Alex LaGrassa
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lagrassa.bsky.social
Alex LaGrassa
@lagrassa.bsky.social
47 followers 75 following 16 posts
Recent Robotics PhD passionate about inclusive & equitable knowledge sharing, especially about tech. My research is in combining classical robotics with AI. I love edible plants and composting. Pronouns: them/them preferred
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lagrassa.bsky.social
Today I learned that my dresser was from the iconic Kauffman’s department store AND seems to have been stamped during the “Pittsburg” days (pre 1911). A little piece of #Pittsburgh history :) #vintage
July 28, 2025 at 1:21 AM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Had to harvest the potatoes early this year, but still pretty decent! This is about a third of the total. Fed by my house compost :)
July 27, 2025 at 9:57 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Looking for queer #communityliving in Jersey City? We're looking for one more housemate to join our 5 br/3 ba house in JC Heights. We value communication, process, autonomy, and mutual care for each other.

Rent is $1075/mo

Please DM to chat about it and see if we're a fit #FindRoommates
2 panels, housemates and cats. In housemates panel, there's a "progress pride" flag, 2 white people in an aquarium named "bec & hazel, 25", Alex & Alyssa (White Latina, white), & Sid, 21 (south indian). There is an empty panel that says "You?" The two cats are orange. One wears a sweater one is in a bag.
July 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Hello! I and some colleagues are running a @blackinrobotics.bsky.social virtual workshop on July 13th where participants learn basic computer programming by writing code to move a robot arm!

Sign-up at www.eventbrite.com/e/beginning-...

#stemeducation #Robotics #python #coding
July 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Great selection of online summer workshops from the talented @blackinrobotics.bsky.social roboticists who are passionate about inclusive STEM education. This is a great way to get started with programming (and building!) your own robot. Many topics in #Robots #STEM #AI #programming #engineering
June 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Career update: I'll be starting as an Assistant Teaching Professor in Computer Science at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

For now, I'm enjoying a break to work on some personal projects and catch up on reading.
May 28, 2025 at 9:40 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Belated personal update:
I defended my PhD in #Robotics at #CarnegieMellon!

Thank you to Oliver Kroemer and my labmates for constructing a heartwarming and creative “Doktorhut” ❤️🤖🦾

Now it’s time to play with much less expensive robots.
Group photo of 9 people in front of a slide titled “enabling reliable model based planning with inaccurate models”
April 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
high-performing model from a new open source AI company that just came out of stealth. It’s on hugging face, so I hope to try it out!
sungkim.bsky.social Sung Kim @sungkim.bsky.social · Apr 9
Deep Cogito

Cogito v1 Preview: Introducing Iterated Distillation and Amplification (IDA) as a path to general superintelligence.

- The LLMs are trained using IDA.
- Each model can answer directly (standard LLM), or self-reflect before answering (like reasoning models).
April 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Absolutely MASSIVE service and route cuts for Pittsburgh public transit, making a borderline bus system nearly unusable. *PLEASE* comment to communicate how important public transit is to us and our safety. #Pittsburgh #transit
April 12, 2025 at 1:50 AM
lagrassa.bsky.social
I’m in Minneapolis and amazed by the public transit here. From my hotel on UMN campus, going through midtown, then to the airport DOOR TO DOOR *including a transfer* was 34 minutes on the train.

Functional public transit is so nice. I didn’t expect it in the Midwest.
January 28, 2025 at 5:18 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
This is sooo cooool. I hope something like this catches on so we can have more solar energy collection integrated in our lives.
January 24, 2025 at 8:04 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
My thesis defense is coming up on Jan 31 at 11AM ET! It’s called “enabling reliable model-based planning with inaccurate models.”
Dm or email alex.lagrassa@protonmail.com if you’d like the zoom link and don’t have it.
January 23, 2025 at 5:49 AM
lagrassa.bsky.social
Mask blocs are a great way to get affordable N95 masks. we have one in Pittsburgh. Please donate so they can continue their great work!
maskuppgh.bsky.social Mask Up Pittsburgh @maskuppgh.bsky.social · Jan 11
Hello everyone! We, in collaboration with 30+ mask blocs, have purchased 93,000+ n95s to distribute across the US. We have a fundraiser to offset costs with a goal of $12,819.81. Please donate or share: tinyurl.com/bulkN95s

#MaskDistributionfundraising #COVIDIsntOver #mutualaid #covidisnotover
Dark blue background with white text that reads: “Mask Fundraiser! Over 93,000 N95s were purchased in a group effort with over 30+ mask blocs.” In the middle of the image is an Aura N95. Below it is white text that says “Every dollar helps! Donate at: https://tinyurl.com/bulkn95s “ To the right is a box with white text that says “Donation Goal: $12,819.81. Donations will go towards: covering necessary costs and reimbursing blocs and members who fronted personal funds.” Dark blue background with white text that reads: More Info: Where did the masks come from and where are they going? The masks and hand sanitizer were sources from government surplus locations in Virginia. They will be distributed to 33 mask blocs and mutual aid orgs in the Eastern US. How will they be distributed? All participating organizations have worked together to coordinate the amount of supplies needed and what would be feasible for each group to receive. Supplies will be distributed in our respective communities for free!” Dark blue background with white text that reads: “More Info. What are the “necessary costs”?” A bulleted list includes: Rental vehicles/equipment and necessary insurance, gas, tolls, food, and potential accommodations needed in the acquisition and transportation of supplies to participating organizers. Freight shipping to transport masks from Virginia to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Georgia. Mailing masks and hand sanitizer to some blocs. Compensate wages lost for those who must take off work to acquire or distribute supplies and cannot fully volunteer their time. Reimburse CRANE organizers who fronted the funds to purchase the masks.” Dark blue background with white text that reads: “More Info, Cost Breakdown.” The goals are broken into two smaller goals: a primary goal and stretch goal. The primary goal is $1,255 which has bullet points underneath that say: Fronted $ in collected pool: $300 Current Costs Incurred by Blocs: $455 Agreed Upon Cushion for Transit Costs That Haven’t Occurred Yet: $500 The next bullet points include the STRETCH GOAL: $11,524.81 Fronted $ in the collected pool: $1,935 Mask Purchase: $8,520 Hand Sanitizer Purchase: $228.48 Fronted $ for Mask Transit: $778.38 Fronted $ for Hand Sanitizer Transit: $102.95”
January 19, 2025 at 5:32 AM
lagrassa.bsky.social
At a hotel for an interview. The room they gave me has a plush husky, a dog bed, and amenities such as peanut butter and blueberry treats. (I do not have a real dog). 10/10 best interview hotel room so far.
January 14, 2025 at 9:02 PM
lagrassa.bsky.social
It’s super cold this week in #Pittsburgh. As awful as our city’s shelter situation is, there are options for all genders, including drop-in overflow for winter conditions connect.alleghenycounty.us/wp-content/u... Stay warm everyone.
connect.alleghenycounty.us
January 9, 2025 at 3:05 AM