euRobotics provides a unique structure for robotics in Europe, coordinates the road-mapping process for European robotics, fosters community building and boosts outreach.
euRobotics Governance
About
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Current Governance
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Board Members
Research and Industry board members
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About
The General Assembly
The General Assembly is the ultimate decisional body of the association where each full member has a vote. The General Assembly approves the general policy of the Association on the basis of proposals of the Board of Directors and gives recommendations to the Board of Directors for its application. It is typically held once a year in March together with the European Robotics Forum.
The Board of Directors
The Association is managed by the Board of Directors. Representatives of Members (i.e. organisations) with voting rights standing in for election by the General Assembly. Industry members vote for industry Board members, research members vote for research Board members. The current Board consists of 24 members, 12 from industry, 12 from research. To have a good representation of different stakeholder groups, also sub-categories are respected, e.g. for industry, large robot manufacturers, component providers, small and medium enterprises, or end users; for research, research organisations and higher education organisations, e.g. universities are represented. The term of individual Board members is 3 years with a rotating election mode.
The President
The President, not elected from the Board members, is expected to be a highly respected member of the European robotics community with an affiliation to an Industry Member. The President oversees representing the Association in front of the political institutions and other stakeholders at high level and on important occasions and matters.
The Vice-Presidents
The Vice-Presidents are elected from Industry and Research side to represent the respective group. They also represent the association in front of stakeholders.
The Executive Team
The Executive Team is a subgroup of the Board of Directors consisting of the two Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, and three additional Board members. It acts in concert with the President, Secretary-General and euRobotics Office, to assist the Board of Directors with the preparation of documents and decisions, and to provide a flexible, senior resource for the management and execution of Board matters.
The Secretary-General and the Office
The Secretary-General is responsible for the day-to-day administrative management of the Association. The Secretary-General operates in accordance with the general guidelines he receives from the President and from the Board of Directors and under the supervision and authority of the Board of Directors. The euRobotics Office executes the daily management of the Association and to supports the Secretary-General and the Directors. Contact the office team at: secretariat(at)eu-robotics.net
Current governance
President - Francesco Ferro
Vice-President Research - Juha Röning
Vice-President Industry - Dr. Rainer Bischoff
Dr. Rainer Bischoff is the General Manager of Intrinsic Germany. Intrinsic is a robotics software and AI company at Alphabet. Previously, Rainer worked from 2002 to 2020 for KUKA, ultimately directing KUKA’s Corporate Research department as Vice President R&D. He is an euRobotics Director and Vice President Industry since September 2012. He has been repeatedly re-elected, the current term of office ending March 2028. As VP Industry he is also a member of the Executive Team.
Treasurer - Elisabeth Schärtl
Secretary General - Dr. Reinhard Lafrenz
Dr. Reinhard Lafrenz became Secretary General of euRobotics in February 2016, after serving as senior researcher in the robotics and embedded systems at the Technical University of Munich and peviously at the University of Stuttgart. He also managed the EU-funded robotics projects, ECHORD and ECHORD++.
Contact: Reinhard.Lafrenz(at)eu-robotics.net
Former President - Dr. Bernd Liepert
Dr. Bernd Liepert has been president of euRobotics aisbl – the European Robotics Association from 2012 to 2026. In this capacity he has been leading the European robotics community and representing it at high political levels.
Board members
Agirre Ibarbia, Jon
Tecnalia
Belbachir, Nabil
NORCE Bischoff, Rainer
Intrinsic
Bisset, David
iTechnic
Elrofai, Hala
Eindhoven University of Technology
Kirstein, Franziska
Blue Ocean Robotics
Koudelkova Delimoges, Petra
Kraus, Werner
Fraunhofer-IPA
Leroux, Christophe
CEA
Martinez, Ramiro
Univ. Sevilla
Mayer, Mike
Schunk
Mechelinck, Mare
Uniklinik RWTH Aachen
Nikolakopoulos, Georgios
Luleå University of Technology
Piscioneri, Alessandro
Comau
Rocco, Paolo
Politechnico di Milano Röning, Juha
Oulu University
Saenz, José
Fraunhofer IFF
Schärtl, Elisabeth
autonox Robotics
Serrano, Daniel
Eurecat
Tomatis, Nicola
BlueBotics SA
Vitiello, Nicola
SSSA
Vivas, Carlos
PAL Robotics
von Wichert, Georg
SIEMENS