Sabine Hauert, Professor of Swarm Engineering at the University of Bristol, has been awarded an honorary OBE in recognition of her services to robotics.
Professor Hauert’s research focuses on developing trustworthy robot swarms that can operate effectively in real-world environments. This field of robotics aims to enable multiple robots to work together as a team, tackling tasks that would be difficult or inefficient for a single robot to manage alone.
Sabine’s work in this area spans a range of applications, from nanorobots for cancer treatment to larger robots used for environmental monitoring and logistics.
Over the past 20 years, her team has modelled and designed nano and micro systems for cancer applications and wound healing, demonstrated swarms of drones detecting and mitigating wildfires, tested swarms for warehouse logistics and last-mile delivery, and played with social swarms for education and human creative thinking.
Underpinning Professor Hauert’s work is a push to develop new robot hardware and AI-driven algorithms that enable robots to work together out-of-the-box and at scale.
Beyond her research, Sabine is dedicated to advancing the robotics and AI fields through leadership roles. She serves on the board of directors for the Open Source Robotics Foundation and is an Executive Trustee of the Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence, a charity focused on connecting the robotics and AI communities with the public through platforms like RoboHub.org and AIHub.org.
In addition to her research projects, Sabine has contributed her expertise to numerous national and international committees, including the UK Robotics Growth Partnership, the Royal Society Working Group on Machine Learning, and several IEEE RAS executive boards. She is also principal investigator or co-investigator on projects that have secured over £40 million in funding.
Before joining the University of Bristol, Sabine conducted groundbreaking research at MIT, where she engineered swarms of nanoparticles for cancer treatment, and at EPFL, where she deployed flying robot swarms.
Professor Hauert said: “This is a wonderful surprise and a tremendous honour. Robotics is at a pivotal moment, and I look forward to continuing to advance the field while also supporting science communication.”
Professor Anthony Mulholland, Head of Bristol’s School of Engineering Maths and Technology, added: “Congratulations to Sabine on this prestigious honour. Her exceptional contributions to the field of robotics have had a profound impact advancing the field of robotics transcending health, disaster mitigation, and the development of smart cities.”
