The French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in the fields of energy, defense, information technologies, communication and health. Ever since it was created in 1945, it has successfully responded to major scientific challenges in many fields, including the French nuclear power generation program, nuclear deterrence, micro- and nanotechnologies, astrophysics, medical imaging, toxicology and biotechnologies. CEA is more than 15.000 researchers working throughout France.

CEA LIST is a research department inside CEA, which is a French R&D governmental agency whose field of expertise ranges from nuclear industry to bio sciences. Based in Ile-de-France (in the neighbourhood of Paris), LIST combines basic research and industrial R&D within a dynamic structure, and is mainly financed by industrial contracts. The project-based culture of its 300 scientists, engineers and technicians makes it a natural partner for industry seeking breakthrough technology, from the initial concept down to working demonstrators.

CEA LIST is primarily concerned with the development of technology that combine software and hardware to form highly integrated complex systems - "software intensive systems".

The research activities are structured into industry-driven projects, around three major themes :

• Embedded systems: embedded systems are everywhere around us. CEA LIST focuses on the method and tools to successfully design such a system with appropriate architecture, software, and an optimal level of safety.
  
  
• Interactive systems: researchers in this theme study the interface between our world and the digital world, the sensors and the actuators, with major stress on haptics and tactile interfaces for VR applications and robotics.
  
  
• Sensors and signal processing: this topic covers the interpretation of the signals surrounding us by custom sensors.

Industrial partners while working with our teams benefit:

• from European-class research through CEA LIST academic networks around the world
  
  
• from the latest scientific breakthrough applied to their needs
  
  
• from a custom research increasing their IP portfolio on strategic fields

Key Personnel:

Moustapha Hafez was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical engineering from the American University in Cairo in 1993. He obtained then his Master of Science in Robotics from l'ENSAM in Paris in 1995 and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Applied Optics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne in 2000. During his Ph.D. research he designed and developed a highly innovative fast-steering compact laser scanner for high power material processing applications. He joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Field and Space robotics Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher where he was in charge of the NIAC project (NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts) on Self-Transforming Robotic Planetary Explorers. He was also the co-instructor of the Dynamics and Control course at MIT. Since 2002, he joined CEA where he is the group leader of the mechatronics and active materials group within the Robotics and Interactive System unit. His research interests lie in the field of mechatronics, robotics, micro-engineering, and smart materials. He is currently a senior expert and the project leader of several projects that involve the development of new generations of tactile interfaces and low cost haptic interfaces.

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