Colleagues and friends: Bernard Roth (Stanford University, USA), one of the most important figures in the world of robotics, Jadran Lenarčič, and Gerd Hirzinger (DLR, Germany), one of the most important figures in the European robotics

JL – Friends like Bernie Roth have been decisive in my professional and personal growth.

APPOINTMENTS, POSITIONS, AWARDS

Appointments at the J. Stefan Institute
– Research Assistant (1979-1985)
– Head of Robotics Laboratory (1985-1994)
– Head of Automatics, Biocybernetics and Robotics (1994-2005)
– Director of the Institute (2005-2020) 

Positions of trust at the J. Stefan Institute
– Member of the Institute Council (1989)
– Chairman of the Institute Council (1990)
– Member of the Board of Governors of the Institute (1992-1994)
– Deputy President of Scientific Council (1997-2005)
– Member of the Scientific Council (2005-2020)
– Member and Chairman of the Commission for Elections (2005-2020)

Positions of trust – national
– National Coordinator of Production Technologies and Systems
– Chairman of the Scientific Research Council for Engineering Sciences
– Member of the National Research Council
– Member of the National Council Science for Peace
– Member of the National Council for Higher Education  
– Member of the Advisory Council  to the Prime Minister, Slovenia
– Member of the Standing Consultative Committee on Climate Policy under the President of the Republic of Slovenia

Positions of trust – international
– Member of the Search Committee for the President of the European Research Council
– Member of the Executive Committee of the Int. Federation for the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms IFToMM
– Member of the Board of the European Robotics Network EURON
– Member of the Mirror Group EUROP
– Member of the Executive Board of the European Association of Research and Technology Organizations EARTO

Lecturing
– Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana
– University of Nova Gorica
– J. Stefan International Postgraduate School

Membership in academies
– Regular Member of the Slovenian Academy of Engineering, (President 2011/12, Vicepresident 2010/11, 2012/13)
– Corresponding Member of the Accademia Delle Scienze di Bologna, Italy 

Some Other Recent Awards and Recognitions
– Business Leader of the Year 2022 (AmCham Slovenia)
– Personality of the Year in Slovenia (Newspaper Delo)
– Donald Michie and Alan Turing Award for Life Achievements (Information Society of Slovenia)
– Slovenian Tolar Gold Coin (Slovenian World Congress)
– Honorary Congress Ambassador 2023

Editorial Boards in Scientific Journals
– Laboratory Robotics and Automation (John Wiley)
– Informatica
– Transactions of the Canadian Society for the Mechanical Engineering
– Journal of Manufacturing Systems
– Electronic Journal on Computat. Kinematics (Int. Fed. for the Th. of Mach. & Mech.)
– Associate Editor, Mechanism and Machine Theory (Elsevier)

Visiting professor (scholar)
– University of Ferrara, Italy (1992)
– The University of Hull, GB (1992)
– The University of Notre Dame, USA (1997)
– University of Bologna, Italy (every year since 1997)
– Invited lectures and seminars at more than 20 universities around the world

Honorary Awards and Titles 
– Medal of Work with Silver Wreath 
– Cavaliere Ufficiale nell’Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana
– Chevalier de l’ordre national du mérit (France)