Summary
Jonathan Michaux is a Technical Lead with a decade of cross-disciplinary experience at the intersection of robotics, molecular biology, and AI, now building RNA foundation models at CircNova in Ann Arbor. He holds PhDs in Robotics and in Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology, and his research background includes provably safe motion-planning for manipulators and curiosity-driven exploration for sparse-reward robotics tasks. Jonathan combines rigorous theoretical work with product-focused engineering, bridging lab-scale biological insight and deployed autonomous systems. He has moved between top academic labs and industry research (University of Michigan, OpenAI), which gives him a pragmatic approach to safety, controllability, and real-world utility in AI. Colleagues describe him as someone who translates complex proofs and biological knowledge into robust, production-ready models and tools.
10 years of coding experience
6 years of employment as a software developer
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Robotics, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Robotics at University of Michigan
Visiting Student Researcher, Visiting Student Researcher at Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Mathematics, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Mathematics at Wayne State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at University of Chicago