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Die Speaker des munich_i Hightech-Summits 2023

Industry meets Research: munich_i bietet Ihnen die einzigartige Gelegenheit, die weltweit führenden Technik-Experten aus Robotik und KI an nur einem Tag zu erleben. Jeder von Ihnen gilt als Vordenker dieser internationalen Innovationsbranche und steht für die Entwicklung neuer technologischer Standards. Oder anders: für den notwendigen Brückenschlag von der Hochtechnologie zur praktischen Anwendung. Das bedeutet für Sie: Pionierwissen aus erster Hand.

Sunil K. Agrawal received a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1990. He is currently a Professor and Director of Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory at Columbia University, located both in engineering and medical campuses of the University. Dr. Agrawal has published more than 500 journal and conference papers, three books, and 18 U.S. patents. He is a Fellow of the ASME and AIMBE. His honors include a NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the White House in 1994, a Bessel Prize from Germany in 2003, and a Humboldt US Senior Scientist Award in 2007. He is a recipient of 2016 Machine Design Award from ASME for “seminal contributions to design of robotic exoskeletons for gait training of stroke patients” and 2016 Mechanisms and Robotics Award from the ASME for “cumulative contributions and being an international leading figure in mechanical design and robotics”. He is a recipient of several Best Paper awards in ASME and IEEE sponsored robotics conferences. He has successfully directed 35 PhD student theses and currently supervises research of 5 PhD students in ROAR laboratory. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Wearable Technologies” from Cambridge University Press. He was the Conference Chair for IEEE BioRob2020 organized in New York City.

Rehabilitation Robotics and Improving Everyday Human Functions

Neural disorders, old age, and traumatic injuries limit the ability of humans to perform activities of daily living. Robotics can be used to characterize and retrain human neuromuscular responses. Columbia University Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory designs innovative robots and performs scientific studies to improve everyday human functions such as standing, walking, stair climbing, reaching, head turning, and others. Human experiments have targeted individuals with stroke, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and elderly subjects with various disorders. The talk will provide an overview of some of these robotic technologies and scientific studies performed with them.

Prof. Aude Billard is Head of the LASA laboratory in the School of Engineering at the Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and holds a B.Sc and M.Sc. in Physics from EPFL (1995) and a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence (1998) from the University of Edinburgh. Aude Billard’s research spans the fields of machine learning and robotics with a particular emphasis on learning from sparse data and performing fast and robust retrieval. This work finds application to robotics, human-robot / human-computer interaction and computational neuroscience. Aude Billard leads the Swiss National Thematic Network Innovation Booster on Robotics, a half a million fund in support of industrial-academic partnerships, and is the current president-elect of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.

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Toshio Fukuda received Dr. Eng. from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, in 1977.

Currently, He is Professor Emeritus Nagoya University(2013), visiting professor of Nagoya University(2013-), Professor Meijo University( 2013-2022), Professor Waseda University(2019-). His major is bio-robotics, especially Micro and Nano Robotics.

Dr. Fukuda is IEEE President (2020), the IEEE Director of Division X, Systems and Control (2017-2018), IEEE Region 10 Director (2013-2014) and served President of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (1998-1999), Director of the IEEE Division X, Systems and Control (2001- 2002), Co-founding Editor-in-Chief of IEEE / ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (2000-2002) and Editor-in-Chief of ROBOMECH Journal, Springer (2013-), Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Cyborg and Bionic Systems(2018-). He was Founding President of IEEE Nanotechnology Council (2002-2003, 2005).He was elected as a member of Science Council of Japan (2008-2013). He organized many conferences, such as IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems(IROS, 1988), System Integration International(SII, 2008), Cyborg and Bionic Systems(CBS, 2017) as the founding Chair and others.

Dr. Fukuda received IEEE Robotics and Automation Pioneer Award (2004), IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award (2010), Honorary Doctor of Aalto University School of Science and Technology (2010), member of the Japan Academy of Engineering(2013), Friendship Award of State Administration of Foreign Experts affairs of the PR China (2014), Medal of Honor on Purple Ribbon (2015), Foreign member of Chinese Academy of Science (2017), Chunichi Culture Award(2019), The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (2022).

IEEE Fellow (1995), SICE Fellow (1995), JSME Fellow (2001), RSJ Fellow (2004).

AI Robot to solve the Mega-Trend problems

Robotics and AI can challenge for the Mega-Trend problems such as aging society, climate change, energy and food issues in the world in the future, 2050 and beyond. Intelligent robotic technology can be used for the wide variety of human life, such that aged people can live independently and comfortably with less assistance from others in near future, and that robot/AI can help human find new solutions and discovery in many wider applications, including the design and manufacturing in automation and many others.

Thus today’s asymmetry nature in function between human and robot will be dramatically changed to the more symmetric relation between both: easy to use and dependent each other equally in the future. Those symmetric AI robot will help people find new scientific and technological solution and discovery in many fields in future, so that there will be evolutionary changes of our society in not only the manufacturing but also design for device and system in automation and even the structure of our society itself.

To make such ambitious goal realizable in future, it is necessary for AI robots to have the capabilities of co-evolution and self-organization. I will show a new initiative on AI and Robot, Moon Shot Programs aiming on challenging to the Mega-Trend problems.

Thus robotics/AI will greatly change the structure and architecture of the world itself in future, 2050 and beyond.

Ryan Gariepy is co-founder and CTO of both Clearpath Robotics and OTTO Motors. In addition, he serves on the board of the Open Source Robotics Foundation, is a co-founder of ROSCon, and also co-founded and co-chairs the Canadian Robotics Council. Ryan is also an advisor to several startups and venture capital groups, and helped found the Next Generation Manufacturing Canada initiative. He is a regular speaker, panelist, and expert guest on topics including robotics, AI, and technology policy. Ryan completed both a B.A.Sc. degree in Mechatronics Engineering and a M.A.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, and has over seventy pending patents in the field of autonomous systems.

Don’t Just Build Robots, Deliver Results

From vacuums to quadrupeds to self-driving cars, robots are becoming increasingly physically capable, intelligent and cost-effective. As with any emerging industry, the earliest innovators didn't have the luxury of decades of fundamental knowledge and best practices available to them. They built from the ground up and learned the hard way what not to do. Today, we're entering a new era of robotics. The most successful robotics companies of the next decade won't be the ones building from scratch. They'll build on existing platforms that have been hardened to solve very specific problems, including problems in autonomy, fleet management, simulation, and more throughout the robotics stack.

In this presentation, the audience will learn how robotics development has been done recently, what is changing, and what is coming in the next decade from an expert with fifteen years of experience in robot development & deployment across a variety of industries. Market expectations surrounding robotic capabilities, security and privacy, and robustness and safety are becoming increasingly difficult for new entrants to match. Nevertheless, a variety of market forces are making building robots cheaper and easier than ever before, and demand for robotics has never been higher!

Just as a new software company today wouldn’t build their own cloud computing platform, and instead would use AWS, the next generation of robotics companies are not going to start with a hodgepodge of ROS nodes and custom circuit boards. It is highly likely that some of the world’s largest robotics companies haven’t even been founded yet!

Dr. Norbert Gaus, Executive Vice President at Siemens Technology, is responsible for Research & Pre-Development at Siemens. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from Technical University Munich, he worked initially as a research assistant at the German Aerospace Center. During that time he earned a Ph.D. in engineering from Ruhr University Bochum. He joined Siemens AG Technology in 1991. Between 1994 and 2001, Gaus held various positions in the Information and Communication Networks Group with the rank of Vice President. In the following four years, he served as President and CEO of Siemens Corporate Research Inc., Princeton, NJ, USA. From 2005 to when he assumed his current position, he held various executive positions in Siemens Healthcare, ultimately as CEO of the Customer Solutions Division (Sales and Service for Siemens Healthcare, HIS Business Unit) of Siemens Healthcare. Since May 2015 he is in his current position at Siemens Technology.

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Maja Horst received her MA in social science and communication from Roskilde University, Denmark, in 1996 and her PhD from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in 2003. Her doctoral thesis focused on public controversies about biotechnology. She was employed as an assistant and associate professor at CBS until 2011, when she became Head of the Department of Media, Cognition and Communication at the University of Copenhagen. She was appointed full professor of Science Communication in 2014. In 2019 she moved to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where she became professor of responsible technology. She chairs the Division for Responsible Innovation and Design within DTU Management. Maja Horst is a member of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences and has been awarded the Danish Science Minister’s communication prize for her work with dialogical science communication installations. She has been appointed to a number of public positions and currently chairs the Board of the Danish Independent Research Fund. She has also been elected President of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology 2022-2025. In 2021 she was awarded the Hans Fischer Senior Fellowship at TUM-IAS and is a visiting professor in the Department of STS at TUM.

How do we make socially responsible technology?

In Europe we have an opportunity to make socially responsible technical innovation, which fosters cohesion and democracy. To do this, we need to find new ways to deal with controversies around new and emerging technology. First, we need to realise, that controversies are NOT only about lack of knowledge. Rather, they are often rooted in fundamental questions of values and identity – and they are not solved by simply providing more information. Secondly, we need to agree that to achieve impact in society, technology not only has to be technically effective and economically viable. It also has to be socially legitimate and that is not something we can achieve through smart marketing. Legitimacy is fostered through genuine public engagement on the basis of the values of a society. What we need to aim for, is a culture of socially responsible technology development based in our shared values.

Torsten is Chief Technology Officer at Intrinsic.

He is the founder and former CEO of Reflexxes GmbH, a startup working on research and development of real-time motion generation software. In 2014, Reflexxes was acquired by Google, where Torsten became the Head of a Robotics Software Division. This included coordinating robotics and machine learning research activities between DeepMind, Google Research, Boston Dynamics, and X.

He is also a Co-founder and former CEO of Loom Vision GmbH. Loom Vision's focus was on software and certification of machine learning and robotics software. In 2018, the team of Loom Vision GmbH joined X.

From 2017 to 2022, Torsten was a Professor of Computer Science at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Torsten has been working as a research consultant for Volkswagen AG, KUKA Roboter GmbH, Connyun GmbH, Manz Automation AG, Auris Surgical Robotics, Inc., Redwood Robotics, Inc., and Google, Inc.. Torsten is a board member at Fischerwerke and Pictet Asset Management.

Torsten is an editor or an associate editor of multiple IEEE conference proceedings, books, and book series, and the Multimedia Editor of the Springer Handbook of Robotics.

Among other awards, Torsten received the 2022 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award, the 2018 IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award, and the 2014 IEEE RAS Early Career Award. He is an IEEE Fellow.

Perception and Actuation in Robotics: Machine Learning Made Simple

Robotics can be defined as the intelligent connection between perception and action. Adding cameras and sensors to robot arms or mobile robots makes the task of robot programming challenging (and often economically non-viable). I will show a few examples of how non-expert robotics application developers can use computer-vision and machine learning algorithms without writing a single line of code or any knowledge about training and inference.
Compared to robot perception, creating utility value through machine learning for robot actuation is more challenging - especially when physics plays a role in your application (e.g., dealing with unknown or changing friction, modeling contact forces, unknown and changing process parameters, dynamically changing environments). While much less generic, I will show examples of how a novice application programmer can implement applications using force/torque-controlled industrial robots.
I will demonstrate how these concepts can be applied across applications and to a large extent agnostic to robot and sensor hardware using a new software platform.

Professor Mihailidis is the Associate Vice-President for International Partnerships at the University of Toronto, and the Scientific Director of the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence, which focuses on the development of new technologies and services for older adults. He is a Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (U of T) and in Biomedical Engineering (U of T), with a cross appointment in the Department of Computer Science (U of T).

Professor Mihailidis has been conducting research in the field of technology to support older adults for the past 20 years, having published over 200 journal papers, conference papers, and abstracts in this field. Dr. Mihailidis is also very active in the rehabilitation engineering profession, currently as the Past-President for RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America). He was also named a Fellow of RESNA in 2014, which is one of the highest honours within this field of research and practice, and a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Science (CAHS) in 2021 for his contributions to the health and well-being of older Canadians.

In 2022, Dr. Mihailidis was recognized by the UN as one of the Healthy Ageing 50 – 50 leaders working to transform the world to be a better place in which to grow older.

Professor Mihailidis received a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Toronto in 1996, a M.A.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering in 1998 from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Bioengineering (Rehabilitation Engineering) in 2002 from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland).

The role of AI in Eldercare: Examples, Lessons, and the Future

The field of AgeTech has been emerging for the past several decades, with the development of new technologies and approaches that can support older adults. These technologies range from simple devices and apps to more complex systems like smart homes and robotics. A key aspect in developing this field has been the establishment of consortiums and networks, like the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence in Canada. This presentation will discuss the area of AgeTech, where the field currently sits, and more importantly where the field is going. It will also present examples of technologies that are currently being developed by the AGE-WELL network and strategies that are being established in Canada to help move AgeTech innovations to the marketplace and into the hands of those people who need these solutions—older adults and their caregivers.

Dr. Robin R. Murphy is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and a director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, and human-robot interaction for emergency management. She has deployed ground, aerial, and marine robots to over 30 disasters in five countries including the 9/11 World Trade Center, Fukushima, Hurricane Harvey, and the Surfside collapse. She is an ACM and IEEE Fellow, a TED speaker, and the author of over 200 papers and four books including the award-winning Disaster Robotics. Her contributions to robotics have been recognized with numerous awards including the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions and the Motohiro Kisoi Rescue Engineering Awards.

Robots, Disasters, and High Tech

Small ground, aerial, or marine robots has been used for disaster response since 2001, but why aren’t they used more often? Why hasn’t AI revolutionized search and rescue? The barriers stem from the collision between the unique constraints of emergency management with the narrow focus of start-up culture and investment. Fortunately, robots, disasters, and high tech can mix if technologists turn to systems thinking.

Michael Pfeiffer is the Head of AI Research at Bosch Research and the Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence (BCAI) in Rennigen. BCAI is the leading AI research lab in the European industry, and works in fields such as perception for automated driving, reinforcement learning, embedded AI, dynamics modelling, manipulation robotics, neuro-symbolic AI, or natural language processing, targeting real-world applications in the broad product spectrum of Bosch. BCAI is closely collaborating with top academia worldwide, including Carnegie Mellon University, Tsinghua University, Cyber Valley, or the University of Amsterdam. From 2018 to 2021 Dr. Pfeiffer was a senior manager for embedded deep learning at BCAI. Prior to joining Bosch in 2016 he was a group leader at the Institute of Neuroinformatics at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. He holds an undergraduate degree in Technical Mathematics and a PhD in Computer Science from Graz University of Technology in Austria. In his research Michael Pfeiffer has combined machine learning and computer vision with insights from computational neuroscience. His research has resulted in novel concepts for training spiking neural networks, allowing fast and efficient applications for event-based vision and neuromorphic engineering. At Bosch his research focus has been on novel deep-learning based concepts for processing automotive radar data, and on developing hardware-aware automated machine learning tools and concepts that allow efficient implementations of powerful deep learning algorithms on embedded hardware.

Industrial AI: Bridging the gap from AI research to physical products (working title)

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As the Head of Market Development, Sameer manages a worldwide team of market development managers who lead the effort to foster the adoption of MathWorks products for Technical Computing and Model-Based Design across different market segments.
He has over thirty years of experience applying MathWorks products in various application areas and, prior to joining MathWorks, Sameer has engaged in the research and development of complex control systems through his work at Visteon, Caterpillar, and Tata Motors. His efforts have been documented through United States patents and in global publications.
Sameer has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mumbai and received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University, specializing in robotic controls and artificial intelligence. He also holds an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Realizing Smart Factories, Surgical Robots, and Sustainable Mobility with Model-Based Design

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Robert Riener is full professor for Sensory-Motor Systems at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, and full professor of medicine at the University Hospital Balgrist, University of Zurich. His work focuses on the investigation of the sensory-motor interactions between humans and machines and the development of user-cooperative rehabilitation robots, exoskeletons, and virtual reality technologies. Riener is the initiator and organizer of the CYBATHLON, which was awarded with the European Excellence Award, the Yahoo Sports Technology Award and with two categories of the REIMAGINE Education Award. Riener has published more than 500 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles, 36 books and book chapters and he filed 26 patents. He has received 26 personal distinctions and awards. In 2018 Riener obtained the honorary doctoral degree from the University of Basel.

Rehabilitation Intelligence

The aging of our population is increasingly challenging our healthcare system, because of the shortage of funding and personnel. Robots and AI can help solving these challenges, for example, by performing interventions more accurately and faster, by taking over tasks, which are too exhausting for the medical staff or too dangerous for the patient. Robotics and AI can also help to predict and prevent certain diseases or disease symptoms. This talk provides an overview of current and future robotic systems applied to rehabilitation.

Christian is passionate about Robotics and Technology with more than 25 years’ experience in Industrial Robotics and a deep knowledge in collaborative robotics. He studied at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and holds a Diplom degree in Physics.
Christian has working for KUKA Roboter GmbH R&D where he was responsible for collaborative systems and perception. He was also responsible for “Sunrise” – a robotics operating system for the KUKA Light Weight Robot LBR.
He is now with Festo where he leads a highly talented robotics team with the aim to enter the collaborative robot market with an innovative pneumatic driven robot – the “Festo Cobot”. The “Festo Cobot” was shown at the Hanover Fair and the Automatica fair in 2022 and received a lot of interests by the robotics community and potential customers as well.
He loves to develop small size robots and flight physics engines in his short spare time.

Hot AIr, Cold Steel

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Aimee van Wynsberghe is the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Applied Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bonn in Germany. Aimee is director of the Institute for Science and Ethics and the Bonn Sustainable AI lab. She is co-director of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics and a member of the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on AI. She is a founding editor for the international peer-reviewed journal AI & Ethics and member of the World Economic Forum's Global Futures Council on Artificial Intelligence and Humanity. She is author of the book Healthcare Robots: Ethics, Design, and Implementation and is regularly interviewed by media outlets. In each of her roles, Aimee works to uncover the ethical risks associated with emerging robotics and AI. Aimee’s current research, funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, brings attention to the sustainability of AI by studying the hidden environmental costs of developing and using AI.

The Sustainability of AI and Robotics (tbc)

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Hall of Fame des Hightech-Summits

Meet the experts: Die Speaker des munich_i Hightech-Summits gehören zu den relevanten internationalen Vordenkern von KI und Robotik. Lesen Sie nach, wer die vergangenen Veranstaltungen mit seinem Pionierwissen bereichert hat. Neben Expertenportraits haben wir die jeweils wichtigsten Thesen und Erkenntnisse in Kurzvideos zusammengefasst.

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