Karl Murphy
Co-founder and Vice President of Forterra (formerly Robotic Research). MS Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon (1984); BS Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech (1981). At NIST, was Technical Lead for the Demo I/II/III/III+ DoD autonomy programs, precursors to the Future Combat Systems and PerceptOR programs.
Karl Murphy co-founded Robotic Research (rebranded Forterra in 2024) in 2002 alongside Alberto Lacaze, after the two worked together in the Intelligent Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. At NIST, Murphy served as Technical Lead for the Demo I, Demo II, Demo III, and Demo III+ DoD unmanned-vehicle programs — precursors to the Army's Future Combat Systems and PerceptOR programs — developing control software, terrain-perception algorithms, and sensor-fusion techniques for autonomous ground vehicles. He has remained with the company for over two decades, serving today as Vice President as Forterra has grown into a fully-funded autonomous-systems defense company.
Overview
- Role
- Co-Founder & VP, Forterra
- Based in
- Clarksburg, MD
- Prior experience
- NIST (Technical Lead; Demo I/II/III/III+ DoD programs)
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is Karl Murphy?
- Karl Murphy co-founded Robotic Research (rebranded Forterra in 2024) in 2002 alongside Alberto Lacaze, after the two worked together in the Intelligent Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. At NIST, Murphy served as Technical Lead for the Demo I, Demo II, Demo III, and Demo III+ DoD unmanned-vehicle programs — precursors to the Army's Future Combat Systems and PerceptOR programs — developing control software, terrain-perception algorithms, and sensor-fusion techniques for autonomous ground vehicles. He has remained with the company for over two decades, serving today as Vice President as Forterra has grown into a fully-funded autonomous-systems defense company.
- What is Karl Murphy's role?
- Karl Murphy is Co-Founder & VP, Forterra, based in Clarksburg, MD.
- Where did Karl Murphy work before?
- Karl Murphy's prior roles include NIST (Technical Lead; Demo I/II/III/III+ DoD programs).
Sources & citations6
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Karl Murphy co-founded Robotic Research (now Forterra); education and role background
Crunchbase: Karl Murphy — Co-founder, Vice President and Senior Engineer @ ForterraVerified2026-08-09 - 2
Both founders worked together in the Intelligent Systems Division of NIST before founding Robotic Research in 2002
The Robot Report: Robotic Research listingVerified2026-08-09 - 3
Founded 2002 as Robotic Research by Alberto Lacaze and Karl Murphy
Caproasia: US Autonomous Defence Startup Forterra Raised $238 Million in Series C FundingVerified2025-11-13 - 4
Founding story and Murphy's continued VP/senior engineer role through the 2024 rebrand
Contrary Research: Forterra Business Breakdown & Founding StoryVerified2026-08-09 - 5
At NIST, Technical Lead for Demo I, Demo II, Demo III, Demo III+ DoD unmanned-vehicle programs
NIST: Autonomous Mobility for the Demo III Experimental Unmanned VehiclesVerified2026-08-09 - 6
NIST ground vehicle control research context
NIST: Ground Vehicle Control at NIST: from Teleoperation to AutonomyVerified2026-08-09