Prof. Kira BARTON (keynote speaker, Mechatronics)
Website: Website
Affiliation: University of Michigan, MI USA
Talk Title: TBA
Talk abstract: TBA
Biography:
Prof. Kira Barton received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001. Barton continued her education in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 2006 and 2010, respectively. She held a postdoctoral research position at the University of Illinois from Fall 2010 until Fall 2011, at which point she joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Her primary research focus is on precision coordination and motion control for emerging applications, with a specialization in iterative learning control. Barton’s work intersects controls and manufacturing and combines innovative manufacturing processes with enhanced engineering capabilities. The potential impact of this research ranges from building high-resolution DNA sensors for biological applications to the integration of advanced sensing and control for rehabilitation robotics.
Dr. Je Min HWANGBO (keynote speaker, Robotics)
Website: Website
Affiliation: KAIST, South Korea
Talk Title: “Quadruped robotics”
Talk abstract: TBA
Biography:
Dr. Jemin Hwangbo is an associate professor at KAIST. He holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree from ETH Zurich, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto. His research interests include legged robotics and autonomous robot navigation. He recently founded Raion Robotics Inc., a company dedicated to advancing legged robotics, particularly quadrupedal robots.
Prof. Andreas KUGI (keynote speaker, Mechatronics)
Website: Website
Affiliation: Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), Vienna Austria
Talk Title: TBA
Talk abstract: TBA
Biography:
Prof. Andreas Kugi is a full professor for Complex Dynamical Systems at Technische Universität Wien, Austria, and since 07/2023, he has been the Scientific Director of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology (https://www.ait.ac.at/). He received a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Electrical Engineering from Technische Universität Graz, Austria, in 1992 and a Ph.D. (Dr.techn.) from the Johannes Kepler Universität (JKU), Linz, Austria, in 1995. In 2000, he got the Habilitation in the field of control theory and automatic control at JKU, and he was a full professor for system theory and automatic control at Saarland University in Germany from 2002 to 2007. He was offered full professor positions at Technische Universität Dresden and the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie.
His main research interests include the modeling, control, and optimization of complex dynamical systems, mechatronic system design, robotics, and process automation. In the last years, he has been collaborating with more than 40 national and international companies, among which are Andritz Hydro, AVL, Bosch, B&R, Böhler, Bühler, Dillinger Hüttenwerke, Engel, Festo, Infineon, Keba, Magna, Plansee, Schwing, Siemens, TTTech, voestalpine. These projects cover a wide range of applications in the automotive industry, robotics, hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical drives, energy systems, and advanced process control applications in the metal industry. He consequently strives to combine advanced system theory and control with real-world applications in his work. In this way, he contributes to bridging the gap between theory and industrial practice.
Prof. Nicola VITIELLO (keynote speaker, Robotics)
Website: Website
Affiliation: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy
Talk Title: “Wearable robotics: from lab to market”
Talk abstract: TBA
Biography:
Prof. Nicola Vitiello is Associate Professor with The BioRobotics Institute (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, SSSA, Pisa, Italy) where he leads the Wearable Robotics Laboratory. He is co-author of more than 80 ISI/Scopus papers and co-inventor of more than 20 patents/patent applications. He served as the Scientific Secretary of the EU FP7 CA-RoboCom project, and he was the scientific coordinator of the EU FP7 CYBERLEGs project. Currently he is the scientific coordinator of the H2020-ICT-CYBERLEGs Plus Plus project, the national project MOTU funded by INAIL and is partner of the H2020-ICT-REHYB and H2020-ICT-CONBOTS projects. He is co-founder, director and advisor of IUVO Srl, a spin-off company of SSSA.
Prof. Helen Huang (keynote speaker, Robotics)
Website: Website
Affiliation: University of North Carolina, NC USA
Talk Title: TBA
Talk abstract: TBA
Biography:
Dr. Helen Huang is the Jackson Family Distinguished Professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University (NC State) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and the Director of the Closed-Loop Engineering for Advanced Rehabilitation (CLEAR) core. She is also the co-director of NIDILRR funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center. Her research interest lies in neural-machine interfaces, wearer-robot interaction and co-adaptation, robotic prosthetics and exoskeletons, and human motor control/biomechanics. She was a recipient of the Delsys Prize for Innovation in Electromyography, NIDILRR Switzer Fellowship, NSF CAREER Award, ASA Statistics in Physical Engineering Sciences Award, and NC State ALCOA Foundation Distinguished Engineering Research Award. She is a Fellow of AIMBE, Fellow of IEEE, NC State faculty scholar, and a member in the Society for Neuroscience, BMES, American Society of Biomechanics, and AAAS. She is the incoming Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering and an Editorial Board Member for IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Nicolas Figay (keynote speaker, Mechatronics)
Website: Website
Affiliation: AIRBUS, Suresnes Iles-de-France France
Talk Title: “Interoperability and Connected Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities for Mechatronic and Robotic Systems”
Talk abstract: The rise of digital and computer-aided solutions is reshaping the development, deployment, and integration of mechatronic and robotic systems. This transformation hinges on advanced interoperability, enabling systems to connect within their operational environments and interact in real-time through IoT technologies, supporting applications like analytics, AI-driven decision-making, and complex event management.
This keynote will delve into the potential of connected intelligence to enhance critical event anticipation, trigger alerts, and facilitate AI-based services for optimized operations. However, significant challenges remain, including security, scalability, and control risks within highly automated environments. Achieving reliable interoperability requires more than AI advancements—it calls for a systematic approach to ensure secure, robust systems. This presentation will examine these challenges and explore innovative methodologies to build a safer, interoperable future for connected mechatronic and robotic systems
Biography:
Dr. Nicolas Figay is an internationally recognized expert in interoperability for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), and Enterprise Architecture (EA) at Airbus Defence and Space, Elancourt. Holding a Ph.D. in the interoperability of technical enterprise applications and an HDR thesis on continuous operational interoperability, Dr. Figay has a robust academic and practical background. As a global expert on ISO STEP standards, he advocates for the combined use of model-driven approaches, ontology, service-oriented platforms, and enterprise architecture to drive robust interoperability, with a strong emphasis on the adoption of open standards.
Dr. Figay has played a vital role in multiple European research projects, including RISESTEP, SAVE, IDEAS, ATHENA, CRESCENDO, VIVACE, and IMAGINE, as well as the French project SIP at IRT System X. Additionally, he developed ArchiMateCG, a tool for semantic cartography integrating standardized languages, such as ArchiMate, with domain-specific languages (DSLs). His research underscores the role of semantic and syntactic interoperability, semiotics, and visual syntax in fostering connected intelligence within digital ecosystems. Dr. Figay is a proponent of open-source components that embody open standards, promoting these industrial-quality solutions as essential “commodities on the shelves” for advanced PLM and EA implementations.
