Fred Martin earned a BS degree in Computer Science in 1986, a MS in
Mechanical Engineering in 1988, and a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences
in 1994, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  From
1996 to 2000, Fred was a research scientist at the MIT Media
Laboratory, where he developed a series of educational robotics
materials that laid foundation for the LEGO Mindstorms Robotics
Invention System (a widely popular robot building toy which was
launched by the LEGO Group in 1998).

While a PhD student, Fred co-founded the MIT Autonomous Robot Design
Competition, which attracts over 150 MIT students annually.  In 2000,
Fred published "Robotic Explorations: A Hands-On Introduction to
Engineering" (Prentice-Hall), a textbook that supports college-level
courses based on mobile robot design projects.

Fred presently runs Gleason Research, a robotics company he co-founded
with his wife Wanda Gleason, consults on educational projects in
Ireland, the United States, and across the world, and is a founding
engineer for Ipsil, Inc. a privately held start-up company in
Cambridge, MA.