Meet the Team
Auria was created by parents, educators, clinicians, and AI engineers to provide accessible, affordable, and effective daily support.
Co-Founder & CEO
William Huang
William Huang is a seasoned technology entrepreneur and product executive with over 18 years of experience in consumer electronics, smart appliances, and robotics. Throughout his career, William has led global teams to develop and launch best-selling tech products, from concept and design to large-scale manufacturing and market rollout. His leadership has helped scale high-growth startups and drive innovation in some of the world’s top tech companies, including Instant Brands, Intel, and Philips. As Co-Founder and CEO of Auria Robotics, William is spearheading the next frontier in autism intervention—leveraging generative AI, robotics, and user-centered design to create accessible, affordable, and empowering solutions for neurodiverse children. Inspired by a deep personal connection to the autism community, his mission is to bridge the gaps in therapy access and personalization through compassionate, technology-driven tools that foster independence and confidence in every child.
Co-Founder & Early Childhood Development Advisor
Stella Li
Stella Li is a veteran early childhood educator with over 15 years of experience supporting the developmental needs of young children across diverse learning environments. Her expertise spans inclusive education, developmental milestones, and family-centered intervention strategies, making her a strong advocate for neurodiverse learners. As a co-founder of Auria Robotics and the mother of a child on the autism spectrum, Stella brings invaluable insight into the daily challenges families face in accessing consistent, effective intervention. Her lived experience fuels her passion to create solutions that are not only educationally sound but also emotionally supportive and practical for home use. At Auria, Stella ensures that the robot’s content and interaction design align with real-world needs, supporting children’s learning, emotional growth, and independence through compassionate technology.
CTO & AI Lead
David Stuart
David Stuard is a seasoned software engineer and AI specialist with over 20 years of experience in software development, quality assurance, and intelligent systems design. Throughout his career, David has led engineering teams in building reliable, scalable software solutions across sectors including healthcare, education, and consumer technology. As AI Lead at Auria Robotics, David drives the design and development of the company’s adaptive AI engine, integrating emotional recognition, generative interaction, and real-time learning into the Auria Robot. His strong personal connection to the autism community—through both advocacy and lived family experience—deeply informs his work. David is passionate about harnessing the power of AI to create compassionate, responsive tools that empower children with autism and support the families and professionals who care for them.
Director of Marketing and Product Development
Annie Chen
Annie Chen is a startup strategist and product leader with over 6 years of experience building, scaling, and advising early-stage companies. From launching her own ventures to leading cross-functional tech teams, Annie brings a deep understanding of product-market fit, growth strategy, and user-centered design. Her work spans EdTech, AI, e-commerce, IT consulting, and community-focused innovation in the livestream influencer space, where she has helped startups reach thousands of users through intuitive experiences and lean execution. At Auria, Annie leads product development and go-to-market efforts, ensuring the platform not only meets the needs of families, educators, and clinicians—but reaches them with impact. With a passion for inclusive technology and mission-driven innovation, Annie drives Auria’s vision of accessible, adaptive autism support from prototype to scale.
Data Scientist & Machine Learning Engineer
Juan Sanchez
Juan is a Data Scientist & Machine Learning Engineer at Auria, where he leads backend systems and data intelligence to support scalable, adaptive AI communication platforms. He brings deep expertise in statistics, machine learning, and data engineering, with a track record of delivering high-impact ML solutions across renewable energy, cybersecurity, and large-scale industrial systems. Prior to Auria, Juan worked on complex, real-world problems including people detection for safety systems, early fault prediction in industrial wind turbines, fraud detection in public procurement, and protection against malicious network activity. His work consistently focuses on building robust, production-grade models that translate data into reliable, actionable systems. At Auria, Juan applies this experience to architect secure, efficient backend infrastructure and data pipelines that enable personalization, analytics, and future agentic AI capabilities, ensuring that the platform is both technically sound and scalable as it evolves. Juan has collaborated with global organizations including Disney, Huawei, Globant, and Telconet LATAM, and is driven by a passion for automation, efficiency, and using technology to solve meaningful, human-centered challenges.
Data Scientist & Machine Learning Engineer
Sofía España
Sofia is a Data Scientist & Machine Learning Engineer at Auria, where she works at the intersection of intelligent systems, data science, and hardware-software integration. With a strong foundation in deep learning, time-series analysis, and IoT systems, Sofia brings a hands-on, systems-level approach to building scalable and resilient AI-driven products. Her experience spans research and development of transformer-based deep learning models for early fault detection in industrial wind turbines, large-scale data pipelines for fraud analysis in public institutions, and security systems designed to detect and respond to infrastructure threats. Sofia has also led the development of robotic simulations, embedded systems, and mobile applications that bridge software intelligence with physical hardware. At Auria, Sofia contributes to the development of intelligent backend services and hardware-aware architectures, helping ensure the platform is technically robust today while being ready for future agentic AI and companion hardware integration. Her work reflects a deep interest in automation, reliability, and designing systems that operate safely and effectively in real-world environments. Sofia is an active contributor to the engineering community and has held leadership roles within IEEE Robotics & Automation Society. She was also a local winner of the NASA Space Apps Challenge, demonstrating her ability to collaborate and innovate under real-world constraints.
Software Engineer
Ryan Tong
Ryan Tong is a software engineer with over 7 years of experience in frontend, backend, cloud, cybersecurity and AI. At Auria, he currently works on AuriaRobot, developing the iOS app in Swift and handling the Python backend with AWS. In his free time, he is a passionate and competitive video gamer (currently a 4-time League of Legends diamond player going for his 5th), streamer, and likes to develop his own games. He hopes to bring his passionate for unique and fun interactions to Auria.
Graphic & UX Designer
Phyllis Cheung
Phyllis Cheung is a communication designer, passionate about enhancing children’s learning experiences through playful and empathy-forward design. At Auria, her work is brought to life through meticulous, research-based approaches focused on accessibility, sensory experiences, and inclusivity. Grounded in a deep understanding of real human needs, her design process ensures outcomes that are both functional and emotionally responsive for children with autism. Phyllis believes Auria’s compassionate and innovative mission can truly make an impact on connecting with neurodiverse education.
Director of Kinetic Education
Kirby Patton
Kirby Patton is a seasoned educator, innovator, and advocate for inclusive learning, bringing over 40 years of experience in special education and student engagement to her role as Director of Kinetic Education at Auria Robotics. With a strong foundation in connecting students through project-based participatory learning, sports, and meaningful communication, Kirby is passionate about creating engagement for all learners. As the founder of the Kirby Kid Race, Kirby's specialization is kinetic education. Kirby has empowered countless students to find their voice, collaborate across borders, and thrive in educational spaces. She has designed and implemented programs that blend play, purpose, and connection—values that align perfectly with Auria’s mission to revolutionize autism intervention through agentic AI and robotics. At Auria Robotics, Kirby leads the development of immersive, inclusive, and socially connected educational pathways tailored to the needs of neurodiverse children. Her leadership ensures that our AI-powered interventions are not only engaging and effective but also rooted in empathy, accessibility, and real-world learning.
Business Advisor
George Wang
George Wang brings executive expertise from his role as Director of Golden Star Capital Ventures (TSXV-listed), where he structures high-potential acquisitions and navigates regulated financial markets. His proficiency in investor relations, strategic financing, and TSX Venture Exchange compliance will accelerate Auria’s funding strategy while mitigating financial risk. Previously as Global Leader at CAE Inc., George spearheaded aviation training solutions for high-stakes global markets, managing recurring revenue systems across 35 countries. As founder of Pelesys (acquired by CAE), he delivered scalable training platforms to 150+ aviation clients—expertise directly transferable to Auria’s autism-support robotics. His background in regulated technology deployment, commercial scaling, and immersive learning systems will streamline Auria’s market entry and ensure compliant, user-centric therapeutic solutions
BCBA, Clinical Advisor
Linda Shi
Linda Shi is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst with over 15 years of experience in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), supporting children and families across home, school, and community settings. In addition to her role as a Behavior Consultant, she has served for more than a decade as a full-time Education Assistant in the Burnaby School District, where she’s worked hands-on with diverse learners and multidisciplinary teams. Linda holds a Master’s degree in Special Education with a focus on Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies from the University of Calgary. She also completed an Advanced Certification in ABA from Douglas College. At Auria, Linda leads clinical validation and therapeutic integrity, ensuring that every aspect of the Auria system aligns with evidence-based practices and supports real-world outcomes for families and educators. Her deep field expertise and commitment to accessible, high-quality care help guide Auria’s development from concept to clinic.
Clinical Advisor
Kinnu Malhi
Kinnu Malhi is an experienced Occupational Therapist and special education expert specializing in autism intervention. With a career dedicated to supporting neurodiverse children, Kinnu brings hands-on expertise in sensory integration, emotional regulation, and IEP-aligned therapy strategies. Her work bridges the gap between clinical practice and real-world application, ensuring Auria’s therapy modules are not only evidence-based but also developmentally appropriate and engaging for diverse learners. At Auria, Kinnu plays a key role in shaping intervention content, sensory-informed design, and co-regulation tools that empower both children and caregivers. Driven by a deep belief in inclusive, child-centered support, Kinnu helps ensure Auria meets the highest standards of therapeutic integrity across home, school, and clinical environments.
Join our Team
We're always looking for incredible talent and people who are passionate about AI, robotics, EdTech, or improving access to autism care to join our team and truly make an impact.
If that is you, please send us an email or text with your interest.
778-683-1392