywhere without a complete set of artificial eyes — that are always on, don’t blink, don’t get distracted, or won’t tire.

AEye Advisory Board Profile: Scott Pfotenhauer — AEye Advisory Board Profile: Elliot GarbusAEye Advisory Board Profile: Tim ShipleThe Future of Autonomous Vehicles: Part I – Think Like a Robot, Perceive Like a HumanThe Future of Autonomous Vehicles: Part II – Blind Technology without Compassion Is RuthlessDeconstructing Two Conventional LiDAR MetricsAEye’s iDAR Shatters Both Range and Scan Rate Performance Records for Automotive Grade LiDARElon Musk Is Right: LiDAR Is a Crutch (Sort of.)AEye’s iDAR Leverages Biomimicry to Enable First Solid State Lidar with 100Hz Scan RateBlair LaCorte Named President of AEyeFutureCar Provides an In-Depth Look into How AEye’s AI-Based Perception System Can Become the ‘Eyes’ of Self-Driving Cars