Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (UNIZG-FER) is part of University of Zagreb – the largest and oldest Croatian university. UNIZG-FER is the largest technical faculty and a leading educational and research institution in the fields of electrical engineering, computing, and information and communication technology in the Republic of Croatia. Today, the Faculty provides students and staff with state-of-the-art educational and R&I facilities,
including 35 lecture halls, more than 60 laboratories, Congress Centre, Central Library and 12 departmental libraries, 2 support centres, student restaurant, and sports and recreational facilities, covering a total area of 43308 m 2 . Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST) is a research group within the Department of Control and Computer Engineering at the UNIZG-FER, the largest technical high education institution and the leading educational and R&D institution in the fields of electrical and computer engineering and computer science in Croatia. LABUST (http://labust.fer.hr) research group has 17 members: 3 permanent staff, 3 post-docs, 7 PhD students, 2 engineers and 2 administrative person. The staff holds expertise in marine robotics: development and adaptation of marine vehicles (3 AUVs, 1 ASV); acoustic networks and sonars; identification, navigation, guidance and control of marine vessels; cooperative and coordinated formations of marine vehicles. In the last 5 years the group has participated in more than 20 international and national projects related to marine robotics. LABUST organised 15 annual field trainings “Breaking the Surface” with the purpose of conducting multidisciplinary research within marine biology, archaeology, and security.
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing team
Nikola Mišković
Nikola Mišković is a Full Professor at University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing where he teaches control engineering related courses. Currently he is the Vice Dean for Research. His research activities are conducted within the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST, https://labust.fer.hr/). He participated in 14 European projects (H2020, FP7, DG-ECHO, INTERREG) out of which he coordinated FP7 CADDY, focussing on the development of the first underwater robot for interaction with divers; H2020 aPad, devoted to commercialization of an autonomous surface vehicles developed in LABUST, and H2020 EXCELLABUST devoted to increasing LABUST excellence in marine robotics. He also participated in 4 Office of Naval Research Global (ONR-G) projects (coordinated 3), 2 NATO projects, and 7 national projects (coordinated 3). He published more than 70 papers in journals and conference proceedings in the area of navigation, guidance and control, as well as cooperative control in marine robotics. Prof. Mišković is a senior member of IEEE (president of Chapter for Robotics and Automation of the Croatian Section from 2016 to 2019), IFAC (member of the Technical Committee on Marine Systems) and Centre for Underwater Systems and Technologies (vice-president since 2010). He participated in 8 conference international programs committees, he is member of 2 journal editorial boards and he serves as a technical reviewer for various international journals. In 2013 he received the young scientist award ‘Vera Johanides’ of the Croatian Academy of Engineering (HATZ) for scientific achievements, and he received the annual State science award for 2015, awarded by the Croatian Parliament.
Dula Nad
Đula Nađ is an assistant professor University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and within the Laboratory of Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST). He participated in multiple European projects over past years. His research interest includes navigation, guidance, and control of underwater vehicles, localization aiding, and diver-robot cooperation.
Fausto Ferreira
Fausto Ferreira is an Assistant Professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. His research activities are conducted within the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST).
He has been involved in 15 EU Projects (FP6, FP7, H2020, Horizon Europe, INTERREG, Erasmus+) and 2 Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG) projects (including a Visiting Scientist Program grant). He is the Coordinator of the Erasmus+ project Marine Robots for better Sea Knowledge awareness (MASK). He has been the Deputy Technical Director of 6 Robotics competitions (SAUC-E 2014, euRathlon 2014, euRathlon Grand Challenge 2015, ERL Emergency 2017-2019) and Technical Director of 1 robotics competition (SAUC-E 2016). He has also been PI and co-PI of two U.S. Office of Naval Research Global funded projects and is currently PI of two EU funded projects.
Dr. Ferreira is a senior member of IEEE and the Vice-President for Workshops and Symposia of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES). He serves as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering. He is the General Chair of EMRA’ 2023 Workshop. He has been a member of many conference organizing committees (including Technical Co-chair of OCEANS 2021 San Diego – Porto). He has been awarded the 2023 IEEE OES Distinguished Service Award. He holds over 60 peer-reviewed papers including a patent and two book chapters and has reviewed for over 20 international journals. His research interests include underwater computer vision, sonar processing, marine law for unmanned marine vehicles, robotics competitions, and educational robotics.
He holds a PhD in Robotics, an Integrated Master in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Bachelor in Political Science with a thesis on regulatory aspects of autonomous surface vessels.