Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden is an assistant professor at the Heriot-Watt University and specialises in assistive and medical robotics and physical human-robot interaction. He received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and in 2011 he was awarded the FP7-Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for the project "Skill Assistance with Robot for Manual Welding". By simultaneous measurement and analysis of hand-impedance, arm muscle activity (EMG measurements) and cortical brain activity (near infrared spectroscopy-NIRS measurements) Dr Erden aims to provide an explanation of hand/tool kinematics, hand-impedance, muscle activity, and brain activity associated with skilled manipulation. His research ultimately seeks to develop robotic assistance systems that adapts to the skill level of the subject by monitoring the state of tool kinematics, the arm and brain.