Alex LaGrassa
lagrassa.bsky.social
Alex LaGrassa
@lagrassa.bsky.social
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
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
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
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
July 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
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
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
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
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.
April 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
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!
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
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
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
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
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
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!
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
January 19, 2025 at 5:32 AM
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
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