Mercersburg Alum Working to Make It Happen

By Jaeyoung (Justin) Oh ’25

What will the world look like in 2050? Will there be flying cars, people on the moon, and robot helpers in every home? Although no one knows what the future holds, Allen Ren ’15 is helping build it, one line of code at a time.

After graduating from Mercersburg, Ren received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Johns Hopkins University. As a Ph.D. student at Princeton University’s Intelligent Robot Motion Lab, Ren studies mechanical and aerospace engineering, creating robots that will help humans live better lives.

Ren’s focus is on general purpose robots, which will be able to complete tasks based on commands from humans.

“Imagine, 20 years from now, you can go to a supermarket, buy a robot from a shelf, and take it home. Plug it in, put in the battery, and then you can tell it to clean the floor, clean the dishes, and do the laundry,” said Ren, who hopes that this technology will be widely available in the near future. “My best guess is that you can buy one of those (robots) in 15 to 20 years.”

He cites the need for more research on safety as the main hurdle facing developments in the field today.

Ren is working on robot learning, a rapidly growing area of robotics. Rather than coding every action of a robot in a scenario, Ren uses artificial intelligence (AI) so a robot will be able to perform tasks by learning how humans do them, or learning on its own. Ren also applies AI to simplify the programming of the robots. While traditionally developers have programmed code, robots using AI capabilities can now understand English and, in a way, write the code themselves.

As a graduate student, Ren has published numerous papers in the field of robotics, and has held several internships, including one at Google. After graduation, he hopes to work at a tech company. Compared to university labs, corporate industry labs are capable of creating projects that are more consumer focused.

“We need more people to work on actual problems and make a product,” said Ren, who plans to have his own robotics startup someday.

Ren came to Mercersburg as an 11th grader and soon felt like he was part of “a big family.” He joined the soccer team and helped clinch the Mid-Atlantic Prep League Championship in the 2014-2015 school year. “That was a big part of my Mercersburg experience,” he said. Soccer was a way for Ren to bond with his classmates and balance his student life with athletics. He also participated in Mercersburg’s robotics team and attended the international RoboCup Junior event in 2015. “I grew a lot of interest in robotics through my time at Mercersburg, so I started to do robotics-related research in college right off the bat. I think that had a big impact on me.”

When Ren has free time, he enjoys playing soccer, traveling, and even flying. Ren first dabbled in flight at Mercersburg, where in his physics class he was able to build a remote-controlled plane. Ever since then he has had a passion for flying and is now a part of the Princeton flying club. In 2021, he flew over the Mercersburg campus in a Cessna with his former Mercersburg roommate, Lucas Lu ’16. “We were pretty high up, so no one saw us!”

Dr. Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, P ’18, ’20, ’22, ’23, ’28, associate head of school for school life, remembers Ren as an excellent student with a strong aptitude for coding. However, it was “his strong work ethic coupled with a kind heart” that she remembers the most. Maurer taught Ren robotics during his time at Mercersburg and guided him to the international RoboCup Junior event in the summer of 2015. “I am so proud of him and couldn’t be happier for his success and what he is contributing to the field of robotics,” Maurer said.

Editor’s Note: Jaeyoung Oh ’25 was an intern for Mercersburg’s Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications during the spring term. He is from Seoul, Republic of Korea. He is founder and president of the Mercersburg Debate Club, Hustle and Bustle editor for The Mercersburg News, a Writing Center fellow, and a Language Media Center ambassador. He hopes to study classics and history in college.