Cecilia Laschi

Cecilia Laschi

• Mother of OCTOPUS, the first soft robot built from silicone
• Pioneer in the field of biorobotics
• Multiple patent holder
• Widely acclaimed author of papers appearing in international journals

The ‘Mother of OCTOPUS’, the world’s first soft robot built from silicone, Cecilia Laschi is a full professor at the National University of Singapore and professor on leave at the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy. She is a University of Pisa computer science graduate, received a Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of Genoa, and was a JSPS visiting research at Tokyo’s Waseda University.

Although varied, Cecilia Laschi focuses her research on the field of biorobotics. She currently works in soft robotics where she uses soft materials for building robots. This is the case with OCTOPUS, a soft robotic made from silicone. She is considered a pioneer in this field and has contributed to the development of these robots at an international level. She also works in the field of humanoid robotics and neurorobotics. In other words, using robots for neuroscience research.

Her work has seen Cecilia Laschi become the patent holder of many inventions. Amongst these, she includes a highly stable underwater robot, an autonomous variable buoyancy device, and a robot with soft arms for locomotion and grip purposes.

An author and co-author of over 300 scientific papers, Cecilia Laschi is published in international journals the world over. She also fills the role of Chief Editor of the speciality section on soft robotics of frontiers in Robotics AI. She is also on the editorial board of several international journals such as Science Robotics and the IEEE RA-L. Besides writing, she serves as a reviewer for many journals. Amongst these Cecilia Laschi includes Nature and Science.

Notwithstanding her full schedule as a professor, researcher, writer, and reviewer, Cecilia Laschi still finds time for other endeavors. She is a member of the Italian National Group of Biomedical Engineering, a senior IEEE member, and serves as an elected AdCom member and Co-Chair of the TC on Soft Robotics for the Robotics and Automation Society, amongst various others.

In 2018, Cecilia Laschi went on to found and chair the first IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics held in Italy.

Cecilia Laschi – Speaker

As a conference speaker, Cecilia Laschi gives insights into the newest developments in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence and their various applications. Although she hails from Italy, she currently resides in Singapore and presents in Italian and English.

Speaking Topics

• Leadership
• Robotics & AI
• Computer Science
• Soft robotics
• Humanoid and neuro-robotics
• Marine robotics
• Biomedical applications
• Neurorobotics, combining robotics and neuroscience