Arianna Menciassi (Fellow, IEEE) received the M.Sc. degree in physics from the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, in 1995, and the Ph.D. degree in bioengineering from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Pisa, Italy, in 1999. She is currently a Professor of bioengineering and biomedical robotics with SSSA, where she is the Team Leader of Surgical Robotics & Allied Technologies within The BioRobotics Institute. Since 2018, she has been the Coordinator of the Ph.D. in BioRobotics, and in 2019, she was appointed as the Vice-Rector of the SSSA. Her research interests include surgical robotics, microrobotics for biomedical applications, biomechatronic artificial organs, and smart and soft solutions for biomedical devices.

She pays special attention to the combination of traditional robotics, targeted therapy, and wireless solutions for therapy (e.g., ultrasound- and magnetic-based solutions). She has served for many years as the Co-Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Surgical Robotics Prof. Menciassi is an Editor for the IEEE Transactions of Robotics and APL Bioengineering and she is an Associate Editor for Soft Robotics. She received the Well-tech Award (Milan, Italy) for her researches on endoscopic capsules, and she was awarded by the Tuscany Region with the Gonfalone D’Argento, in 2007, as one of the best 10 young talents of the region. In 2020, she has been awarded with the KUKA Innovation Award, for her activities on robotic assisted focused ultrasound.

Dr. Robin R. Murphy is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, AAAS, ACM, and IEEE Fellow, 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. Her contributions to robotics have been recognized with the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions and a US Air Force Exemplary Civilian Service Award medal. She holds a Ph.D. (’92) and M.S. (‘89) in computer science and B.M.E. (‘80) in mechanical engineering, all from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Yong-Lae Park is Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU) (2016~present). Prof. Park completed his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University (2010). Prior to joining SNU, he was Assistant Professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (2013~2017) and Technology Development Fellow in the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University (2010~2013). His current research interests include artificial skins and muscles, soft robots, wearable robots, medical robots, and inflatable robots. He received the Best Application Paper Award from the IEEE Transactions on Haptics (2020), the Best Conference Paper Award in the IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (2019), Okawa Foundation Research Grant Award (2014), the Best Paper Award from the IEEE Sensors Journal (2013), the NASA Tech Brief Award (2012). His papers on soft artificial muscles and skin were selected as cover articles in various journals, including Soft Robotics, Advanced Intelligent Systems and the IEEE Sensors Journal, and his work on soft robots were featured in media, including Nature, Discovery News, New Scientist, PBS NOVA, and Reuters.

Adam A. Stokes is Full Professor and Chair of Bioinspired Engineering in The School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh. Professor Stokes holds degrees in engineering, biomedical science, and chemistry and he used this background to found The Soft Systems Group, an interdisciplinary research laboratory focusing on the intersection of next-generation robotics technology, bioelectronics, and bioinspired engineering. Professor Stokes is Co-Lead of The National Robotarium, the UK centre of excellence in robotics, and Deputy Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics.

Before joining the faculty at Edinburgh he was a Fellow in the George M. Whitesides group at Harvard University, one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial labs in the world. Prof. Stokes is enthusiastic about translating innovation out of the lab and into people’s lives. His entrepreneurial activities have been recognised by winning the Inaugural Data Driven Entrepreneurship (DDE) Academic Entrepreneurship Award, and the Principal’s Award for Innovation.