An IEEE Fellow and a member of both the CIS and RAS societies of the IEEE. Vice-Chair of the IEEE CIS Cognitive and Developmental Systems Technical Committee (CDS-TC), Chair of its Task Force on Cognitive Robotics, and a Member-at-Large of the IEEE CIS Administrative Committee (ADCOM).
Research Experience
Currently an Associate Professor in Robotics & AI at the Department of Computer Science of University College London (UCL), leading the CRISP group. Also a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), associated with ARQ (Advanced Robotics at QMUL). Previously worked with the Biped Group of Takanishi Lab (Waseda University) and the RBCS (Robotics Brain and Cognitive Science) Department of the IIT (Italian Institute of Technology). Collaborates with VisLab at Instituto de Sistemas e Robotica of Instituto Superior Tecnico (Lisbon, Portugal) as a visiting associate researcher in humanoid and cognitive robotics, and with SuganoLab at Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) as a visiting professor in tactile sensing for robotic manipulation.
Background
Main research interest: Cognitive Robotics, inspired by human cognition to build intelligent robots and validate theories of human cognition through computational models on robots. Focuses on 'The Intelligence of the Hand', including visuo-haptic perception and exploration of objects, grasping, dexterous manipulation, affordance perception, tool use, body schema, eye-hand coordination, physical interaction and collaboration, non-verbal communication, and the sense of touch.