As a senior member of the hardware engineering team at Torc, Dr. Heußner leads Torc’s 4D lidar hardware components. Whether it’s selecting the best components available, defining sensor sets, solving bugs, or evaluating environmental impacts, his experience in optical design and system architecture allows him to understand every aspect of a sensor unit.
On a day to day basis, Dr. Heußner’s work includes organizing workshops amongst both product and engineering teams, embarking and leading technical deep dives, and ensuring communication across all stakeholder teams – including investors like Daimler Truck, a world class leader in the commercial auto space, and partners like Aeva, Torc’s long range lidar supplier. He’s also often in the field leading hands-on hardware and software troubleshooting, such as Torc’s recent autonomous product validation.
Dr. Heußner credits his success in lidar to a mix of early exposure, hands-on experience, and mentorship during his Ph.D. and subsequent career at Bosch. “It was a mixture of high interest and motivation, a lot of work, and being in the right environment to pursue these interests,” he explains.
At Torc, Dr. Heußner thrives on the opportunity to make a tangible impact. “While I had learned about lidar sensors for many years, it is now about putting them to use to enable our L4 trucks.”
His ultimate vision is to look back one day and see self-driving trucks in action, knowing he played a part in their development.
It’s no secret that there are challenges to produce a safe, commercially viable self-driving truck. From working with federal and state regulators to developing robust and redundant safety protocols, the development landscape has a few hills to climb. However, Dr. Heußner is confident that self-driving truck companies like Torc Robotics will be able to find solutions that fit into each unique road, city, and carrier environment.
He manages sensor requirements across the autonomous fleet, working with partners like AEVA and Daimler Truck to find hardware solutions that can be implemented within the constraints of schedule, budget, team workload, and more. His ability to consider multiple factors when making decisions adds to the Torc team’s capacity to remain flexible across a fast-paced environment.
He also highlights communication as a critical skill for engineers. Over years of teaching and collaborating with colleagues, Dr. Heußner has refined his ability to convey complex ideas effectively—a skill he continues to develop.
