Jury announced for Epson’s first ever Win-A-Robot competition in Europe, the Middle East and Russia

Epson is proud to announce the jury of the 2018 win-a-robot contest, as five experts representing the fields of industry, academia and politics join from around Europe to review applications from the first ever competition open across Europe, the Middle East and Russia to win Epson T-series robots. The competition is placing the latest technology in the hands of the future: universities, tertiary education establishments and research institutions are all busy uncovering ideas that support the growth, development and competitiveness of the robotics industry and automation.

The jury will begin the task of judging the competition in January after shortlisting all submissions received. Shortlisted contestants will be invited to present their applications to the jury during a live judging session. Closing date for submissions is 15 December 2018.

The five jury members are:

• Eva Kaili, Member of the European Parliament, Head of the Greek SD Delegation (Pasok/Elia), Chair of the Science and Technology Options Assessment body (STOA) European Parliament
• Patrick Schwarzkopf, Managing Director of VDMA Robotics + Automation
• Professor Darwin Caldwell, Research Director, Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, Italy and visiting professor in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, Sheffield University
• Dr Imre Paniti, MTA-SZTAKI, Institute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
• Mr. Yoshifumi Yoshida, Epson Executive Officer, previously COO, Robotics Solutions Operations Division

Volker Spanier, Head of Robotics Solutions for Epson Europe today revealed the jury members commenting: “It is fantastic to have such a wide range of experience, expertise and geographic representation on the board of jury members for this first edition of Epson’s win-a-robot competition. The jury will consider the value of the shortlisted projects with all aspects of automation development in mind and will select a winning project that demonstrates real innovation in robotics”.

He added: “The interest that this contest has already received from across EMEAR has been inspiring and demonstrates the real and pressing desire from the next generation to better understand and develop robotics and automation solutions. Being able to support the provision of hands-on experience to students and research bodies alike, developing digital skills and understanding is something that Epson as a company is fundamentally committed to.”

Epson is a leading robotics manufacturer and strives to make robotics more accessible across industries, to companies large and small with a truly scalable and flexible robotics line-up, including everything from the latest dual-arm technology with the WorkSense W-01 to the more affordable T3, T6 and VT6 models, offering “Just Enough Robot”.

More information on the competition, including how to enter, is available here https://www.epson.eu/robots-contest. Epson will also publish interviews with jury members on the competition site in the coming weeks.