This month euRobotics says goodbye to its longest serving team member, Marco Rosa, senior project manager. We invited Marco to offer his personal reflection on his time at euRobotics and to give a personal message to our community.
“It’s almost eight years since I joined euRobotics in January 2015. It’s a long time, from a professional standpoint, and a lot of things have changed since then. euRobotics has not only successfully implemented the SPARC partnership with the European Commission, but it has also increased its presence in the European policy and community landscapes via successful events such as the flagship European Robotics Forum.
From Vienna to Ljubljana, from Edinburgh to Tampere, from Bucharest to Malaga, and finally Rotterdam last summer. Now heading towards the next edition in Odense, Denmark, in March 2023. I’ve supported the organisation of all these ERF editions, and I know how hard all local organisers have worked to make each ERF unique and accessible to the robotics community. A big thank you to all of you!
In my years at euRobotics I coordinated and supported the implementation of strategic EU-funded projects, especially ROCKeu and, more recently, RODIN. While the former helped the association make important community events such as ERF, ERW, and the European Robotics League self-sustainable, the latter has supported the five Robotics DIH Networks currently operating under dedicated Innovation Action projects. I’m confident these five strategic Robotics DIH Networks will find in euRobotics an important partner also in the future once their projects end. euRobotics is now working to make this happen for the benefit of the wider European robotics community!
Last but not least, after eight years the time has come for me to move on and take the next step of my professional career, and I’ll soon leave both the association and the Brussels bubble. I’ve enjoyed building rewarding relationships during my time at euRobotics with amazing professionals within the community, and I trust we will be able to stay in touch in the near future.
This is also the 10th anniversary of euRobotics, and in such a symbolic moment I want to congratulate the association management past and present for reaching this important milestone, but especially to thank those who have also helped to make this incredible robotics journey possible, not forgetting my former colleagues Philip, Lavinia, Jory and Marta and also our newest team member, Marie. Thanks also to our external professionals Steve, Corina, Mare, Jonas and now Inge who have also contributed to this. Without all of your combined efforts and hard work all of this would not have been possible.