Curriculum Vitae

Occupation

Scientific Career

since 08/2021

Senior research fellow
Robotics Research Group (University of Hertfordshire),
Permanent position involving multiple projects

Human-robot interaction and social robotics research

Substantial involvement and the adoption of leading roles in the group's core research activities, i.e. bid writing, further development of (inter-)national collaborations, teaching and supervision, scientific and public dissemination as well as professional outreach. Contribution to conception and execution of new and existing projects.

since 10/2017

Robot House manager
Robotics Research Group (University of Hertfordshire),
Additional role

Dedicated long-term support and management of the Robot House research facilities

Advising internal and external collaborators in using the robots and facilities, offering expertise in conducting research and experimental design as well as the maintenance of robots and all the other interactive technology in the house. Representing and disseminating Robot House research and the university to existing and potential future collaborators and the general public.

10/2017 - 08/2021

Research fellow
Adaptive Systems Research Group (University of Hertfordshire),
Permanent position involving EPSRC Strategic Equipment Grant Robot House 2.0 and other projects

Human-robot interaction and social robotics research

Delivering the project including putting new robots into operation and integrating them into the facility, advising refurbishment works, disseminating the facility, organising its academic launch and initiating and conducting feasibility projects involving Robot House.

04/2015 - 09/2017

Post-doctoral researcher
Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) and Applied Informatics (Bielefeld University),
Large-scale project Cognitive service robotics apartment

Coordination and arbitration of interactive resources

Supporting the project being responsible for the coordination and arbitration of functional components and resources of the apartment as well as its residential robots. Leading the design of interactive scenarios, experimental set-ups and demonstrations for international visitors. Advising and coordinating the more than ten PhD students that were part of the project. Continued committment to numerous teaching and supervisory duties.

01/2009 - 12/2014

Full-time researcher
Applied Informatics (Bielefeld University) and Collaborative Research Cluster 673 Alignment in Communication,
Project Interaction space

Interaction space in applied social robotics

Delivering the cognitive robotics part of the project while obtaining doctoral degree focused on social communication in with spatial signals. Realisation of an interactive receptionist scenario on the Flobi and iCub robotic platforms. Disseminating our labs research to the general public and expert audiences presenting at international science and industry fairs and events. Undergraduate and postgraduate teaching activities in seminars and tutorials. Supervision of year- or half-year long final projects of M.Sc., B.Sc., and diploma students and examination of their theses.

Part-time work

since 10/2019

Visiting lecturer
School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science (University of Hertfordshire)

Guest lectures and tutorials in computer science, ethics

Supporting level seven modules 'Advanced topics in computer science' and 'Legal and ethical practice exercise' with specialism lectures, tutorials, markings, and module design.

10/2006 - 09/2008

Research assistant
Applied Informatics (Bielefeld University),
Flobi - A reconfigurable, anthropomorphic robot head; Exploration of Robust Bi-Manual Interaction (ERBI); Deutsche Service-Robotik-Initiative (DESIRE)

Programming human-robot interaction software and devices

Supporting postgraduate students and research fellows in their projects with programming human-robot interaction software and scenarios on various robotic platforms and disseminating research at international industry exhibitions and science festivals.

08/2004 - 03/2012

Student tutor
Faculty of Technology (Bielefeld University)

Courses in algorithms and data structures, project development, computer vision, and pattern recognition

Supporting the delivery and design of undergraduate tutorials in algorithms and data structures, software project development, computer vision, and pattern recognition.

Education

10/2021 - 05/2022

Postgraduate Certificate (Learning and Teaching in Higher Education)
University of Hertfordshire, Learning and Teaching Innovation Centre,
Continuing Professional Academic Development programme

01/2009 - 02/2015

Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.)
Bielefeld University, Faculty of Technology,
Doctorate programme Intelligent systems

Final grade very good

10/2006 - 01/2009

Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Bielefeld University, Faculty of Technology,
Masters programme Intelligent systems

Final grade 1.1

10/2003 - 09/2006

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)
Bielefeld University, Faculty of Technology,
Bachelors programme Bioinformatics and genome research

Final grade 1.5

08/1994 - 07/2003

Abitur (3 A-Levels)
Thomas-Morus Gymnasium, Oelde

Final grade 1.8

Grants

upcoming

SWAG: Soft wearable assistive garments for human empowerment (Co-Investigator)
Horizon Europe,
Innovation Action Cluster 4 - Digital, Industry and Space

06/2022 - 09/2022

Charting the Current Limits and Developing Future Directions of Speech Interfaces in Robotics (Co-Investigator)
Pump priming activity (workshop),
EPSRC UK-RAS Network

07/2021 - 06/2022

Kaspar explains: the impact of explanation on human-robot trust using an educational platform (Co-Investigator)
Foundational research project,
UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (TAS): Pump priming programme

02/2019 - 06/2019

Assuring safety and social credibility (Co-Investigator)
Small feasibility project,
Lloyd's Register Foundation, University of York: Assuring Autonomy International Programme (AAIP)

Projects

01/2022 - 12/2024

EMERGENCE: Tackling Frailty - Facilitating the Emergence of Healthcare Robots from Labs into Service (Co-Investigator)
Network+ project,
EPSRC

12/2020 - 12/2024

HIRo: Human Interactive Robotics in Healthcare (Advisory Board Member)
Innovasjonsprosjekt,
Norwegian Research Council

09/2019 - 08/2022

EMBOA: Affective loop in Socially Assistive Robotics as an intervention tool for children with autism (Co-Investigator)
Research and didactic project,
ERASMUS+

07/2021 - 06/2022

Kaspar explains: the impact of explanation on human-robot trust using an educational platform (Co-Investigator)
Foundational research project,
UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (TAS): Pump priming programme

02/2019 - 06/2019

Assuring safety and social credibility (Co-Investigator)
Small feasibility project,
Lloyd's Register Foundation, University of York: Assuring Autonomy International Programme (AAIP)

02/2019 - 10/2017

Robot House 2.0 (Postdoctoral Researcher)
Strategic equipment grant,
EPSRC

04/2015 - 09/2017

CSRA: Cognitive service robotics apartment (Postdoctoral Researcher)
Large scale project in Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC),
Excellence initiative, German Research Foundation (DFG)

01/2009 - 12/2014

Interaction Space (Named Researcher)
Project in Collaborative Research Cluster 673 Alignment in Communication,
German Research Foundation (DFG)

Academic activities

Supervision and examination

05/2023 - 04/2026 (estimated)

Human-Robot Interactions - Effects of Agency, Autonomy and Embodiment on User Trust
Doctoral project supervision

09/2021 - 08/2024 (estimated)

End-user personalisation of social/companion robot for long-term engagement
Doctoral project supervision

01/2021 - 12/2023 (estimated)

Human Activity Detection in Ambient Assisted Living Scenarios
Doctoral project supervision

04/2019 - 06/2023 (estimated)

Human Activity Detection in Ambient Assisted Living Scenarios
Doctoral project supervision

03/2017 - 09/2017

Goal-driven competitive behaviors as an intelligent home control
M.Sc. project (half-year) supervision and thesis examination

05/2013 - 11/2013

Analysing Human-Human Behaviour in Shared Space for Improving Human-Robot Interaction
M.Sc. project (half-year) supervision and thesis examination

05/2011 - 08/2011

Automatisches Akquirieren Visueller Training Sets für Erkennungsalgorithmen
B.Sc. project (three-month) supervision and thesis examination

10/2010 - 04/2011

An Online Stereo Calibration System for Humanoid Robots demonstrated on the iCub Platform
M.Sc. project (half-year) supervision and thesis examination

Regular lectures (Level 7)

since 2020

: Legal and Ethical Practice Exercise

since 2019

: Advanced Research Topics in Computer Science

Research seminars (M.Sc.)

2015

: Social robotics

2012

: Applied speech processing

2011

: Vision for 3D - 3D for vision

2010

: Image-based tracking methods

2009

: Spatial interaction between humans and robots

Tutorials (various levels)

since 2019

: Advanced Research Topics in Computer Science

2012, 2011

(asdf): Musterklassifikation (pattern recognition)

2011

: Computer Vision

2010

: Bildverarbeitung (image processing)

2006, 2005

: Techniken der Projektentwicklung I & II (project development)

2005

: Unix Praktikum (applied basic Unix)

2005, 2004

: Algorithmen und Datenstrukturen I & II (algorithms & data structures)

Scientific Experience and Indicators

Awards

03/2023

Best paper: Theory & Methods (nominee)
International Conference on Human-Robot interaction (HRI),
Stockholm, Sweden

03/2023

Best late breaking report (nominee)
International Conference on Human-Robot interaction (HRI),
Stockholm, Sweden

02/2021

Vice-Chancellors Award: Team of the year (3 x nominee)
University of Hertfordshire

03/2019

Best paper award
International Conference on Performance, Safety and Robustness in Complex Systems and Applications (PESARO),
Valencia, Spain

11/2010

Best student paper award
International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR),
Singapore

12/2009

Best graduation degree (Intelligent systems)
Faculty of Technology (Bielefeld University)

Invited talks

upcoming

Socially credible robots
University of Waterloo,
Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Online

02/2023

Socially credible robots
Refsnes Gods,
Human Interactive Robotics in Healthcare (HIRo) project meeting
Moss, Norway

11/2022

Robot House - Home to human-robot interaction
Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg,
Advanced Topics in AI and Robotics Seminar
Online

07/2022

How AI-driven technology can help solve issues facing global food security
Times Higher Education,
THE Campus round table discussion
Online

07/2022

Human-robot interaction research at Robot House
Heriot-Watt University,
Interaction Lab, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Edinburgh, UK

10/2020

Human-robot interaction research at Robot House
National Health Service (NHS),
Graduate management trainee scheme IAG
Online

10/2019

Human-robot interaction research at Robot House
University of Oslo,
Multimodal Elderly Care Systems (MECS) project closing
Oslo, Norway

12/2017

The Cognitive Service Robotics Apartment - Interaction Concepts
University of Hertfordshire,
Computer Science Research Colloquium
Hatfield, UK

10/2017

The Cognitive Service Robotics Apartment - Interaction Concepts
Workshop Multicentric Interaction with Smart Homes and Home Robots,
International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI)
Bielefeld, Germany

Editorials and Programme Committees

in prep.

Co-editor of a special issue (Curiosity in Human-Robot Interaction)
Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics,
De Gruyter

in prep.

Co-editor of a special issue (The road to successful HRI: trust, acceptance, ethics, social signals and AI)
International Journal of Social Robotics,
Springer

since 03/2023

Associate editor
Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics,
Springer

since 01/2022

Associate editor
International Journal of Social Robotics,
Springer

since 09/2021

Associate editor (Human Robot/Machine Interaction)
International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems,
Sage Publishing

since 09/2021

Editorial board member
Interaction Studies,
John Benjamins Publishing Company

08/2022

Associate editor (Track 4: Biometrics and Human-Computer Interaction)
International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR)

12/2021

Co-editor of a special issue (Trust, Acceptance and Social Cues in Human-Robot Interaction)
Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics Volume 12, Issue 1,
De Gruiter

12/2021

Co-editor of a special issue (Trust, Acceptance and Social Cues in Robot Interaction)
International Journal of Social Robotics Volume 13, Issue 8,
Springer

11/2019

Co-editor of a special issue (Social Cues in Robot Interaction, Trust and Acceptance)
Interaction Studies Volume 20, Issue 3,
John Benjamins Publishing Company

Event organisation

09/2023

Special session organiser
Cognitive Architectures for Personalized Assistive Robots,
International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

09/2023

Special session organiser
Humanoid Robots in Healthcare: exploring real world applications,
International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

09/2022

Two-stage workshop co-organiser
Working with Trouble and Failures in Conversation between Humans and Robots,
Charting the Current Limits and Developing Future Directions of Speech Interfaces in Robotics (UK-RAS Pump Priming Activity)
Online & Hatfield, UK

08/2022

Co-organizer and programme committee member
UK-RAS Conference for PhD and Early-Career Researchers (UKRAS22)
Aberystwyth, UK

08/2022

Special session organiser
Theory of Mind for social HRI,
International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

08/2018 - 08/2023

Workshop series co-organiser (6 iterations)
Trust, Acceptance and Social Cues in Human-Robot Interaction,
International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

08/2021

Special session organiser
Exploring social credibility and trust in HRI,
International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

06/2021

General chair
UK-RAS Conference for PhD and Early-Career Researchers (UKRAS21)
Online (Hatfield, UK)

02/2019

Host and organiser
Robot House 2.0 academic launch event
Hatfield, UK

10/2017

Publication chair
International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI)
Bielefeld, Germany

10/2017

Workshop co-organiser
Multicentric Interaction with Smart Homes and Home Robots,
International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI)
Bielefeld, Germany

11/2016

Main workshop organiser
Embodied Interaction with Smart Environments,
International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI)
Tokyo, Japan

08/2012

Track organiser and tutor
Interaction Strategies in the Peripersonal Space,
Summer School Verbal and non-verbal interaction
Bielefeld, Germany

Memberships

since 03/2023

Peer Review College (Member)
EPSRC

since 07/2022

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
AdvanceHE

since 12/2021

IEEE P3108: Recommended Practice for Human-Robot Interaction Design of Human Subject Studies (Co-chair subgroup study design)
Project/Task Group,
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

since 09/2017

EPSRC UK-Robotics and Autonomous Systems (UK-RAS) Network (Network committee member)
Representative of the University of Hertfordshire

01/2015 - 12/2018

IEEE Young Professionals (Member)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Reviewing

Proposals: EPSRC (Fellowships), NWO Talent Programme "Vici", Royal Academy of Engineering (Fellowships)

Doctoral theses: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Journals: Paladyn - Journal of Behavioral Robotics (4), International Journal of Social Robotics (27), Interaction Studies (3), MDPI Robotics (2), Robotics and Automation Letters (2), User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction (2)

Conferences: Conference on Human Factors in Computing (1), International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (4), International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (7), Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (1), International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (1), International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (3), UK-RAS Conference for PhD and Early-Career Researchers (7), International Conference on Social Robotics (4), International Conference on Development and Learning (1)

Book chapters: TU Wien Academic Press

Dissemination

Exhibitions: Automatica (Munich, 2010 & 2012), RoboDays (Odense, 2009), CEBIT (Hanover, 2008), CEREALS (Duxford, 2022)

Additional Qualifications

Extracurricular education and training

07/2011

VVV RobotCub (Summer School)
Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Sestri Levante, Italy

10/2010

Structure of Cognitive Motion (Summer School)
Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC)
Bielefeld, Germany

01/2008

Human-Robot Interaction (Winter School)
FP6 Project Cognitive Robot Companion (COGNIRON)
Lausanne, Switzerland

  • since 05/2019 : Fire warden (Fire Warden and Fire Marshal Training)
  • since 04/2018 : First aider (First Aid at Work Certificate)
  • since 10/2017 : Ethics reviewer for Health, Science, Engineering and Technology (HSET) ECDA
  • 10/2018 : Research Degrees Supervision Training
  • 07/2011 : Überzeugend Präsentieren (how to give convincing presentations)
  • 07/2009 : Academic Writing in English
  • 06/2009 : Project- and Self-management in a Ph.D. program