Images kindly provided by Anne Delettre
As often as we can we like to catch up with people and personalities from around the euRobotics community. This summer, the newsletter was pleased to get a chance to speak to Anne Delettre, R&D Manager at Besançon, France-based Percipio Robotics, who recently became the new coordinator of the Miniaturised Robotics Topic Group. Here’s what Anne told us:
Hello Anne. It’s good to talk to you. Why did you decide to stand for the role as coordinator of the euRobotics TG Miniaturised Robotics? What will you bring to the role?
Coordinating the Miniaturised Robotics TG with Pr. Quan Zhou was really a great opportunity for me and the company Percipio Robotics. As my colleagues have been involved in the ERF workshops organization for the last two years and have enjoyed the collaboration between academic and industrial researchers, we decided to become even more active in the TG, and proposed our application to succeed Dr. Michaël Gauthier. I hope that this complementary (academic / industrial) coordination of the TG will motivate new companies to join the TG and will help to strengthen the synergies between the academic and industrial research worlds.
What are your plans and aspirations for the TG? What activities can we expect?
In order to strengthen the exchange between the TG members we would like to propose concrete actions. For example, periodic short presentations of the lab / company (unit, research area, skills, willingness to collaborate on some topics, …) in the monthly TG meeting would help the members to get to know each other better. Then, we would like to promote discussions about needs and challenges in miniaturised robotics to create active collaborations, such as European R&D projects (RIA projects, MSCA, ERC/EIC, …). This would increase innovation in the companies, through collaboration and transfer, and contribute to Europe’s sovereignty. Some activities could also be done jointly with other TGs.
What does a typical working day look like for Anne Delettre?
There is no typical working day for me, and that’s what I like. As R&D Manager, my job deals with the company’s R&D strategy, so I’m mainly involved in defining the research roadmap and setting up new R&D projects, including keeping an eye on the calls for proposals, finding appropriate partners for collaboration, writing the responses to the calls, managing the contractual parts, and organising the research activities within our company. I also enjoy attending scientific conferences, meeting researchers and keeping a foot in fundamental research.
Clearly you have a busy day job. Please tell us something about your life beyond your professional activities.
I love photography (when I was younger, I wanted to be a photographer). I take time to observe when I take a picture; it helps me slow down and enjoy the moment. I’m a working mum with three kids, and my life is quite intense at the moment, so it’s a great way for me to relax.
In work, in life, what mantra or personal guidance do you follow? (and ‘none whatsoever!’ is also an acceptable answer!)
“Do your best and don’t forget to be happy”. I’m very demanding of myself (and sometimes of others), I’m a perfectionist, and I sometimes have to remind myself to put things into perspective, to enjoy, and to accept that not everything is always perfect.
Finally, what message would you give to fellow professionals within your particular field of robotics who are not active within the TG Miniaturised Robotics?
“Alone we go faster, together we go further”. We have much to do in the TG, to collaborate with researchers from the academic world and to feed each other, with our ideas, our skills, our methods, which are different but complementary. Diversity is a real source of richness. If everyone gives a little time for the Miniaturized Robotics TG, all of the members will benefit.
Anne Delettre, thank you for your time and for letting us get to know you a little better.
Thank you! It’s been a pleasure.