Prior to building Satelles into a successful company, Dr. Michael O’Connor was a recognized pioneer in the booming field of precision agriculture. While a graduate student at Stanford University in 1994, Michael led the team that invented the world’s first farm tractor steering control system using GPS.
Upon graduation in 1997, Dr. O’Connor co-founded IntegriNautics (later renamed Novariant and subsequently acquired by AgJunction), where he and Satelles President/CTO Dr. Gregory Gutt established the AutoFarm business and brought to market the first products based on this technology. This work formed the basis for what is now a $1B+ global market. As Novariant grew to 150+ employees and successfully raised over $70M in venture capital, Michael served in a variety of executive roles at the company, including CTO, Vice President of Business Development, and CEO.
In recognition of his visionary work, Michael has been honored by MIT Technology Review as one of the world’s top young innovators and was included in GPS World magazine’s inaugural list of “50 Leaders to Watch in GNSS.” Dr. O’Connor is also an inductee into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.
Michael received his B.S. in Avionics from M.I.T. and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. In addition to his role at Satelles, Michael is currently a Technical Advisor to Peloton Technology.