Jelle Saldien

Jelle Saldien is a Full Professor at the University of Antwerp since September 2023, focusing on teaching electronics in product design and technology-driven design, along with research on integrated design for smart products aimed at enhancing UX/UI and promoting circular economy principles. Saldien also serves as a Professor at imec-mict-UGent and Ghent University, where contributions include teaching in industrial systems engineering and product design. As a Principal Investigator at imec and the Flanders AI Research Program, Saldien investigates intuitive human-AI interaction in conversational agents. Saldien co-founded Creative Therapy and has held board positions, including at the Ministry of Makers. Previous roles include lectureship at HOWEST University and research assistants at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where Saldien developed the Huggable Social Robot Probo. Academic qualifications encompass a Doctorate in Engineering from Vrije Universiteit Brussel and degrees in Product Development and Electronics ICT.