Management Team

Niels graduated with a Dipl.Ing degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Science Hamburg, Germany in 2000. He obtained his MSc degree in Technology Management from the University of Portsmouth in 2001 and was awarded his PhD degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management from the University of Nottingham in 2006. Niels worked as a Lecturer at the University of Nottingham from 2006 - 2013. He joined Loughborough University in 2014 as Senior Lecturer in the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation and became he became Intelligent Automation's Centre Director in 2017. Niels' research interests are… [Read more]

Adele joined the Smart Cobotics Centre as Centre Manager in May 2023 and brings over 27 years’ of UK and EU funded project management experience to the role. She is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the Centre, including financial management and resource management, ensuring the efficient running of the project. Adele's role includes project reporting and liaison with project sponsors, collaborators and partners. She works closely with the Centre's Principal Investigator and management team to co-ordinate, monitor and facilitate the research, innovation, and outreach activities of the Smart Cobotics Centre. [Read more]

Ella graduated from the Systems Engineering MEng course at Loughborough University in 2005. During her time as an undergraduate, she gained a Diploma in Industrial Studies (DIS) through a series of placements with BAE Systems. Prior to graduation, Ella also completed a placement with the AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Branch). She began work as a Research Associate with the Department of Human Sciences at Loughborough University in 2005, working on the Knowledge and Information Management – through life Grand Challenge. Alongside this post, she also completed her PhD, investigating the configuration of decision-making systems. In 2008, Ella joined the Electronic… [Read more]

Peter graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2001 with a MEng in Mechanical Engineering and a Diploma of Industrial Studies. During his studies he spent one year at the Danish Technical University as part of the Erasmus exchange programme. He remained at Birmingham to complete a PhD in Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) in 2003, funded by EPSRC and GE Sensing, where his thesis investigated novel micro mechanical structures and manufacturing processes suitable for improving the performance of MEMS resonant pressure sensors. Having completed his PhD, Peter joined GE Sensing, where he progressed to the role of Senior Design… [Read more]

Kerstin Eder is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol, heads the Trustworthy Systems Laboratory (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/tsl) and leads the Verification & Validation for Safety in Robots research theme at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Her expertise is in simulation-based testing and formal methods to gain confidence in the trustworthiness of complex systems from semiconductor designs and cyber-physical systems to human-assistive robots and automated vehicles. Her research is focused on novel modelling, analysis and combinations of techniques to achieve solutions that make a difference in practice, including functional correctness, safety and security properties as well as power dissipation and energy… [Read more]

Nathan F. Lepora is an academic with cross-disciplinary interests in robotics and neuroscience. His main focus is on dexterous robots with a human-like sense of touch and manual intelligence, an area undergoing rapid and exciting progress. He is a Professor of Robotics & AI at the University of Bristol, leading the Tactile Robotics Group in Bristol Robotics Laboratory with 15 researchers in robotics, AI and neuroscience. He holds a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award on: ‘A Biomimetic Forebrain for Robot Touch’. Nathan also writes children’s books on science and technology, most recently ‘Robots!’ in the acclaimed Findout! series by Dorling-Kindersley. [Read more]

Jonathan Rossiter is Professor of Robotics at the University of Bristol and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Founder and Head of the Soft Robotics research group, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and pioneer and world leader in the field of Soft Robotics - the development of soft materials, mechanisms and machines that will have a huge impact on almost all aspect of our lives, from healthcare and virtual reality to environmental protection and space systems.  He was previously awarded a EPSRC Research Fellowship and a Royal Society Research Fellowship.  Jonathan has been awarded over £40m research funding and has… [Read more]

Phil is the head of the Integrated Systems Department and leads the Aero-structure Assembly and Systems Installation Research Group and is currently leading a number of projects on aero-structure assembly and aircraft systems installation. As the Deputy Director of the EPSRC Centre in Intelligent Automation is involved in a significant number of projects on advanced automation and especially human collaborative automation and robotics. [Read more]

Seemal is CU control lead for ATI-funded Airbus project for Module-Positioning (AutoRamp; TRL:5-7). She have 12 years’ experience in academia and 4 years’ experience in industry - Software house (associated with academia). She is an enthusiastic scientist, chartered-engineer and higher-education-academy-Fellow who always look for opportunities to solve problems that help make life easier by working closely with industry to provide them with automated system which not only include expert-human in the loop but also assist the operators with manual handling and precision. She is a strong believer of human in the loop of automation where possible which not only help… [Read more]

Sarah heads the Industrial Psychology and Human Factors research group in the Centre for Robotics and Assembly at Cranfield University, and has been leading human-automated system interaction research for over 22 years. Her research work focuses on improving the integration of people with automation / robotic systems through the development of effective user interfaces and implementation strategies that enhance trust, satisfaction, performance and safety behaviours. She has led numerous human analysis programmes in UK and EU research projects, mostly within the manufacturing sector, and works on the development of national and international standards in robotics, robot ethics, human-system ergonomics, and… [Read more]