AMOLF group leader Bas Overvelde (Soft Robotic Matter) has won the KNAW Early Career Award. With the award, the KNAW acknowledges young and talented researchers at the beginning of their careers who are expected to (further) develop new and original research ideas. The award consists of a specially designed art work and a financial contribution of 15.000 euro that the award recipient can spend to strengthen his or her own career in science.
Responding to the news, Overvelde says: “Winning the KNAW early career award is definitely an encouraging acknowledgement for our soft robotics research. It is fantastic to work with such a great and inspiring team: kudos!”
Soft Robotics research
Bas Overvelde researches soft robotics that are made of adaptable and ‘intelligent’ material. Because of their softness, these robots are able to perform well when they need to interact with delicate objects, like fruit, or the human body. Overvelde now works on developing a soft artificial heart that operates in a more natural way than existing artificial hearts. By combining experimental, computational and analytical methods, he wants to develop robots that do not need a central computer for their control. Instead, these robots will be able to move and respond to their environment due to their embodied reflexes.
Overvelde is a tenure track group leader at AMOLF (Soft Robotic Matter) and also Associate Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).
The KNAW is the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in the Netherlands.
More information visit the KNAW website.
