From March 20th until April 5th 2023, staf members of the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (UNIZG-FSB): Petar Piljek, Matija Krznar and Denis Kotarski participated in a short-term visit to the University of Twente (UT), Robotics and Mechatronics (RaM) group and Saxion University of Applied Sciences (SAX), Mechatronics research group. Dr. Chiara Gabellieri, Amr Afifi, Youssef Aboudorra, Yaolei Shen were key individuals that were actively involved in the short-term visit from the UT and Prof. Abeje Mersha, Ayham Alharbat, and Dr. Davide Bicego were representatives form the SAX University. The visit aimed to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and enhance research excellence. The primary goals of the visit were to establish initial contact, share knowledge, explore laboratory facilities and equipment, and gain insight into the organizational and research capabilities of UT and SAX.
During the first week, UNIZG-FSB researchers met with Prof. Abeje Mersha from SAX at the Amsterdam Drone Week (ADW 2023), where SAX's team actively participated in a fair, showcasing stands and demonstrations in the exhibition area.
Towards the end of the week, the UNIZG-FSB team had a guest lecture on "Enhancing the Performance and Efficiency of Multirotor UAVs in Precision Agriculture" to the UT RAM group.
At the beginning of the second week UNIZG-FSB team visited Saxion University of Applied Sciences where they met with Prof. Abeje Mersha and researchers from his team - Ayham Alharbat, and Dr. Davide Bicego. In an organized work-meeting UNIZG FER gave the previously mentioned guest talk there as well, and learned more about SAXION current and past projects and used experimental equipment.
This short-term visit represents a valuable opportunity for institutions to collaborate, share expertise, and contribute to the advancement of research in the field of robotics and mechatronics. It is expected that the outcomes of this visit will have a positive and lasting impact on all participating entities.