Robot Talk

Claire chatted to Maria Guix from the University of Barcelona about combining electronics and biology to create robots that are more than the sum of their parts.
Maria Guix is a chemist and nanotechnology researcher in the University of Barcelona's ChemInFlow lab, developing miniaturized living robots and integrating flexible sensors into microfluidic platforms to better understand biohybrid robotic platforms. Her PhD research at the Autonomous University of Barcelona focussed on nanomaterials for biosensing. She has held postdoctoral positions at IFW Dresden, Purdue University, and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, advancing biocompatible micromotors, magnetic microrobot automation, and functional living robots.
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Claire chatted to Jamie Palmer from Icarus Robotics about building a robotic labour force to perform routine and risky tasks in orbit.
Jamie Palmer is co-founder and CTO of Icarus Robotics. He earned a Master's in Robotics from Columbia University on a full scholarship, researching intelligent, dexterous manipulation in the ROAM lab. Jamie developed and deployed autonomous hospital robots during the pandemic and worked as a race-winning engineer for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team.
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Claire chatted to Agata Suwala from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about leveraging robotics to make manufacturing systems more sustainable.
Agata Suwala is a Technology Manager at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, where she leads cutting-edge work in automation and robotics. With over a decade of experience in R&D, Agata specialises in developing and implementing advanced manufacturing systems—particularly for the aerospace sector—transforming complex, skill-intensive processes through automation. Her recent focus is on enabling the transition to a circular economy by leveraging automation and robotics to create sustainable, scalable technologies.
This episode is powered by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency's Robot Dexterity programme, which aims to transform robotic capabilities and unlock a step-change in human productivity.
Find out more about ARIA: https://aria.org.uk/ 
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Claire chatted to Samuele Vinanzi from Sheffield Hallam University about how robots can tell whether to trust or distrust people.
Samuele Vinanzi is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Sheffield Hallam University. He specializes in Cognitive Robotics: an interdisciplinary field that integrates robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and psychology to create robots that perceive, reason, and interact like humans. His research focuses on enabling social collaboration between humans and robots, particularly emotional intelligence, intention reading, and artificial trust. His recent book, "In Robots We Trust", explores trust relationships between humans and robots.
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Claire chatted to Elmira Yadollahi from Lancaster University about how children interact with and relate to robots.
Elmira Yadollahi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Lancaster University. She has a joint PhD in robotics and computer science from EPFL in Switzerland and Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal. Her research tackles explainability in robotics, as well as multimodal perception and explanation methods. Her core expertise is in child–robot interaction, with a focus on expectation management, trust, and AI literacy. She has organised workshops on Explainability in Human-Robot Interaction and the Design and Development of Robots and AI with Children.
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