Public Enrichment & Robotics Laboratories (RoboPerl; “PERL” for short) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Austin, Texas, USA. We are focused on two main areas of global improvement: AI & science R&D, and youth character development. These goals are implemented by our two divisions, respectively: the Perl Community, and the Cadet Corps Alliance.
We are governed by our Board of Directors, and we are led by our Board of Advisors. We hope you will
join us in pursuing our lofty goals of using science and citizenship to make the world a better place.
(Our acronym “PERL” is not to be confused with the proper noun name of the Perl language, or the all-lowercase
interpreter command perl.)
Mission
Our mission is to promote public enrichment & education through the application of scientific research in the fields of artificial intelligence & robotics.
Vision
Our vision is a world where Perl is a dominant computer language, and every child has the opportunity to study science.
Board of Directors
William N. Braswell, Jr. — President
William is the founder and President of RoboPerl. He graduated with Honors in Computer Science and Mathematics from Texas Tech University. Also known as “Will the Chill,” he invented the Perl compiler, the PerlGPT LLM, and the Navi AI system. William resides in north Austin, Texas and enjoys leading expeditions in the outdoors.
John Napiorkowski — Chairman
John is the Chairman of the Board of Directors, and is a founding member of the nonprofit. He has a Master of Arts from New York University, and is the maintainer of the Perl Catalyst MVC framework for building web applications. John is also the Chairman of the AI Perl Committee, and he resides on his small farm in south Austin, Texas.
Robert Grimes — Secretary
Robert is the Secretary of RoboPerl, and is also a founding member. Robert has worked as a professional programmer for several major companies including cPanel, Estée Lauder, and Dun & Bradstreet. He resides in west Austin and enjoys teaching his son how to play table-top RPGs.
Board of Advisors
Randal L. Schwartz
Randal is a renowned American programmer, author, consultant, and early Perl programmer. Also known as “merlyn,” he co-authored Programming Perl, Learning Perl, Perls of Wisdom, and other books about software development. He is the inventor of the Schwartzian Transform. He is famous for his deep expertise in Perl, and has become a Google Developer Expert for the Dart and Flutter languages as well. He founded Stonehenge Consulting Services and co-hosted the popular tech podcast FLOSS Weekly, bridging his classic tech roots with modern development.
Leslie Martinich
Leslie is a highly respected technical coach and IEEE senior member, with nearly 40 years of computer science experience. She specializes in overcoming technical and business challenges, and helps industry leaders improve their bottom line by improving team productivity. Leslie graduated with Masters degrees in both Philosophy and Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. She resides in south Austin, Texas and is President Emeritus of the Austin Shakespeare Theater Company.
Brett Estrade
Brett is a professional Perl programmer and serves as the Chairman of the Science Perl Committee. He runs the ASGS storm surge prediction systems, controlled by Perl and running on the University of Texas supercomputers, which are routinely responsible for saving the lives of countless Americans in the pathway of potentially deadly weather. Brett holds a Masters of Applied Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, and resides in Houston, Texas where he enjoys collecting antique Scout patches.