lab 44. Where technical vision meets delivery velocity.

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Our
Values

Decisive Leadership

We cut through organizational noise to identify the critical decisions that unlock progress. When teams are paralyzed by complexity or competing priorities, lab 44 provides the strategic clarity needed to move forward with confidence.

Execution Excellence

Technical expertise means nothing without delivery. We combine deep automation and robotics knowledge with proven methodologies that turn ambitious plans into shipping products—on time and within scope.

Strategic Risk-Taking

Innovation requires calculated risks. We help teams and leadership make bold technical decisions by clearly defining potential outcomes, mitigating downsides, and positioning for breakthrough results rather than incremental improvements.

Systems Thinking

We understand how individual components create larger outcomes. Our approach considers technical architecture, team dynamics, and business objectives as interconnected systems that must work in harmony to achieve transformational results.

Meet Mike

With leadership experience spanning Tier 1 automotive suppliers, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and cutting-edge automation startups, Mike brings a unique perspective to industrial automation challenges. He's built his reputation on taking complex, slow-moving systems and making them deliver—fast.

What sets Mike apart isn't just his technical depth in robotics and automation systems, but his ability to cut through organizational complexity and identify the critical decisions that unlock progress. When teams are stuck, timelines are slipping, or technical implementations aren't meeting business needs, he provides the strategic clarity and hands-on expertise that gets results.

Whether you're scaling an automation solution for a major tech partnership or need to build implementation capabilities your team doesn't yet have, Mike combines the technical rigor of big tech with the practical urgency of industrial deployment. He's the engineering leader you call when good enough isn't an option and time is running out.

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Mike Helsel | Principal Engineer

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lab 44 HQ

mike@lab44.dev
‪616.287.0990‬

Grand Rapids, MI 49506