Experience and education

Experience

UpCircle Technology AG, Zurich

Co-Founder and CEOJun 2022 to today
- Leading a team of 10+ people that makes recycling more efficient with AI
- Project lead of the Innosuisse innovation project (CHF 1.1M, 2025 to 2026)
- Paper-mill deployments in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands; 2026 financing round
- Customer discovery, team building, product development, IP and licensing, marketing and branding, fundraising

ETH Zurich, Robotic Systems Lab

Senior Scientist and Lead Space RoboticsApr 2022 to Jul 2026
- Led the lab’s space robotics research group (7+ people) and co-supervised PhD students
- Principal investigator of Team GLIMPSE (10+ people), winner of the ESA and ESRIC Space Resources Challenge
- Principal investigator of the ESA Topical Team LEAP (Legged Exploration of the Aristarchus Plateau)
- Principal investigator of PLATE, a wheel abrasion experiment for MBRSC’s Rashid-1 lunar rover
- Initiated LunarLeaper, a legged-robot mission concept to explore lunar lava tubes; first author of the concept paper
- Work package lead for autonomy in the EU project Natural Intelligence
Postdoctoral Researcher in Space RoboticsApr 2021 to Mar 2022
- Principal investigator and team lead of GLIMPSE in phase one of the ESA Space Resources Challenge
- Systems engineering for a lunar ISRU demonstration plant within an Airbus-led consortium
- Supervised the ETH focus project SpaceHopper
Engineer and Doctoral ResearcherOct 2016 to Apr 2021
- Pioneered dynamically walking legged robots for space exploration, within ESA’s Networking/Partnering Initiative with Airbus Defence and Space
- Project engineering for the Horizon 2020 project THING (subTerranean Haptic INvestiGator, grant 780883)
- Supervised the ETH focus projects SpaceBok and Athlas

Autonomous River Cleanup, Zurich

Co-Founder and Technical LeadNov 2019 to Oct 2024
- Technical lead for river waste monitoring and sorting systems (10+ people)
- Planned and ran the deployment of the clean-up vessel Livia on the Limmat in Zurich, June to August 2021 (video)
- Raised and managed more than CHF 600k in philanthropic donations

European Space Agency (ESTEC), Noordwijk

Visiting ResearcherAug 2018 to Jul 2019
- Automation and Robotics section (TEC-MMA)
- Developed and tested SpaceBok at ESA’s test facilities
Robotics Engineer, German National TraineeApr 2014 to May 2016
- Set up and managed the laboratory for orbital robotics
- Developed air-bearing robots, covering system, mechanical, electrical and software design
- Reviewed industry work on active debris removal: harpoons, nets and robotic grasping of satellites
- Robotics expert in concurrent design studies for debris removal missions, including deorbiting ENVISAT

German Aerospace Center (DLR), Bremen

Master’s Thesis StudentOct 2013 to Mar 2014
- System Analysis Space Segment group
- Developed an atmosphere control system for autonomous greenhouse modules

RWTH Aachen University

Student Assistant, Media Computing GroupDec 2010 to Sep 2013
- Developed some of the first consumer-level 3D printers, including delta kinematics
- Built and maintained the fab lab’s tools: 3D printers, laser cutter and CNC mills
- Coached students on their mechatronics projects

Airbus Defence and Space (formerly EADS Astrium), Friedrichshafen

Bachelor’s Thesis Student and InternApr 2012 to Oct 2012
- Space Transportation, Bio Life Science group: mechanical work on the Immunolab payload
- Developed a patented dynamic damping system for astronaut training

University of Cologne, Centre for Physiology

Dr. sc. in Robotics, ETH Zurich2021
Thesis: Quadrupedal Robots for Planetary Exploration
Space Studies Program (SSP16)2016
International Space University
M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering2013 to 2014
RWTH Aachen University, Development and Design
Semester abroad2011
POSTECH, Pohang, South Korea
B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering2008 to 2013
RWTH Aachen University, Development and Design

Winner out of 12 teams, ESA and ESRIC Space Resources Challenge, Team GLIMPSE2023
Best Paper Award, Advanced Robotics, for “ANYmal: toward legged robots for harsh environments”2019
ESA NPI doctoral scholarship, EUR 140k in external funding2016
EADS Astrium Spacelab Prize for the best space spin-off project2013
InnoBooster, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, for UpCircle2024

Reviewer and IEEE editor for Science Robotics, T-RO, TMECH, JFR, RA-L, IROS, ICRA and iSpaRo
Supervised 70+ student theses (MSc, BSc, semester projects) and three nine-month engineering focus projects
Organiser and programme chair, Workshop on Planetary Exploration Robots, IROS 2020

Coverage by Wired, New Scientist, Deutsche Welle, ARD, SRF, NZZ and others. See all talks and media