H.F. Machiel Van der Loos

H.F. Machiel Van der Loos is an Associate Professor and Associate Head – External at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia. He holds a PhD from Stanford University (1992) in human-robot interaction and a Diplôme d'Ingénieur from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). As Director of the CARIS Lab, his research focuses on rehabilitation robotics, roboethics, design methodology, and human-robot interaction in industrial contexts.

He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and 100 conference papers, and serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Assistive Technology. His teaching includes core design courses such as the Capstone Design Project and cross-disciplinary 'Designing for People' courses spanning Computer Science, Applied Science, and Library Science.

Van der Loos organized major conferences including IEEE ICORR 2013 and ICED17 at UBC. His work includes developing assistive technologies like power-assisted wheelchairs, AR interfaces for human-robot collaboration, and rehabilitation robots. The CARIS Lab emphasizes ethical considerations in corporeal robotics and user-centered design principles.

Current research projects involve multimodal robot programming through AR, gesture-based interaction, and adaptive wheelchair control systems. His lab has collaborated with industry partners like JDQ Systems Inc. and Tableau to advance practical robotics solutions.