Chris Urmson is the co-founder and CEO of Aurora, a company trying to bring autonomous driving to commercial trucking.Chris led a team at the 2004 DARPA challenge that launched the autonomous vehicle industry. Then he held a senior role at Google’s self-driving car project, which later became Waymo.On the show today, he talks about the long arc of autonomous driving, why he left Google, and the future of autonomous trucking.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Is the Future of Fresh Water Under the Sea?
Michael Porter is the Chief Technology Officer of OceanWell.Michael's problem is this: How can you desalinate water at the bottom of the ocean – and deliver it to land at a cost that’s competitive with other sources of fresh water?On today’s show, Michael explains how he built OceanWell’s prototype in his kitchen, what it takes to make a system that’s less disruptive to marine life, and why innovations from the oil and gas industry are making his work possible.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Could Home Batteries Save the Grid?
Justin Lopas is the COO and co-founder of Base Power, a battery and power company based in Texas. Justin’s problem is this:  How can you deliver more energy to more people without having to build so much more grid?On today’s show, Justin explains why the grid needs a major upgrade, and how putting batteries next to homes could help. Also: what Texas’ embrace of renewable energy could mean for the future of power in the U.S.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Building a Better Public Bathroom
Fletcher Wilson is the CEO and co-founder of  Throne Labs.Fletcher’s problem is this: How can you create public toilets that people actually want to use?On today’s show, Fletcher explains how his company is trying to make public bathrooms cleaner, safer and more accessible. The conversation also points to a bigger idea: why it’s so hard for cities to build and maintain pretty much anything.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Could Autonomous Diggers Unleash a Building Boom?
Boris Sofman is the co-founder and CEO of Bedrock Robotics. Boris' problem is this: How do you teach machines not just to drive, but also to work: to grade roads, move heavy objects and dig big holes at construction sites.  On today’s show, Boris talks about how his work at Waymo led him to found Bedrock, and he explains how autonomous construction equipment could help unleash an American building boom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Every week on What's Your Problem?, former Planet Money host Jacob Goldstein talks with entrepreneurs and engineers tackling the biggest challenges at the forefront of technology. How do you make a trip to space as routine as a plane flight? How do you turn solar energy into clean fuel? How do you use AI to stop deadly infections before they spread? We hear a lot these days about how the world is getting worse. What's Your Problem? learns from the thinkers and doers trying to make our future better.
iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.
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