Organizers

Ziwei Wang is an Assistant Professor in Robotics at Lancaster University and the theme co-lead of the Lancaster Intelligent, Robotic and Autonomous Systems Centre (LIRA). He received the Ph.D. degree from the Department of Automation at Tsinghua University, China. Prior to joining Lancaster University, he worked as a Research Associate with the Human Robotics Group in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, U.K. He is also a Visiting Scholar at King’s College London, UK. His main research interests and expertise span a broad range of areas in teleoperation systems, human sensorimotor augmentation, and human-robot interaction.

He has served as an Associate Editor of Biomimetic Intelligence and Robotics (BIROB), Guest Editor of IEEE Transactions on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems, and an Editorial Board Member of Frontiers in Robotics and AI and Designs. He is an IEEE Member and a CSF Member. He has served as a Technical Community Member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) and IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS), such as Collaborative Automation for Flexible Manufacturing, Human-Robot Interaction & Coordination, Telerobotics and Robotics & Automation in Nuclear Fusion (RAS-RANF). He was the recipient of the Young Author Award at the IFAC Workshop on Control Applications of Optimization in 2018, the Best Paper Award of the IEEE International Conference on Automation and Computing in 2022, and the Best Poster Award of IROS Workshop 2022. He served as the Academic Advisor for the First Prize of the 2021 International Collegiate Spacecraft Innovation Design Contest.

Angela Faragasso is a passionate researcher and innovator in the field of robotics. She began her research journey at La Sapienza, University of Rome, focusing on vision-based navigation. Her master’s program took her to the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) at Texas A&M University, where she deepened her expertise in vision systems for autonomous navigation. During her doctoral research at King’s College London, Angela explored advanced visual feedback techniques for Minimally Invasive Surgery robots, emphasizing improved sensation in surgical procedures. After completing her PhD, she joined the University of Tokyo, first as a JSPS postdoctoral research fellow and later as a Project Assistant Professor in the Service Robotics Laboratory. Currently, Angela is the Lead of Research Engineer at FingerVision, a pioneering company specializing in vision-based sensing for robots handling food and automation in food factories. Her work continues to push the boundaries of robotic innovation, contributing significantly to advancements in healthcare, safety, and industry. Dr. Faragasso is also a prominent figure in the robotics community, serving as co-chair for the IEEE Technical Committee on Performance Evaluation & Benchmarking of Robotic and Automation Systems (TC-PEBRAS) and as an associate chair within the IEEE Automation Cluster.

Bo Xiao received the Ph.D. degree in robotics (control sciences and engineering) from the Department of Informatics, King’s College London, London, U.K., in 2018. He is currently a Research Associate with the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery and the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, London, U.K. During the period 2017 to 2018, he was a Research Fellow with Advanced Robotics Centre and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore. His current research interests include fuzzy model-based control systems, interval type-2 fuzzy logic, polynomial control systems, machining learning, reinforcement learning and their applications in medical robotics.

Lakmal Seneviratne received the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from King's College London, London, U.K., in 1986, respectively.,He was a Professor of Mechatronics, the founding Director of the Centre for Robotics Research, and the Head of the Division of Engineering, King's College London, London, U.K. He is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the founding Director of the Centre for Autonomous Robotic Systems, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He has also served as Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies and Associate VP Research with Khalifa University. He is Professor Emeritus with King's College London. He has authored or couthored over 400 peer reviewed publications in the areas of his interests. His research interests include robotics and automation, with particular emphasis on increasing the autonomy of robotic systems interacting with complex dynamic environments.,Dr. Seneviratne is a Member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientists in the UAE.

Hajime Asama has been a Professor with the School of Engineering, UTokyo, since 2009, and the Director of RACE, since 2019. His main research interests include service robotics, distributed autonomous robotic systems, embodied brain science systems, and cognitive ergonomics. He is a fellow of JSME and RSJ. He was an AdCom Member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, from 2007 to 2009, and has been a Council Member of the Science Council of Japan, since 2017. He received the SICE System Integration Division System Integration Award for Academic Achievement, in 2010; and the JSME Award (Technical Achievement), in 2018. He was the Vice President of RSJ, from 2011 to 2012, and has been the President of IFAC, since 2020.

Chenguang (Charlie) Yang holds the Chair in Robotics with Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, UK. He was a Professor of Robotics with University of the West of England, Bristol, leading Robot Teleoperation Group at Bristol Robotics Laboratory. He is a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Aisa-Pacific AI Association (AAIA), and British Computer Society (BCS). He is the corresponding Co-Chair of IEEE Technical Committee on Collaborative Automation for Flexible Manufacturing (CAFM), an Editor-in-Chief of Robot Learning, a Specialty Chief Editor for Computational Intelligence in Robotics of Frontiers in Robotics and AI, and a Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on System, Man and Cybernetics: Systems. He was the President of Chinese Automation and Computing Society in the UK (CACSUK), and have served as general chair of the 27th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC) and the 25th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT). He was awarded EPSRC Innovation Fellowship (2018-21) and EU FP-7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship grant (2011-13). As the lead author, he received the prestigious IEEE Transactions on Robotics Best Paper Award (2012) and IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems Outstanding Paper Award (2022).