Harvest Zhang
About Harvest Zhang
Harvest Zhang serves as the Head of Flight Core at Skydio, where he focuses on advancing autonomous aviation through robotics and software engineering. With a background that includes roles at Microsoft, NASA, and Airbus, he combines expertise in perception, deep learning, and safety-critical systems.
Work at Skydio
Harvest Zhang serves as the Head of Flight Core at Skydio, a position he has held since 2022. In this role, he leads the development of Situational Awareness autonomy engineering, focusing on the Federal, Defense, and SA product and feature portfolio. His work involves advancing autonomous aviation through the integration of robotics, perception, scalable software engineering, deep learning, and safety-critical systems.
Education and Expertise
Harvest Zhang earned a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Princeton University, where he studied from 2010 to 2014. He also studied Piano Performance and Music Theory at Eastman Community Music School, achieving a diploma over 13 years. His expertise includes EO/IR sensors and flight testing, which contribute to developing pragmatic solutions for complex challenges in autonomous aviation.
Background
Harvest Zhang has a diverse professional background in the aerospace and technology sectors. He has worked at notable organizations such as Microsoft, NASA, Facebook, and Airbus. His roles have included Program Manager Intern, Software Development Intern, Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineer, and various positions at A³ by Airbus, where he focused on perception and robotics software engineering.
Previous Work Experience
Prior to his current role, Harvest Zhang held several positions that contributed to his expertise in autonomous systems. He worked at Facebook as an Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineer from 2014 to 2017 and as a Software Engineering Intern in 2013. At A³ by Airbus, he served as Head of Perception, Wayfinder, from 2019 to 2021, and as Robotics Software Engineer & Tech Lead, Wayfinder, from 2018 to 2019.
Research and Early Career
Harvest Zhang began his career with research and internships. He was a Research Assistant at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics in 2009 and completed internships at NASA Stennis Space Center and Microsoft in 2011 and 2012, respectively. He also worked as a Catalyst Project Scholar at Cornell University from 2009 to 2010, gaining early experience in technology and research.