Drew Blais is an Engineering Program Manager at DEKA Research & Development, working at the intersection of machine vision, robotics and medical device development. With a mechanical engineering background and leadership principles developed in the United States Marine Corps, he brings a mission-focused, systems-level mindset to technically complex programs. At DEKA, Drew has contributed to several projects where machine vision and AI are core technologies, including autonomous last-mile delivery robotics and a vision-based medical infusion platform. His work covers early system architecture and sensor integration through manufacturing scale-up and FDA regulatory navigation, touching on system-level development, technical leadership of cross-disciplinary teams and a deep understanding of verification and validation across complex hardware-software systems. That range of experience gives Drew a grounded perspective on what it actually takes to move a robotic system from prototype to deployable platform.