Continuing our occasional series of personality profiles, in this New Year edition we introduce Daniel Serrano, one of euRobotics’ newest members of the Board of Directors (BoD).
Daniel Serrano is Director of Robotics and Automation R&D Unit at Eurecat Technology Centre of Catalonia. He joined the BoD following the General Assembly in Stuttgart in March 2025. After several rounds of mutual calendar juggling last month, Newsletter editor Steve Doswell finally sat down with Daniel for a short chat during a lunch break at the European Robotics Week Focus Event in Tallinn at the start of December. The interview went like this:
Daniel, it’s good to get some time with you finally. Let’s start at the beginning. What was your earliest involvement with robotics?
“When I was young, I was excited about mathematics. I wanted to study maths but finally I decided to do software engineering. Programming looked exciting and I was interested in some applied science so it was an obvious choice, like for many in my generation. My first job was on real-time embedded software for aeronautics at Indra Systems. The set of skills this gave me and the fact that I was already working in large industry opened the door to robotics. I began working for a underwater robotics spinoff in Edinburgh in 2006 with David Lane and Yvan Petillot. That’s where I discovered my passion while testing underwater robots in the Scottish lochs and the North Sea. It also kindled my interest in applied research. An opportunity then came to move to Barcelona to join a research team on software for autonomous robots. That was in 2009.”
Just to cut in here, I can see that you have followed your professional passions during your career. Have there been any influential figures or personal heroes to inspire you? Who provided the spark that gave you encouragement to follow your chosen path?
“My parents had worked in education and my two brothers had done a PhD in Marine Biology and a Masters in Economy, respectively, so it came naturally to continue with my own studies and they always supported me. At uni, I did some research on Human-Machine Interaction, but regarding robotics, the fact is that when I decided to move to the UK, by chance I joined one of the best companies doing software for robotics and for very relevant applications (offshore inspection and maintenance). That was SeeByte. So I was exposed to hi tech when I was really young. It was like falling in love! I also knew about Roland Siegwart’s group in Zurich and Bruno Siciliano’s group in Napoli and I knew I would like to work on a team on this kind of applied research project.”
We spend a lot of time working so it’s good to fall in love with your work! You’ve mentioned your family, too, so let’s also touch on life outside of work shortly. Meanwhile, can you tell me about how you first encountered euRobotics?
“When we started we knew about Euron and Europ. After our first attendance at an ERF in about 2012, we discovered this community and joined the association immediately. Thanks to ERF, we received guidance and knowledge, contacts, inspiration and opportunities to join collaborative projects and acquire know-how to achieve our mission of supporting companies and bringing new technology closer to market. For Eurecat, ERF gave us leverage to move to the next level. ERF enabled us to get to know people and to become known. We haven’t missed an ERF since then.”
What was your motivation to join the BoD?
“Firstly, as a tech centre it’s part of our mission to build networks, ecosystems and contribute to strategic initiatives. Back in those years, we started the Autonomous Navigation Topic Group and worked very actively in the multi-annual roadmap. I am still involved in this group. At the Spanish level we’ve been very active in different initiatives, for example the Spanish robotics association AER, where for many years I led the Innovation working group with the support of many companies and centres. So it was a natural step to move forward and join the euRobotics Board. Partially also (and this may sound romantic) I feel an ethical responsibility to give something back to the association after so many years.”
So what will you bring to the role, to the BoD and to euRobotics as a whole?
“That’s a difficult question because my time in the role so far has been short but I would say that I hope to bring a definite connection with the Spanish robotics eco-system and contribute to a pan-European alliance for the future of our field and for better industries and society. I will try to contribute to the protection of European robotics’ position in the face of global challenges. My experience is that the long time-to-market of some of our initiatives, leads some entities either to end up buying products from abroad or limiting innovation altogether. So we try to prioritize local solutions and developments to help our clients and partners to have more resilience and sovereignty against the challenges to come.”
OK. We could easily carry on talking about work but let’s change the focus to life outside work, to your family and other interests. Daniel, what do you do when you’re not working?
“Currently if I have any spare time I spend it with my wife and my 10-year old daughter. We love baking pizza at home and bringing friends over. As soon as we have the opportunity, we visit my wife’s family in Italy or my own in Madrid. I used to play hockey and I’m a huge football fan – Real Madrid of course! I still have a season ticket. I also like rock music (at this point Daniel mentions US band The Jayhawks and 091, a not so well-known band from Granada). I also enjoy spending time in nature, in the Dolomites in Italy or the Sierra de Gredos in central Spain where I spent summers since I was young.”
OK, Daniel. We know you don’t have heroes but we do know that you follow your own instincts. Do you have a personal mantra to guide you?
“Fake it until you make it!” (He laughs. It’s a throw-away line, but there’s also a grain of truth, that vision and persistence pay off in the end). “We really aim to build a team of passionate professionals and researchers at the highest possible level. Sometime perhaps we can be too ambitious for our present reality, but for me it’s like a proven strategy to push us to get the best out of ourselves. I think it works – it is a bit like the “deadline effect”. During these years, we’ve been recognised as a team of talented, hard workers good at making things work in the real world.”
We’re nearly out of time. What message would you give to other members of euRobotics?
“If we truly believe we can build something together out of trust and the synergies we share, we can truly lead the revolution of robotics and embodied AI, and improve society as a result. The best time of Robotics is yet to come.”
A good message, Daniel. Just time for a final word…
“I hope we can bring everyone at euRobotics back to Spain again very soon! To anyone reading this, if you’re ever around Barcelona, don’t hesitate to contact me for a visit.”
Thank you, Daniel.