hic@nada.kth.se
Henrik I Christensen is the director of the Centre for Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology, and a chaired professor of computer science specialising in autonomous systems, with the Department of Computer Science and Numerical Analysis.
He is currently conducting research research on mobile robotics, autonomous systems, computer vision, and biologically inspired robot systems. His overall emphasis is on a holistic approach to design of systems, incl mathematically well defined methods for design, analysis and implementation of systems. A fundamental idea is that methods should be evaluated in realistic settings which involved an interesting scenario and a full systems context. Henrik is involved in a large number of national and international projects. He is also a scientific advisor to the company Evolution Robotics. Research cooperation involves research labs and companies on three continents.
In addition, Henrik is actively involved in a number of community efforts in particular as the coordinator of the EU network of excellence in Robotics - EURON, that coordinates research, education, industrial links and publishing across Europe. He is a fellow of the International Foundation of Robotics Research and serves as an IEEE RAS distinguished lecturer (2004-2006). Henrik also serves on the board of trustees of the STINT foundation.
RODNEY A. BROOKS is Director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science. He is also Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of iRobot Corporation.
His research is concerned with both the engineering of intelligent robots to operate in unstructured environments, and with understanding human intelligence through building humanoid robots. He has published papers and books in model-based computer vision, path planning, uncertainty analysis, robot assembly, active vision, autonomous robots, micro-robots, micro-actuators, planetary exploration, representation, artificial life, humanoid robots, and compiler design.
Johnston@precarn.ca
Paul Johnston is the Vice President, Operations for Precarn Incorporated. In this position, he is responsible for the management of the Precarn industry-based research program and the university-based Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, one of the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence. He provides strategic and operational advice to the President and acts as in-house counsel to the corporation. In addition, he provides day-to-day operational leadership to the staff.
Mr. Johnston is also President of the International Federation of Robotics and President of the Canadian Federation for Robotics, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the management of workshops, conferences, symposia and other events to encourage the use and application of robotics in Canadian industry. He is Secretary-Treasurer to the Gordon M. MacNabb Scholarship Foundation, a charitable organization formed to honour the original president of Precarn by awarding a $5,000 scholarship each year to a Canadian graduate student doing research in intelligent systems.
Prior to joining Precarn in 1990, Mr. Johnston was the Director of Planning and Coordination with the Canadian Space Agency and, before that, with the Space Policy Sector of the Department of Industry, Science and Technology, where his responsibilities included policy and drafting advice respecting the legislation creating the Space Agency, international relations with the United States (including negotiations for the Space Station agreements and the RADARSAT Program) and long-term, space program planning and coordination.
Mr. Johnston is a lawyer (Called to the Bar in Ontario in 1985) and was trained as an engineer (BASc, 1971, University of Toronto), with a speciality in Aerospace Engineering. Mr. Johnston also holds his Bachelor of Education and taught Mathematics and Science at the Secondary School level in Toronto between 1973 and 1980.
Peter.Corke@csiro.au
Peter Corke’s formal training is in electrical engineering and control systems, but in his career he has been involved with many aspects of computer vision: high-speed architectures for computer vision, laser scanner technology, stereo vision, color vision, panoramic imaging; robotics: classical kinematics and dynamics, numerical and symbolic tools for analysis and design, ground-based and flying mobile robots, force control, control architectures and implementation; and their combination in vision-based control (visual servoing). In the latter area h co-authored a key paper in the field, has written one book, organized workshops and edited a special issue of the IJRR. His research is often collaborative with local and overseas colleagues, and also involves PhD student supervision.
His work has had a strong applied flavour and included significant industrial interaction. This work has included the SafeTCam traffic monitoring system installed in NSW, automation of large mining excavators, autonomous underground ore-haulage machines, automated explosive loading, high-performance stabilizers for airborne geophysics instruments, flying robots for civil applications, robotic force control and grinding amongst others.
Hendrik.VanBrussel@mech.kuleuven.ac.be
Prof. Hendrik Van Brussel is full professor in mechatronics and automation at the Faculty of Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven), Belgium, chairman of the Division of Production engineering, Machine design and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering. He received his B.Sc ME (Technisch Ingenieur) degree from Hoger Technisch Instituut, Oostende, Belgium, in 1965, and his M. Sc. EE (Burgerlijk Ingenieur) and PhD degrees from K.U.Leuven, Belgium, in 1968 and 1971 respectively. From 1971 until 1973 he was active in Bandung, Indonesia, establishing a Metal Industries Development Centre and as an associate professor at Institut Teknologi Bandung.
He was a pioneer in robotics research in Europe and an active promoter of the mechatronics idea as a new paradigm in machine design. He has published extensively on different aspects of robotics, mechatronics and flexible automation. His present research interest is also shifting towards holonic manufacturing systems, behaviour based robots with applications in service and medical robotics, and micro and precision engineering, including microrobotics.
He is Fellow of SME and IEEE. In 1994 he received an honorary doctor degree from Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen, Germany and from the ‘Politehnica’ University in Bucarest, Romania, and in 2003 from the ‘Transilvania’ University of Brasov, Romania. He is a Member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Fine Arts and Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). He is Active Member of CIRP (International Institution for Production Engineering Research) of which he served as President (2000-2001).
tony@icaos.org
Anthony M. "Tony" DiGioia III, M.D. is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon. He obtained his bachelor's of science degree in civil engineering, as well as a master's degree in civil and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and subsequently trained in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He returned to Boston to complete a fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in adult reconstructive surgery.
Tony is the founder and co-director of the Center for Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery (MRCAS) at Carnegie Mellon and director of the Institute for Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery (ICAOS) at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital. Tony has been a world leader in developing educational and training programs for surgeons and technologists alike (CAOS/USA Conference Series and Surgical Academy and the MRCAS/MICCAI Conferences).
haegele@ipa.fraunhofer.de
Martin Haegele received his degree as Diplom-Ingenieur in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart in 1989 and his degree of Master of Science in Engineering Science (Solid Mechanics and Materials Science) from the George Washington University in Washington DC, USA. In 1989 he started working at Fraunhofer IPA in robotics development and application (especially material flow automation). In 1993 he was promoted to Head of Department of "Robot Systems" and was appointed a member of the Fraunhofer IPA managing board in 2001. Martin Haegele holds 4 patents and several awards such as the "Award of the German Association of Machine Tools Manufacturers (VDW)" in 1990, the "Innovation Award of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA)" in 1995 and the "Grand Prix Europeen de l'Innovation et des Technologies Nouvelles" in 1998. About Fraunhofer Fraunhofer IPA is one of the largest of the 58 Fraunhofer institutes in Germany with a current employment of more than 250 engineers and scientists. Its annual turnover totaled some 35 million EURO in 2002, most of it stemming from industrial contract research. Fraunhofer IPA has been a pioneer in both industrial and service-robot application and development. Personal robots as well as assistive systems for interactive human-machine-task execution both at workplaces and in public environments stand out as current research topics. The institute covers both robot systems design and research in critical robot key technologies such as sensor data processing, control and man-machine-interaction with some 35 scientists and engineers.
vpg@e-symposium.com
Val-Pierre Genton is an experienced specialist within the field of B2B Internet. Val-Pierre has an established and recognised background in Business-to-Business Strategic Marketing, Business Development and Research & Development within the fields of conferences, publishing and vortals (vertical portals). After a string of appointments in middle- and senior management with companies such as the IIR (International Institute of Research) and Reed Business Information he founded e-symposium Ltd in 1999 and has grown the company to one of the world's leading B2B New Media companies. The company is internationally renowned for its clear, user-friendly and cutting edge web conferences, as well as their objective, professional content.
The e-symposium concept is a revolutionary format designed to create a unique industry intelligence platform for industry professionals in selected niche industries (Robotics, Biometrics, Cybercrime, Homeland Security and New Energy to name a few). This innovative formula facilitates industry intelligence gathering and stimulates knowledge sharing amongst industry professionals. The e-symposium concept has attracted international interest and acclaim from industry. Val-Pierre Genton is a member of the Internet Society, a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a member of the Institute of Directors and he is also on the advisory council of numerous communication and Internet committees. He is in demand as a speaker and is a regular writer for numerous newsletters and industry publications on topics surrounding the business-to-business new media landscape.
