Autonomy in Action: Scalable Engineering from Platform to Virtual Field

F​ree Webinar

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

08:00 (Los Angeles) | 11:00 (New York)
17:00 (Berlin) | 16:00 (London)

This webinar brings together three engineering leaders on Women in Engineering Day to outline how John Deere is building scalable Automation and Autonomy capabilities from platform philosophy all the way to real‑world application.

A​genda

Emily Horn, Manager - Perception Simulation and Data Tools
Opens with an overview of John Deere’s Automation and Autonomy toolset, outlining the guiding engineering principles, core capabilities, and the evolution of the teams and technologies that enable them.

Pooja Nikam, Lead Engineer - Perception Simulation and Virtual Engineering
Explores the FACT-eSim simulation ecosystem, highlighting key technologies such as an internally developed game‑engine‑based simulator, advanced sensor modeling, and flexible, high‑fidelity environments supporting diverse off‑road and material‑handling operations.

Aleana Gongal, Engineer - Robotics and Test Automation
Concludes with application‑level tools and techniques for design and testing, illustrated through SmartDetect - John Deere’s advanced camera‑based technology for wheel loaders. Using stereo cameras and machine‑learning algorithms, SmartDetect enhances operator awareness by identifying people and obstacles in real time, providing visual and audible alerts.

Together, the speakers reflect the impact of women leading complex, end‑to‑end engineering systems from concept to deployment.

John Deere is an industry leader in agriculture and construction automation and has invested in a simulation strategy to help them decrease their dependence on field testing and data collection. Come learn about their strategy, their tools, and see an example of this approach in action.

Y​our Presenters

Pooja Nikam is a Lead Engineer at John Deere, working in the domain of perception simulation and virtual engineering. She brings strong expertise in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, with a deep understanding of the real‑world challenges faced by perception‑driven applications. Her work focuses on translating these challenges into high‑fidelity simulation solutions, including advanced perception sensor modeling, to enable early, scalable, and robust validation. By collaborating with perception and product teams, she helps improve system robustness while significantly increasing development efficiency. Pooja is passionate about using simulation‑driven insights to accelerate product readiness and reduce time‑to‑market.

Aleana Gongal is a Robotics Engineer specializing in applied simulation and perception systems for autonomous and smart machines. Her work focuses on simulationdriven development, camera modeling, and scalable datageneration pipelines that enable robust feature validation and machinelearning training. Aleana has led crossfunctional efforts spanning simulation, verification and validation, and perception teams, tackling complex challenges in perception modeling and systemlevel evaluation. She is passionate about leveraging simulation to accelerate autonomy development and enjoys mentoring young engineers, sharing technical insights, and speaking about practical approaches to perception validation in complex environments.

Emily Horn is responsible for developing the simulation and data infrastructure necessary for delivering John Deere’s machine automation products. She is maturing the simulation tools for verifying computer vision and machine learning (CVML) algorithms for cameras; building the necessary cloud data infrastructure for CVML; and maintaining the strategic roadmap for future tool development. Emily’s goal is to increase the efficiency and scalability of the CVML development process with emphasis on systems engineering and collaboration across groups.

Emily received her BS in mechanical engineering from Valparaiso University, a MS in ME from the University of Iowa, and completed the System Design & Management program at MIT. She has worked for several business units within Deere and has spent the majority of her career in the simulation space focusing on machine dynamics, particle dynamics, systems simulation, and now camera systems. Emily leads a small, but amazing team of data engineers, simulation engineers, and software programmers.