Dr Markus Höpflinger

Head of the Swiss Drone and Robotics Centre (SDRC) Armasuisse

Dr. Markus Andreas (Mark) Hoepflinger holds a Master degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from ETH Zurich. After his Master in the field of space robotics, Mark Hoepflinger was employed as engineer for the Swiss locomotion subsystem breadboard for ESA’s ExoMars project. He then conducted a PhD at the Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL) at ETH Zurich with the main focus on terrain perception for legged robots. From 2013 to 2015, Mark was employed at ASL as leading researcher on various national and international research projects and Pioneer Fellow for a legged robotics company. Since 2015, Mark Hoepflinger is leading the governmental research program ‘Unmanned Systems/Robotics’ at armasuisse Science + Technology and is currently head of the "Swiss Drone and Robotics Centre" of the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and since 2024, head of competence centers of armasuisse S+T. In his military militia function, Höpflinger is a member of the Military Strategy Staff (MSS).