Tractonomy Robotics (www.tractonomy.com) is a startup based in Ghent building next-generation compact autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) powered by our in-house Robotics-as-a-Service platform for industrial intra-logistics.

I function within imec-UGent's IDLab group as a robotics business developer and researcher. My current interests are in human-robot interactions in data-rich environments such as the IoT and the cloud. I come from a background in space, security and surgical robotics and enjoy deep dives and building impact-oriented complex systems. Do drop me a note if you are interested in collaborating with our group www.idlab.technology through European or regional programmes!

Management and Business Development:- Manage a team of engineers with a focus on augmented reality and robotics for human spaceflight projects - Lead the team's technology and business strategy- identifying new research directions, collaborations, securing funding- Innovative technology and research proposals either as coordinator or collaborator- Specific experience in ESA, EC and NASA research calls, RFPs, RFQs, ITTs- Serve as point of contact for my team's customers and collaborators- Supervise and manage ESA and EC projects within the team- Recruitment of new staff and team building Technical:- Translation of customer requirements to usable systems solutions and product acceptance- Organize usability workshops with end-users and analysis user-centred requirements - Definition of system architectures and specifying underlying technology and integration requirements- Support implementation and coding - Design and manage usability experiments for end-user systems testing- Product configuration management - documentation, verification, deliverySpecific interests and knowledge:Design for human-computer interaction - augmented reality (Google Glass, head mounted displays, smartphones, tablets), wearable computing, context-aware user interface design, telerobotic interfacesDesign for human performance - task and just-in-time support, human-automation (& robot) interaction, decision-support systems, human factors in space, search and rescue, surgery, teleoperation (robotics, medicine)

- Augmented reality, virtual reality and human-robot interaction systems for the human spaceflight and security markets- Design and architecture of complex software and system solutions- Support human factors analysis and user-centered design - Supported the team in developing technology strategies - Business Development: proposal writing, partner networking and collaborationMilestones:- Developed and validated a wearable AR system for manned spaceflight crew health support (CAMDASS)- Led the design of a complex command and control system for a heterogeneous multi-robot control in search and rescue scenarios (FP7- ICARUS)- Written many research proposals (ESA, EC) for new business in robotics, augmented reality and human factors

I worked in Dr. Abhilash Pandya's lab researching how augmented reality can be applied to improve human-robot interaction in teleoperation of space station robotic arms. The goal was to research AR user interfaces to improve manual and cooperative control during manipulator arm teleoperation.This truly multi-disciplinary work funded by a NASA grant involved a range of topics including technical work ranging from system design, 3D user interfaces, planning algorithms and software implementation to human-automation interaction, human factors experiments and data analysis. This work has been published in a number of papers between 2006 and 2012 and was the core of my PhD research

I worked on the development of an electric mini-bus for urban transportation. The vehicle was designed based on existing electric vehicle technology and is capable of carrying 14 passengers. I assisted in the development of the chassis and integration of the powertrain while the vehicle body design was outsourced.