Joel Sadler, Ph.D

Chief Technology Officer at George Lucas Educational Foundation

San Francisco Bay Area, United States

About Joel Sadler, Ph.D

Joel Sadler, Ph.D is Chief Technology Officer at George Lucas Educational Foundation. Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States.

Experienced tech product leader with 20+ years of leading cross-functional teams to make playful hardware and software experiences across consumer products, edtech, and physical computing. I specialize in entrepreneurial technology product management, digital/physical product design, early-stage GTM strategy, corporate planning within skunkworks teams, rapid prototyping, and human-centered AI with multimodal LLMs. Strong engineering foundation from MIT/ Stanford, with a MS in Computer Science and PhD in ME focusing on Creative Computing. Short Bio: Dr. Joel Sadler, is an AI product leader focused on making playful technology to empower the learners and makers. He is the founding Chief Technology Officer of Lucas Learning at the George Lucas Education Foundation, creating AI-driven world model simulators for immersive 3D teaching. * He previously co-founded the educational technology startup Piper (acquired, 2023) with support from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and inspired over a hundred thousand kids to build their first Minecraft DIY computer. The Piper Computer Kit was nominated for a Tech Toy of the Year Award (TOTY) in 2018.  * Prior to Piper, Time Magazine recognized Joel with a Top 50 Invention, for creating the $20 Stanford-JaipurKnee prosthetic (acquired, 2012), the most popular knee joint used in cost-constrained environments today. As an AI Researcher and Adjunct Faculty at Stanford University he currently explores how AI can enhance learning and creativity inside XR and digital twin simulations. * He is a former Design Fellow at the Stanford design school as well as a Stanford BioX fellow. He holds 4 engineering degrees across MIT and Stanford University and has authored over a dozen research papers in the field of "Creative Computing", including his Stanford Ph.D. on “The Anatomy of Creative Computing". He has more than 20 years of broad product leadership experience across physical and digital hardware and software products. He did 1 secret project for Steve Jobs at Apple. * As a multiple-time technology founder with 2 exits, he specializes in the 0-1 phase of leading cross-functional teams to go from fuzzy idea to market impact - especially within corporate innovation teams and startup-like environments. His TEDx talk on “Solving big problems with tiny prototypes” explores how user-centered prototyping can inspire the next generation innovators.

Skills

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Deep Learning

Additional experience

  • Technology Consultant

    George Lucas Educational Foundation

    May 2023 – September 2023

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Stanford University
  • Master of Science (MS), Stanford University