ABOUT
Our Team
We are grateful to work with a growing team of domain experts who leverage technological advancements and industry experience to solve practical problems with easy-to-use collaborative robotic solutions.
“The difference is the depth of Kane’s knowledge. They are consultative and help customers tune into workforce issues they may not understand.”
John Spruce
CEO and Board Director
John Spruce has spent more than 25 years as an executive and entrepreneur leading diverse teams in the aerospace and defense industries. His experience ranges from complex engineering and manufacturing projects to intellectual property development and licensing. He is currently CEO of Kane Robotics, developer of the first easy-to-use collaborative robotic systems dedicated to assisting manufacturers with the time-consuming, hazardous and repetitive sanding, grinding and finishing of composite material. Before founding Kane Robotics, Spruce was CEO of Advanced Steel Recovery, where he oversaw the installation of large-scale automation projects internationally. He also served as CEO of Mechtronic Solutions, Inc., an engineering and manufacturing services firm specializing in developing airborne sensor systems for U.S. government manned and unmanned aircraft.
Glenn Renner
Executive Chairman and Board Director
As president and CEO of the residential construction technology platform HomeSphere, Renner scaled sales, marketing, and product development, leading to 10x marketplace growth. As Vice President of Architectural Marketing for Sherwin-Williams, Renner led the company’s multi-billion-dollar architectural product line sold in 2,600 company-owned stores. Renner is an always-on entrepreneur and co-founded Tierra Mar Gallery and InterFusion Art.
Alan Hiken
COO
Alan Hiken is COO of Kane Robotics, developer of the first easy-to-use collaborative robotics systems that provide manufacturers with sanding, grinding and finishing automation solutions. A chemical engineer, Hiken is considered one of the world’s top experts in composites manufacturing and appears as a subject matter expert in various podcasts, research articles and industry publications. After 19 years at Northrop Grumman and Rubbercraft, he now lends his expertise to improving the industry. He leads SME’s Composites Committee, serves the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SEMPE) – Los Angeles and advises the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Engineering’s Chemical Engineering department. He also serves as a technical advisor to private and public sector companies.
Paul Ekegren
Principal Hardware Engineer
Paul Ekegren has more than 25 years of experience designing, prototyping and testing machines and mechanisms. At Kane Robotics, Ekegren is the principal hardware engineer, designing pre-programmed, affordable, mobile, compact collaborative robotics solutions that improve productivity, efficiency and safety for manufacturers by performing dangerous, time-consuming and repetitive tasks such as sanding, grinding and finishing. Before joining Kane Robotics, Ekegren was chief engineer at MicroDexterity Systems, where he developed and tested surgical robotic systems. After Stryker Corporate acquired the company, he was principal engineer for nine years, designing and developing parallel and serial robotic arms in force control applications. Ekegren previously led the Advanced Steel Recovery team that revolutionized the loading of scrap steel into shipping containers with its industrial automation system, FASTek.
Board of Directors
John Spruce
CEO and Board Director
John Spruce has spent more than 25 years as an executive and entrepreneur leading diverse teams in the aerospace and defense industries. His experience ranges from complex engineering and manufacturing projects to intellectual property development and licensing. He is currently CEO of Kane Robotics, developer of the first easy-to-use collaborative robotic systems dedicated to assisting manufacturers with the time-consuming, hazardous and repetitive sanding, grinding and finishing of composite material. Before founding Kane Robotics, Spruce was CEO of Advanced Steel Recovery, where he oversaw the installation of large-scale automation projects internationally. He also served as CEO of Mechtronic Solutions, Inc., an engineering and manufacturing services firm specializing in developing airborne sensor systems for U.S. government manned and unmanned aircraft.
Glenn Renner
Executive Chairman and Board Director
As president and CEO of the residential construction technology platform HomeSphere, Renner scaled sales, marketing, and product development, leading to 10x marketplace growth. As Vice President of Architectural Marketing for Sherwin-Williams, Renner led the company’s multi-billion-dollar architectural product line sold in 2,600 company-owned stores. Renner is an always-on entrepreneur and co-founded Tierra Mar Gallery and InterFusion Art.
Richard Milford
Board Director and Technical Advisor
As former senior director of systems engineering at Virgin Orbit, Richard Milford serves as a board director and technical advisor for Kane Robotics. He has more than 25 years of experience leading advanced product development for aerospace manufacturers, including Boeing and Hughes Space & Communications. Milford holds a Ph.D. in robotics from the University of Queensland and an MBA in finance from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
