Prof Kaspar Althoefer
Dipl.-Ing. Aachen, PhD

Research Group News

November 2024

Celebrating 60 years of Robotics at Queen Mary University of London 12 November 2024 Queen Mary University of London’s (QMUL) School of Engineering and Materials Science is this year celebrating 60 years of Robotics. In 1964, Meredith Thring became the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Queen Mary, and one of the first professors of Robotics at a UK university, having begun … [more]

July 2024

Queen Mary PhD Student Wins Best Poster Award at the Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics 16 July 2024 Queen Mary PhD student Haipeng Liang has been awarded the Best Poster Award at the 16th Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, held on 25th-28th June. The award-winning poster, titled "A Pneumatic-Driven Robot for MR-Guided Prostate Therapy," showcases innovative research and significant advancements in the field of medical … [more]

October 2023

Research group wins €10m grant to develop revolutionary cancer treatment robot 26 October 2023 Professor Kaspar Althoefer, a leading expert in medical robotics and artificial intelligence at Queen Mary, is part of a research group that has been awarded a highly competitive €10m European Research Council Synergy Grant. Synergy Grants provide funding for groups of two to four principal investigators to jointly address … [more]

Queen Mary Professorial Strategic Hires 18 October 2023 Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is recruiting 10 full Professors to establish their research groups at the University. These permanent academic positions will further strengthen our rapidly expanding, world-leading research following an excellent performance in the latest UK Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) in which QMUL was ranked 7th in the … [more]

Xuechun successfully passed her viva with minor correction 2 October 2023 Many congratulations to Xuechun, who successfully defended her PhD thesis, titled "Multimode optical waveguide shape sensing based on specklegram classification". Xuechun was funded by a CSC-QMUL PhD studentship and was supervised by Dr Lei Su and Prof Kaspar Althoefer. During her PhD, Xuechun has developed a novel method … [more]

September 2023

Success of Queen Mary researchers and students at TAROS 2023 - the UK Robotics Conference 22 September 2023 On September 13-15, 2023 the Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary University of London (ARQ) traveled to Cambridge, UK to present their research at TAROS 2023 - the UK oldest robotics and autonomous systems conference. ARQ was represented by multiple research papers and posters at TAROS 2023. Gabriele Gudici's work was selected … [more]

July 2023

Queen Mary Researchers Create Innovative Sensor to Enhance Robots' Tactile Capabilities 27 July 2023 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, along with collaborators from China and USA have developed an L3 F-TOUCH sensor to enhance tactile capabilities in robots, allowing it to "feel" objects and adjust its grip accordingly. Achieving human-level dexterity during manipulation and grasping has been a long-standing goal … [more]

Soft Robotics Revolutionise Minimally Invasive Surgery 13 July 2023 Professor Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science has made groundbreaking advancements in the field of soft robotics for minimally invasive surgery An overview paper, published in the Science journal today, explores Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical robots, including Professor Althoefer’s scientific … [more]

June 2023

Professor Kaspar Althoefer co-chairs the prestigious IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2023 16 June 2023 The largest and most prestigious conference on robotics, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2023 (ICRA) was held in the ExCeL centre, London, May 29 - June 2, 2023. The conference was co-organised by the Centre of Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary (ARQ) and was co-chaired by Professor Kaspar Althoefer, SEMS academic and … [more]

SEMS Bioengineering at Queen Mary's Festival of Communities 12 June 2023 Cutting-Edge Science and Engineering Research Showcase RoboCare: Innovations in Healthcare and Assisted Living Dr. Thilina Dulantha Lalitharatne’s team showcased RoboCare, illustrating the potential of robotic technologies in healthcare and assisted living. Visitors interacted with assistive robots, Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and discovered how they can enhance the quality of … [more]

March 2023

Congratulations to Faisal Al-Jaber on successfully defending his PhD 27 March 2023 Faisal Al-Jaber has successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled "Soft Optical-Based Sensors Fabrication and Evaluation for Curvature and Pose Estimation of Soft Actuators" Faisal was supervised by Prof Kaspar Althoefer and Dr Lei Su. In his PhD, Faisal has researched and developed several novel soft sensor systems especially … [more]

Congratulations to Abu Bakar Dawood on successfully defending his PhD thesis 3 March 2023 Abu Bakar Dawood has successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled "Soft Capacitive and Optical Tomography-based Sensor Skins" Dawood was supported by a studentship from the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. He was supervised by Prof Kaspar Althoefer and Dr Ketao Zhang. Throughout his PhD, Dawood has demonstrated several innovative … [more]

November 2022

Pengfei successfully passed his viva with minor correction 16 November 2022 Many congratulations to Pengfei, who successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled "Deep Learning for Information Transmission through Multimode Optical Fibres". Pengfei was funded by a QMUL PhD studentship and was supervised by Dr Lei Su and Prof Kaspar Althoefer. During his PhD, Pengfei has demonstrated several novel deep-learning-based … [more]

April 2022

MSc Extended Research Project poster prize winners at ILF April 2022 6 April 2022 Our MSc students presented their Extended Research Projects at the Industrial Liaison Forum on 6th April 2022. Our MSc projects run from semester 1 through to August, so they are currently only about half-way through their projects. Nonetheless, they were able to give an excellent account of their work so far and … [more]

July 2021

The Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) wins QMUL Engagement and Impact Award 2 July 2021 A team of engineers and clinicians from EECS, SEMS and Royal London Dental Hospital won a QMUL Engagement and Impact Award. The team was awarded the Local Impact Award for their efforts to provide hospital staff with urgently needed personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 crisis. Under the … [more]

October 2020

Prof Kaspar Althoefer will present at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) 6 October 2020 Professor Kaspar Althoefer will give a talk on Wednesday, 7th of October 2020, 2pm (UK time) at the IET in the framework of their Technical Webinars on "Novel soft robotics approaches: Addressing the challenges in nuclear decommissioning". Please join here: https://bit.ly/3nXV4fq [more]

August 2020

Queen Mary researchers launch new competition on low-cost innovation for African scientists and entrepreneurs 21 August 2020 Researchers from the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London have launched a new competition in low-cost technologies that aims to identify and develop the next generation of young scientists, leaders, and entrepreneurs in Africa. This new competition, which is open to all countries in … [more]

April 2020

The Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) provides essential support for NHS staff during the COVID-19 crisis 21 April 2020 Members of the Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) provide frames for visors urgently needed by frontline NHS staff at main London hospitals including the newly created Nightingale Hospital. In collaborations with clinicians from the Royal London Dental Hospital, Prof Shakeel Shahdad and Ahmed Din, ARQ have taken on … [more]

March 2020

First PhD from the Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) 23 March 2020 Alberto Caenazzo successfully defended his PhD studies on "Integrated Hydraulic Steering and Signal Transmission Technologies Applied to Novel MRI-Compatible Intravascular Catheters". Because of the coronavirus crisis, the viva was conducted entirely online. Despite that the viva was completed without a hitch, allowing Alberto to present his novel research in catheter … [more]

February 2020

Robot Hand Team Wins Top Prize at ILF 26 February 2020 A team of 4th year MEng students Jamie SENGUN, Ahmed DEIRI, Talha TAILOR, Kai PAGE & Mohammed KHAN who have been working on the "Soft 3D-printed Robotic Hand" project supervised by Dr Lorenzo Jamone & Dr Ketao Zhang won the best MEng group project prize at the Annual … [more]

December 2019

Althoefer gives a keynote on Soft Robots for Minimally Invasive Surgery and other Human-robot Interaction Applications at INRIA, France 3 December 2019 Prof Kaspar Althoefer gave a keynote presentation on Soft Robots for Minimally Invasive Surgery and other Human-robot Interaction Applications at the Soft Robotics Days (JRS2019-Journées Robotique Souple), in Lille, France - https://jrs2019.sciencesconf.org/resource/page/id/3, organised by INRIA, the French national research institute for the … [more]

November 2019

Professor Kaspar Althoefer gives a keynote presentation at the annual Computer Science and Electronic Engineering Conference (CEEC) 30 November 2019 Prof Kaspar Althoefer gave a keynote presentation on "Soft Robotics – at the intersection of physical interaction and perception" at the 11th Computer Science and Electronic Engineering Conference (CEEC) in Colchester on 20 September 2019, https://ceec.uk/ceec19/keynote-speakers-2/. Prof Althoefer reported on the most recent advancements in soft robotics and soft … [more]

Professor Althoefer gives an invited talk on "Inflatable, stiffness controllable robots" at Sorbonne 28 November 2019 Professor Kaspar Althoefer gave an invited talk on "Inflatable, stiffness controllable robots: Applications in Human-Robot Interaction" at the Hand Dexterity Workshop, at the Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Sorbonne Univerity, Paris (http://www.isir.upmc.fr/?lang=en). The event took place on 28 November 2019. Presentations by … [more]

July 2019

Interview by Kaspar Althoefer on soft robot prosthetics 25 July 2019 Kaspar Althoefer was interviewed by talkRADIO on Robots-based Prosthetics. Listen to the interview on https://talkradio.co.uk/radio/listen-again/1564066800#, at 18:22:00. He talks about the advancements in the field, including the new Soft Robotics approach taken at the Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ). [more]

QMUL Soft Robotics research features in the Evening Standard 18 July 2019 The robot octopus, a recent creation by PhD student Jan Fras, was featured in in the Evening Standard. You can read the article here: https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/scientists-develop-robooctopus-that-mimics-real-sea-creature-a4192871.html Follow this link for a video showing the robot octopus in action: https://youtu.be/TgSD1RUoVsw [more]

Kaspar Althoefer was invited to give a talk at IET conference on Soft Robotics for Keyhole Surgery 10 July 2019 Professor Kaspar Althoefer gave an invited talk at The 5th Annual Future of Medicine Conference organised by the IET (https://events.theiet.org/the-5th-annual-future-of-medicine-conference/). His talk is now available at IET.TV: https://tv.theiet.org/?eventvideoid=13241. [more]

June 2019

Kaspar Althoefer interviewed by the BBC on soft robotics and AI 27 June 2019 Professor Althoefer was interviewed by the BBC on 23 June 2019. The interview can be seen on BBC iPlayer, as part of BBC1's Sunday Morning Live Show - watch from 43:20: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00069jl/sunday-morning-live-series-10-episode-2 Professor Althoefer and PhD students from the Centre for Advanced … [more]

QMUL's nuclear robotics research features in The Economist 20 June 2019 The National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR) has been featured in an article in The Economist, with a particular mention of Prof Kaspar Althoefer and his team at the Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary. Kaspar and his team are working on creating novel radiation-resilient tactile and force sensors for … [more]

May 2019

Prof Kaspar Althoefer gives keynote at RoboSoft 2019 28 May 2019 Prof Kaspar Althoefer gives keynote presentation at the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft 2019) on "Fusing Perception with Structure in Soft Robotics" in Seoul, South Korea on 16 April 2019.

February 2019

Students compete to make drones smart in annual hack 27 February 2019 The fourth “Design and Build Winter Hack” took place at Queen Mary’s Mile End campus from Monday 18 February to Friday 22 February. From detecting bananas to taking selfies from afar – these were some of the tasks that drones learned to perform during an annual challenge that brings together Queen Mary … [more]

November 2018

New video report on soft robotics for keyhole surgery 30 November 2018 Breaking news on the EU robotics project STIFF-FLOP Research on soft robotics for keyhole surgery by Professor Althoefer, head of Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) is highlighted in the new TechRepublic video on '5 things to know about soft robotics': 1. It doesn't mean pillows. 2. Search and rescue. 3. Medicine. (STIFF-FLOP features … [more]

Professor Kaspar Althoefer elected to serve as member of IEEE Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Administrative Committee. 21 November 2018 Althoefer is among six RAS members elected by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers membership to serve a three-year term beginning 1 January 2019. You can find more information about the IEEE RAS AdCom here: http://www.ieee-ras.org/about-ras/governance/administrative-committee [more]

October 2018

Professor Kaspar Althoefer awarded Turing Fellowship 10 October 2018 Professor Kaspar Althoefer has been awarded an Alan Turing Institute Fellowship. https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/researchers/kaspar-althoefer

Professor Kaspar Althoefer interviewed about robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. 8 October 2018 Professor Kaspar Althoefer was interviewed about his research on soft robotics for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. "We wanted to take our inspiration from biology – so octopus tentacles were our inspiration....making something that was made of soft materials, to achieve more dexterous behaviour but also to increase patient … [more]

July 2018

Alberto Caenazzo awarded £10K by QMI to commercialise robotic heart catheter 4 July 2018 Alberto Caenazzo who conducts his PhD studies under the supervision of Prof Kaspar Althoefer was awarded £10K by Queen Mary Innovations (QMI) to explore commercialisation opportunities of his robotic heart catheters using conductive fluid for sensing and actuation inside magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. The ultimate goal of this technology … [more]

May 2018

Queen Mary student team to build robotic wheelchair for Cybathlon 2020 3 May 2018 A team of science and engineering students from Queen Mary University of London will design a robotic wheelchair with a plan to compete in Cybathlon 2020 - a global competition for people with disabilities. The team, which consists of students from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), the … [more]

February 2018

Robots competed in penalty kicks during Design and Build Hack Week 2018 6 February 2018 The Design and Build Hack Week 2018 was held successfully at Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary (ARQ) from 29th Jan to 2nd Feb. A total of 19 participants from London and Beijing took on the challenge of programming NAO Humanoid robots to take penalty kicks. This is the third year of the … [more]

Students teach robots football tricks in annual hack 5 February 2018 Teams of students from Queen Mary University of London and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) took part in a challenge to hack robots and teach them a range of football skills. The third Queen Mary-BUPT Design and Build Hack Week, which aims to unite students from both universities, … [more]

November 2017

QMUL awarded £1m grant to establish robotics centre for tackling nuclear waste 15 November 2017 The Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) has been awarded a £1m grant to help set-up a world-leading centre of excellence for nuclear robotics in the UK. ARQ is a cross-faculty multidisciplinary research centre, bringing Queen Mary robotics activities under one roof. ARQ's activities span across the School of … [more]

July 2017

Making work spaces safer: iMechE news story with Prof Althoefer 18 July 2017 Professor Kaspar Althoefer's work has been featured in an article about the potential of developments in robotics engineering to improve working conditions in manufacturing industries, published by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Prof Althoefer’s team have developed lightweight garments with electromyography sensors built in.The sensors can measure electrical … [more]

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