Picture source: PAL Robotics with kind permission
Carlos Vivas is the newest member of the euRobotics Board of Directors (BoD). Carlos’s election to the BoD at the General Assembly in Stavanger earlier this year followed a clear procedural path in line with the association’s governance. Indeed, as PAL Robotics’ nominated representative following Francesco Ferro’s elevation to the association’s presidency, Carlos was familiar with the euRobotics community – not least through several years of involvement with ERF – and was happy to assume this added responsibility.
Standing for election to the Board of Directors calls for another level of commitment, of course. There’s a clear distinction between representing your organisation as a member representative, and taking a share of responsibility for euRobotics itself as BoD member. Happily Carlos was willing to play his part in taking euRobotics forward, as he explained earlier this month:
“I have three main motivators. Ever since I joined PAL I’ve been involved with euRobotics activities so I’ve got to know most of the people and the systems. That gives me a good base. Secondly, with Francesco becoming President I want to play a part in helping to accelerate some of the existing initiatives. Thirdly, I believe euRobotics has the power to make a real difference and I want to support that.”
In conversation with Carlos, the word ‘collaboration’ comes up frequently: “With all that’s going on in the world it’s important that we can collaborate within our European community. Collaboration is a key part of the role I have at PAL and it’s precisely that collaborative mindset I want to bring to the broader European ecosystem through euRobotics.”
There are several paths into robotics, some of them well established. Carlos’s own route has been via computer science and engineering and psychology. In fact he describes his arrival in robotics as accidental: “I’ve always been interested in the human aspect of things. Growing up, I’d always liked robots on TV. I began to tinker with tech and coding for myself at the age of 15. I wasn’t obsessed but I was interested in robots, space and technology.” This blend of technical expertise, human-centred thinking, and industry experience positions Carlos as a valuable bridge within the BoD—connecting cutting-edge research with practical market adoption.
Carlos briefly outlined his personal background: born in Venezuela with Spanish heritage, he moved at the age of 13 to Barcelona, returning to one of his countries of origin. He has also lived in New York and Paris. It all adds up to a fairly broad life experience even before his career began. Once it had begun, the travel continued and by his own admission Carlos was no stranger to an airport. Today, while he remains deeply connected to the community at key events like ERF, Carlos manages his schedule with clear priorities. Balancing his leadership role with a busy family life calls for smart time management: “Being a father of three, including young twins, certainly keeps me focused and intentional with my time!”
And so to euRobotics. What, we asked, were the necessary attributes to be effective on the BoD? Carlos didn’t hesitate: “The first is to be open-minded. There are many very experienced and talented people on the BoD who think deeply about ways of doing things – both inside and outside Europe – and it’s important to listen to their ideas. Secondly, it’s important to think about connections – improving those we have already and making new ones.”
Connection, collaboration and communication are an important part of Carlos’s professional outlook. So is a human-centred approach to robotics. Another salient theme would be European sovereignty in robotics. These three themes come together in the words of a blog (‘Robots are about people. Carlos Vivas has always known that’) published by PAL Robotics soon after Carlos’s election to the euRobotics BoD in March this year, from which we quote here, with permission:
“I’ve watched a lot of well-funded robotics companies rise and fall, some of them European companies that ended up acquired or shut down. Robotics is complex. Funding alone doesn’t make a robot work. What makes it work is patience, persistence and staying close to the real problems people need solved.
“That’s also why I’m involved in communities like euRobotics, Hisparob, AER and the Labora assistive robotics group in Catalonia. European SMEs need shared infrastructure and a collective voice, and this is something that no single company can build alone.”
It’s clear that Carlos’s perspective fits comfortably with euRobotics’ own outlook, most recently reflected in the association’s recent Vienna Statement. Carlos speaks confidently with the relish of someone who enjoys and is deeply committed to his chosen domain. Even so, he remains proactive, noting that “onboarding with the BoD’s various initiatives has been a fast-paced and rewarding journey!”
Among the early BoD interventions in which he has been involved, Carlos speaks positively about the decision to create a new topic group focused on humanoid robotics. Meanwhile, he looks forward to helping the association to pursue its chosen strategy and spread its message: “I will do what I can to help with dissemination and communication. If we want to shape the direction for European robotics we need to expand the association’s influence.”