When Dr. George Holmes Jr. says his education at Missouri S&T helped set him on a path to develop cutting-edge technology for his own company, he means it literally. 

Holmes, a two-time mechanical engineering graduate of S&T, is the CEO and co-founder of Hire Henry — a startup company that uses robots and artificial intelligence to mow grass that was recently selected to receive support from one of Google’s Founders Funds. 

“The $150 billion commercial landscaping industry, similar to many industries in the United States, has an unprecedented opportunity to make workers’ jobs easier and attract tech-savvy workers,” says the St. Louis native who finished his bachelor’s degree in 2016 and Ph.D. in 2020. “Our autonomous software and combined AI models remove workers from the hot sun and makes the job incredibly easier.” 

When Holmes first came to Missouri S&T in 2011, he was passionate about automotive engineering and research and development, but as he progressed in his studies and completed an internship with Honda, he realized his future was in robotics. 

“During my time at Honda, I saw firsthand how humans and robots can work alongside one another to get work done faster and easier,” he says. “In 2012, autonomous driving was still largely in research labs, and autonomous braking was new and very buggy. 

“But it was clear then that automation and robotics were already having a profound impact in manufacturing.” 

He says this realization led to him interning at Rockwell Automation to learn about automating processes in pharmaceuticals, precious metal production, food and beverages, and consumer goods. The internship further convinced him of the possibilities of AI and automation to make work easier. 

Holmes then conducted his Ph.D. research at S&T under the guidance of Dr. Yun Seong Song and trained AI models to control a mobile robot for health care. 

 “The idea was that, by cleverly combining software and hardware, we could design a robot that could guide people who are elderly or have disabilities through a crowded area, completely autonomously, and the person would have an indistinguishable experience compared to being guided by a human,” Holmes says.  

To support his research, Holmes recruited a team of undergraduate students to assist with managing and setting up infrastructure for the project.

One of those students, Keiry “Katie” Moreno Bonnett, who was working on her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, designed computer vision software that increased the accuracy of the robot’s data.  

Not long after that, Bonnett, a 2020 graduate of S&T, became a co-founder of Hire Henry, and she now serves as the company’s chief operating officer.  

While conducting medical research, Holmes said he began considering how robots could protect him and others prone to pollen allergies and punishing heat from the sun — a throwback to when he spent summer days in his youth mowing grass in St. Louis. 

This helped inspire Hire Henry. 

Before even graduating from their alma mater, Holmes says he and Bonnett secured a National Science Foundation Grant to support the startup company.  

“University students are in a rare position to access federal grant dollars,” he says. “Students interested in this path should connect with professors, technology transfer offices and federal agencies. They have resources to help.” 

Holmes says his support network, which included family, professors, classmates, fraternity brothers, university leaders and friends, is what helped his concept grow into what it is today.  

“So many people went out of their way to help me who didn’t have to,” he says. “They deeply believed in what we were doing.”  

Although Hire Henry has seen success with other grants and competitions since Holmes and Bonnett graduated from Missouri S&T, Holmes says their recent Google funding should further jumpstart the robotic lawnmower company and take it to new heights — or rather, new grassy fields. 

Google selected Hire Henry as one of 20 recipients to receive $150,000 this year from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. Awardees also receive guidance from Google mentors, technical and sales assistance, and $100,000 in Google Cloud credits.  

“The funding and support from Google is helping us move faster and think about our product and AI at scale,” Holmes says. “With the guidance of Google’s Black Founders Fund, I recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators and their staffers about AI regulation, and it is clear we are in a remarkable time.  

“The next 10-15 years will see amazing technological growth in robotics and AI.”