BIOGRAPHY

Professor Hyungpil Moon is a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) and currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Intelligent Robotics at the same university. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from POSTECH in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2005. In 2007, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, and in 2016, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). His research interests include robotic manipulation, autonomous mobile robots, sensors and actuators, and the application of machine learning in robotics. Notable achievements in his research include the design and control of various robotic systems, particularly in the areas of logistics and service robots. Recently, his work has focused on dual-arm robotic systems and the development of efficient package-handling technologies for logistics applications.

IEEE ACTIVITIES

COMMITTEES/BOARDS: IEEE RAS Competition Committee 2022-present, IEEE RAS Associate Vice President in CAB 2022-present, RAS Ad Hoc Committee on Sustainability and Climate Change

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SECTIONS/CHAPTERS

STUDENT BRANCHES:

SOCIETY: RAS (Robotics and Automation Society)

CONFERENCES:  Editor of ICRA for 2016-2024, Associate Editor of IROS for 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, Associate Editor of CASE for 2011, 2012, 2013

OTHER:  Senior Editor of IEEE RA-L 2022-present, Senior Editor of IEEE T-ASE 2023-present, Technical Editor of IEEE/ASME T-Mech for 2015-2018, IEEE Standard MDR Working Group for 2011-2015 (IEEE Std 1873-2015)

QUALIFICATIONS

I have been an active participant in IEEE RAS conferences such as ICRA, IROS, CASE, RoboSoft, and others for many years. Since 2022, I have served as an Associate Vice President (AVP) in the IEEE RAS Conference Activities Board (CAB), a role I was honored to take on under the leadership of Prof. Paul Oh and Prof. Darwin Caldwell. In this capacity, I also chair the RAS Competition Committee, where I have contributed to support competitions in ICRA and IROS.

Beyond IEEE, I have held leadership roles in major academic societies in Korea, including the Korea Robotics Society (KROS) and the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME), serving as a director and chair of technical committees. At my home institution, I am the founding chair of the newly established Department of Intelligent Robotics, where I have led efforts to develop interdisciplinary education and research programs. Most recently, I was appointed as a member of the Deliberative Council within the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology in Korea, where I contribute to shaping national science and technology policy.

These roles have equipped me with significant experience in strategic planning, academic leadership, policy-making, and organizing high-impact student and community activities. I am committed to advancing IEEE RAS by bridging academia, industry, and government together, by enriching member activities through related boards in RAS.

I believe my breadth of experience, from hands-on engagement in IEEE RAS conference activities to national-level science policy advising, positions me well to serve as an AdCom member. I am particularly eager to contribute to increasing student participation in RAS conferences, keeping RAS leadership in technical activities not only in conferences but also competitions, and helping guide the strategic direction of IEEE RAS in this new AI robot era.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• As CAB Competition Committee Chair, I created Quadruped Robot Challenges (QRC) which was inaugurated in ICRA 2023 London
• As CAB AVP, my motion to support Quadruped Robot Challenges (QRC) with $50,000 (pilot) was passed in 2022
• As CAB AVP, my motion to support QRC with $150,000 for three years was passed in 2023
• AS CAB AVP, MOU with Mathworks for supporting competitions with $5,000 since 2024
• AS CAB AVP, my motion to support competitions with $100,000 annually for 5 years was passed in 2024

POSITION STATEMENT

If elected as an IEEE RAS AdCom member, I am dedicated to improving member activities and values, particularly for students and young researchers through hands-on activities and more affordable technical events. My focus will be on creating sustainable structures for competitions and educational programs, strengthening technical communities, and enriching the collaboration among academia, industry, and government under IEEE RAS.

As Chair of the RAS Competition Committee, I have worked to establish a more coherent and supportive framework for competitions at RAS-sponsored conferences such as ICRA. My financial motion to support competitions at ICRAs was the first structured initiative within RAS to systematically assist competition organizers. Competitions serve not only as excellent platforms for student engagement but also as showcases for cutting-edge robotics technologies in semi-realistic, out-of-lab environments. I have personally initiated and led competitions such as the Autonomous Drone Racing and the Quadruped Robot Challenges, which have contributed to both technical innovation and hands-on student development.

Prior to these efforts, competitions at ICRA and RAS supported conferences were organized in an ad-hoc manner, often placing a heavy burden on conference organizers, competition organizers as well as competition participants. As AVP of the Conference Activities Board (CAB) and the competition committee chair, I identified uncomfortable issues and demonstrated that well-planned, well-supported competitions—such as the QRC—can operate at the same technical leadership and visibility as any major conference technical program. I have since worked to secure increased funding and organizational support for ICRA competitions. With the emergence of large-scale, well-funded robotics competitions outside of RAS, it is now imperative that we should take further steps to strengthen and structure our own competition ecosystem in ICRAs.

However, the path to institutionalizing competition support is complex, involving coordination across multiple boards, including CAB, TAB, SAB, and FAB. If elected to AdCom, I will leverage my experience to help formalize a long-term strategy for competition planning and integration. My goal is to make competitions a core component of RAS’s supporting conferences for technical innovation, education, showcase, and technical community building.

In addition to competition development, I aim to strengthen the overall conference experience for our members. With four years of service as AVP of CAB, I have acquired the knowledge of conference planning, student engagement programs, and society-level governance. I believe there is significant potential to expand opportunities for members to contribute meaningfully to RAS conferences, whether through workshops, networking events, or hands-on experience formats. IEEE RAS plays a vital role in fostering collaboration across academia, industry, and government. My experience leading interdisciplinary programs and national policy initiatives has prepared me to help guide RAS’s efforts in these areas. I am passionate about nurturing and supporting member activities, especially for the next generation of roboticists and building structures that make our society more inclusive, agile, and impactful.