PAL Robotics’ CEO Francesco Ferro re-appointed to euRobotics’ Board of Directors

Francesco Ferro, CEO of PAL Robotics, was (re-)elected Director of euRobotics, the leading robotics association in Europe representing approximately 250 members, for a three-year term. Elected for the first time in 2015, Francesco has served the euRobotics Board of Directors ever since, and will now continue to be part of the Board until March 2026.

The euRobotics General Assembly has taken place in Odense, Denmark, at the Odeon Congress Centre (location of the annual ERF – European Robotics Forum). During the General Assembly, elections take place to fill eight seats on the Board – four each from both Industry and Research.

Francesco’s re-election comes after his recent appointment as Director of ADRA (the recently established AI, Data and Robotics Association).

The newly elected Directors of euRobotics are:

  • Francesco Ferro (PAL Robotics, Industry)
  • Mike Mayer (Schunk, Industry)
  • Franziska Kirstein (Blue Ocean, Industry)
  • Alessandro Piscioneri (COMAU, Industry)
  • Christophe Leroux (CEA, Research)
  • Jose Saenz (Fraunhofer IFF, Research)
  • Juha Röning (University of Oulu, Research)
  • José Ramiro Martínez de Dios (Universidad de Sevilla, Research)
  • Nicola Vitiello (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Research)

Exceptionally this year a new Vice President for Research was appointed by the Board, Juha Röning. Bernd Liepert was reappointed President of euRobotics, and Francesco Ferro was appointed Treasurer.

The Board of Directors that manages the euRobotics association consists of 24 Directors, half of which are from industry, and the other half are from research. One-third of the Board is elected every year on a rotation basis (8 out of 24 members).

The Board exists to direct and coordinate the activities of euRobotics. Since euRobotics exists to serve its Members’ interests, the Board’s composition is chosen to represent all its Members. Those elected as a Director, therefore, represent one of the categories of Members on the Board. Listening to and consolidating the views of other Members in the same category of membership is part of the representative role.

For more information:

euRobotics is a Brussels-based international non-profit association for all stakeholders in European robotics. It was founded in September 2012 with the aim of strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in robotics, and ensuring industrial leadership of manufacturers, providers, and end-users of robotics technology-based systems and services.

ADRA was founded on 21 May, 2021, by five European organisations: BDVA, CLAIRE, ELLIS, EurAI and euRobotics. ADRA was created as the private side of the European Public Private Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics, one of the European Partnerships in Cluster 4 (digital, industry, and space) within the Horizon Europe programme.

Overview of euRobotics

euRobotics AISBL (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif) is an international non-profit association for all stakeholders in European robotics. Their office is based in Brussels, Belgium. They currently have around 240 Member organisations. Their reach is even broader than their membership: the European Robotics Forum grew to 800+  participants, in previous editions of the ERF (European Robotics Forum) event. The community mailing list has more than 5000 subscribers. Their office in Brussels is run by the Secretary General, Dr. Reinhard Lafrenz. 

Their objectives are to boost European robotics research, development, and innovation and to foster a positive perception of robotics. They aim to:

  • strengthen competitiveness and ensure industrial leadership of manufacturers, providers and end-users of robotics technology-based systems and services;
  • promote the widest and best uptake of robotics technologies and services for professional and private use;
  • promote the excellence of the science base of European robotics.

About PAL Robotics: robotics and automation technologies since 2004

At PAL Robotics our mission is to enhance people’s quality of life through service robotics and automation technologies. Since 2004, we have designed and manufactured highly integrated and reliable robotic solutions for service industries and research institutions, as well as being actively involved in EU-funded research projects.

We have sold our robotic platforms in more than 35 countries and all platforms are designed and manufactured in Europe. PAL Robotics is one of the founding members of euRobotics, and we have partnered in over 40 collaborative projects.

We firmly believe robotics will come to play a bigger and bigger role in making our daily lives easier, from helping older people at home, assisting in hospitals, and improving operations in manufacturing and industry. 

Visit the PAL Robotics website to find out more about us, the research projects we take part in, and our robotic platforms. To ask more don’t hesitate to contact us. To stay up-to-date with PAL Robotics and our work, remember to visit our blog.