Biography
Yvan Petillot (YP) is a Professor at Heriot-Watt University who specializes in robotics and sensing, and is an expert in autonomous systems, image analysis and control applied to the subsea domain. He has made major contributions in subsea robotics, from sensing to navigation and autonomy. He manages a portfolio of £1M grants covering all aspects of underwater signal processing from defense to perception for offshore asset management and underwater sensor networks. Prof. Petillot has a long history of collaborative research within the EU, having participated in 9 EU projects in various roles. In parallel, Professor Petillot has a strong track record in technology transfer and engagement with industry. He co-founded SeeByte Ltd in 2001 and led the transitioning of research, technology and personnel from the University to the company. Of note were the successful transfer of MOD funded collaborative framework for multi-vehicle collaboration, evaluated by the US Navy under their Foreign Competitive Technology framework and now a product sold to the US and UK Navies.