Vincent Hayward, an internationally renowned expert of tactile sensing, visited Nazarbayev University Department of Robotics as the special guest of postdoctoral researcher Dr. Zhanat Kappassov. Prof. Hayward introduced NU research community and students to the field of tactile sensing in his elegant and thought-provoking lecture entitled “In the sense of touch: how physics shapes the messages that are sent to the brain.” Dr. Hayward visited the robotics research laboratories and engaged in discussions with the department faculty members on possible areas for collaboration.

Vincent Hayward is Leverhulme Visiting Professor of Tactile Perception and Technologies at the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London. He was the holder of the International Chair in Haptics at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, from 2008 to 2011 and was subsequently appointed Professor. From 1989 to 2008, he was Assistant, Associate, and then Full Professor at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and was director of the McGill Research Center for Intelligent Machines from 2001 to 2004. Vincent is a Fellow of the IEEE and has just completed an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council.