On 27 January 2025, Prof. Dr. Poramate Manoonpong and members of the Research Center of Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Automation (ARIA) at the School of Information Science and Technology (IST), Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), along with special foreign guests, visited the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University to exchange research insights and foster collaboration. The event was honored by the presence of esteemed researchers, including Prof. Stanislav Gorb and Dr. Elena Gorb from Kiel University, Germany, Prof. Mikhail Chamonine from Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg, Germany, and Asst. Prof. Shunsuke Shigaki from the National Institute of Informatics, Japan.
The visit was in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Boonsatien Boonsoong and his Master’s and PhD students at Kasetsart University (KU). The teams from VISTEC and KU shared their ongoing research, fostering interdisciplinary discussions between biologists and roboticists.
During the visit, Prof. Boonsatien Boonsoong gave a talk on mayflies, focusing on their evolutionary adaptability to different environments. He also guided the visitors in observing aquatic animal morphology under a microscope and provided a tour of the laboratory.
From the VISTEC side, Prof. Dr. Poramate Manoonpong presented an overview of their current research and discussed how biologists and roboticists can collaborate by using robots as tools to test hypotheses about animal behavior and capabilities.
This exchange strengthened the interdisciplinary collaboration between VISTEC and KU, paving the way for future joint research initiatives.