Prof. Mirko Kovac is heading the Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics at both, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in Zürich and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Before his appointment in Switzerland, he was full Professor at Imperial College London and remains a honorary Professor in Aerial Robotics with the Aerial Robotics Lab. His research group focusses on the development of novel mobile robots for distributed sensing and autonomous manufacturing in complex natural environments. Prof. Kovac's particular specialisation is in robot design, hardware development and multi-modal sensor mobility.

Previously, he was post-doctoral researcher at Harvard University and he obtained his PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) in 2005.

Since 2006, he has presented his work in more than 100 peer reviewed publications in leading conferences and journals, has won several best paper awards and has delivered over 100 keynote and invited lectures. He also regularly acts as advisor to government, investment funds and industry on robotics opportunities.