Employment History

02/2024-today: Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Robotics. University of Bristol/Bristol Robotics Lab.
01/2019 - 01/2024: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Robotics. University of Bristol/Bristol Robotics Lab.
09/2017 - 12/2018: Lecturer in Mechatronics. University of the West of England/Bristol Robotics Lab.
01-08/2017: Research Fellow in Surgical Robotics, funded by EU’s H2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 732515 (SMARTsurg project). Bristol Robotics Lab.
03-12/2016: Research Associate in Surgical Robotics: μAngelo project for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, funded by the North Bristol NHS Trust. Bristol Robotics Lab.
2012-2015: Associate Lecturer in Robotics. University of the West of England, Bristol.
2012: Laboratory assistant and instructor in Practical Electronics. University of the West of England, Bristol.

Academic Qualifications

2020 - Aurora Programme, Advance Higher Education
2019 - Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Higher Education Academy Fellowship). University of the West of England.
2016 - PhD in Medical Robotics, Department of Engineering Design and Mathematics, University of the West of England, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, UK. Thesis: “Anthropomorphic Surgical System for Soft Tissue Robot-Assisted Surgery”.
2011: MSc in Robotics with Distinction. University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. Thesis: “3D Simulation and Development of a Robotic System for Hand Rehabilitation”.
2009: MEng, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Thesis: “Object Manipulation and 3-Dimensional Rolling by Dual Human-like Robotic Fingers”.

Admin Roles

08/2024-today: Deputy Programme Director for MSc Biorobotics.
10/2013-today: Concordat Champion for the School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, University of Bristol.
11/2019-04/2022: Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Lead for the School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol.

Research Grants

01/2025: PI for EPSRC Impact Accelerator Award project BraillePen, £15k.
01/2025: Entrepreneurial Lead in ICURe Discover Innovate UK programme business accelerator for RoboSpacer project.
06/2023: (co-I) pump priming funded project “Prototype Resonant Inductor Smart-Glove”, University of Bristol, £5k.
05/2022: (coI) Brigstow Institute funded project “Towards creating inclusive performance spaces - introducing haptics in performance art to dismantle ableist barriers”, budget of £1k.
10/2021: (PI) EPSRC Impact Accelerator Award project “Kinds of Conversation: Making The Intangible Tangible”, budget of £20k.
05/2021: (PI) pump priming funded project “Optimisation and Evaluation of a Soft Exoskeleton glove for hand rehabilitation”, University of Bristol, budget of £5k.
04/2021: (coI) NCNR COVID relief grant, budget of £111k.
2020: (academic PI) EPSRC Industrial Cooperative Awards in Science & Technology (iCASE), with Thales Alenia Space, UK, on ‘Haptic technologies for tele-operation in Space Exploration’.
2019: (coI) CRUK-EPSRC project ARTEMIS (Advanced Robotic breasT ExaMination Intelligent System), total consortium budget of £100k.
2019: (PI) seed project funded by Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for public engagement in health research.
2016: (Researcher coI) EU H2020 research and innovation programme funded project SMARTsurg (SMart wearAble Robotic Teleoperated surgery), grant agreement No 732515, total consortium budget of 4 million Euros.

Awards, Honours and Distinctions

2021: Shortlisted amongst 50 women in robotics you need to know about 2021
2016: Researcher Links scheme and Queen Mary University of London travel award for participation in the Biomedical Engineering and Biorobotics Researcher Links Workshop in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2015: BOSCH travel award for participation at the Women In Robotics workshop of the Robotics, Science and Systems conference in Rome, Italy.
2014: Santander PhD student travel bursary for participation in the IEEE BioRob conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2013: 2nd Prize for best poster presentation in the 'Simulation, Robotics and Telemedicine' conference of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Severn Deanery.
2012: Best presentation prize in the B.E.S.T (Business and Technology in Surgical Technologies) Innovation Course, IRCAD, Strasbourg, France.
2012: Best poster presentation prize in the joint 2012 FIRA RoboWorld Congress and TAROS Conference 2012, Bristol, UK.
2011: 2nd Prize for best poster presentation in the Research Student Summer Connections Event in the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
2010: “Next Generation prize” (£1000 team award) in the 5th Annual Student Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge Europe.

Invited Colloquia

06/2025: Biomedical Robotics Laboratory at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT, Genoa).
05/2025: ICRA 2025 Human-Centric Robotics for Telepresence workshop.
11/2024: Showcase at the Health Innovation West of England Conference.
09/2024: Future Intelligence Talks, University of Cambridge.
09/2024: SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers) - Medical and Healthcare Robotics Digital Summit.
07/2024: Medical Robotics course, Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
05/2024: AI in Cancer Prediction and Early Detection, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, Bristol, UK.
03/2024: Keynote at the Blended Intensive Program Erasmus+ (Bautzen University of Cooperative Education, Germany, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic and University of Zilina, Slovakia) on Assistive Technology in Medicine.
02/2024: UK-RAS Robot Talk Podcast.
01/2024: euRobotics Telerobotics & Teleoperation Topic Group Winter Seminar.
06/2023: Human Rights in the Digital Age interdisciplinary group at the University of Nottingham.
05/2023: Chair of Manipulation and Grasping oral papers session at ICRA 2023.
03/2023: Lecture series: Design in Extreme Robotics, at Louvain Bionics, Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering, UC Louvain.
01/2023: Bristol Cancer Research Network Interdisciplinary Research Symposium on the Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer.
12/2022: Baden-Württemberg International virtual roadshow on “Artificial Intelligence in Health Care and Medical Technologies”.
05/2022: ICRA 2023 workshop on Human-centered Autonomy in Medical Robotics.
02/2022: Bristol Robotics Laboratory Seminar.
06/2021: Bristol Robotics Laboratory conference.
04/2021: University of Bristol Research Showcase.
06/2019: Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems, Technical University of Munich, Germany.
06/2019: Intelligent Systems Department, Max Planck Institute, Stuttgart, Germany.
06/2019: Perceiving Systems Department, Max Planck Institute, Tuebingen, Germany.
05/2019: Sheffield Biorobotics Lab, Sheffield University, UK.
02/2018: OneHealthTech event for Robotics in Healthcare.
02/2018: Preston Royal Robotic Colorectal Course.
11/2017: Royal College of Surgeons “Mid-career surgeons conference”.
10/2016: Biomedical Engineering and Biorobotics Researcher Links Workshop in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
07/2015: Women In Robotics workshop of the Robotics, Science and Systems conference in Rome, Italy.
11/2013: 'Simulation, Robotics and Telemedicine' conference of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Severn Deanery, Bristol, UK.
07/2012: ‘Robotics and Medicine’ at the 138th Session of the Bristol Medico Chirurgical Society.

Editor

Associate Editor: Robotics and Automation Letters Journal, IEEE, 2021-today. ICRA 2019-2022, IROS 2020-2021.
Guest Editor: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, section Biomedical Robotics

Evaluator

Leap Digital Health Hub, 2024.
Royal Academy of Engineering Grants: Fellowship 2023, LIF+ programme Surgical Robotics Business Panel 2020.
EPSRC Standard Grants: Wearable Assistive Devices 2023, Robotic Exoskeletons 2020, Soft Actuators 2019.
EU H2020 Digital Innovation Hub – Healthcare Robotics: Technology Demonstrator Calls 2022, 2021, 2020, COVID-19 Response and Deployment Call 2022, Technology Transfer Experiment 2020.
EPSRC Panels: Engineering and ICT New Horizons Outline 2022, UK- Japan Civil Nuclear Research Programme Phase 8, 2021, Healthcare Technologies NetworkPlus 2020.

Organisation Activities

2024-2025: Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics Programme Committee.
2024: UK-RAS Manipulation Workshop Programme Committee.
2023: ICRA Senior Programme Committee.
2023-today: TAROS steering committee.
2021: Bristol Robotics Laboratory conference.
2019: UK-RAS Conference on Embedded Intelligence Programme Committee.
2017: European Robotics Forum workshop ‘Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of Healthcare Robotics’.
2013: ICRA Workshop on Unconventional Approaches to Robotics, Automation and Control Inspired by Nature Programme Committee.

Selected Outreach

2021-today: on the Board of Directors of the Worldwide Network of Women in Robotics.
10/2023: Fantastic Careers and where to find them, Women in Robotics UK Chapter.
03/2022: International Women's Day - Supporting Women Founders, Future Space Bristol.
12/2021: UKRI Pathways to Independence Event.
11/2020: West of England Career Inspiration Show.
2019: ‘I am an Engineer, get me out of here’ (Healthcare zone) STEM outreach for schools.
2017: Organiser of #63 Bristol Girl Geek Dinner.
10/2016: ‘Ethics on sci-fi and robotics’ event at Bristol Literature Festival.
2016-2021: Founder and organiser of Bristol Women in Robotics chapter.