About
Walter Raftus co-founded Forge Automation in 2022 with Timothy Seto and serves as CTO, owning the software stack that turns CAD models into finished parts on Forge's CNC floor. He studied AI and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo and interned at Nvidia, Trexo Robotics, and Intel PSG, working on system software, deep learning, and embedded control before going full-time on Forge after graduation. The company runs through Y Combinator and competes by treating CAM, scheduling, and machine control as a single integrated software product rather than three disconnected vendor tools, an approach Raftus argues is the only way for North American machine shops to undercut overseas lead times.
Previous roles
- Intern, Nvidia
- Intern, Trexo Robotics
- Intern, Intel PSG
Notable work
- As Forge Automation's founder and CTO, Raftus leads the technical organization behind an in-house cloud CAM/DFM stack spanning feature extraction, process planning, toolpath creation, and G-code generation for CNC jobs.
- Under Raftus's CTO remit, Forge says its factory stack uses embedded devices on CNC machines to augment machine control, stream telemetry to a web application, and display operator guidance.
- Forge's ordering platform turns uploaded STEP/CAD files into instant quotes and lets engineers add manufacturing intent directly to the 3D model before production.
- Forge says it is developing 'Shop Brain Agents' to monitor factory operations at different timescales, flag emerging problems, audit scheduling, and track long-term process trends.
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