Greg Okopal
COO and co-founder of Overland AI. Master's and PhD in Electrical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh; 15+ years developing autonomous systems, sensors, and algorithms for DoD applications, including Co-PI on DARPA RACER, Co-PI/Software Lead on DARPA Aerial Dragnet, and software lead roles on UW's LDUUV and an ONR autonomous-sampling program. Two-time visiting researcher at the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation.
Before co-founding Overland AI, Okopal spent 18 years at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, rising to Principal Engineer. He was part of the APL/Robot Learning Lab team, led by future Overland co-founder and CEO Byron Boots, that fielded one of the most successful UW entries in DARPA's RACER program; Okopal served as Co-PI, handling project management, field testing, and logistics for the off-road autonomy stack that became the technical seed for Overland's SPARK and OverDrive products. He was also Co-PI and software lead for a counter-UAS system on DARPA's Aerial Dragnet program. Overland AI was incorporated in late 2022 with Okopal as COO alongside Boots and President Stephanie Bonk, turning the RACER research into a startup selling autonomy retrofit kits (SPARK) for military ground vehicles. He holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Villanova and a Pitt EE Master's and PhD.
Overview
- Role
- COO & Co-Founder, Overland AI
- Based in
- Seattle, WA
- Prior experience
- University of Pittsburgh (research), NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (visiting researcher)
- www.linkedin.com/in/greg-okopal/
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is Greg Okopal?
- Before co-founding Overland AI, Okopal spent 18 years at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, rising to Principal Engineer. He was part of the APL/Robot Learning Lab team, led by future Overland co-founder and CEO Byron Boots, that fielded one of the most successful UW entries in DARPA's RACER program; Okopal served as Co-PI, handling project management, field testing, and logistics for the off-road autonomy stack that became the technical seed for Overland's SPARK and OverDrive products. He was also Co-PI and software lead for a counter-UAS system on DARPA's Aerial Dragnet program. Overland AI was incorporated in late 2022 with Okopal as COO alongside Boots and President Stephanie Bonk, turning the RACER research into a startup selling autonomy retrofit kits (SPARK) for military ground vehicles. He holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Villanova and a Pitt EE Master's and PhD.
- What is Greg Okopal's role?
- Greg Okopal is COO & Co-Founder, Overland AI, based in Seattle, WA.
- Where did Greg Okopal work before?
- Greg Okopal's prior roles include University of Pittsburgh (research), NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (visiting researcher).
Sources & citations4
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Greg Okopal, Co-Founder and COO of Overland AI, holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and was Co-PI on DARPA RACER
Crunchbase: Greg Okopal — Person ProfileVerified2026-08-02 - 2
- 3
Greg Okopal, 18 years at UW APL, Co-PI on DARPA RACER
University of Washington: RACER TeamReported2026-08-09 - 4
Overland AI founded by UW APL robotics researchers including Greg Okopal
GeekWire: Secretive new startup led by Univ. of Washington robotics expert tackles off-road autonomous vehiclesReported2023-01-01