Originally from France, Yves Rybarczyk took his doctoral degree in Robotics at the University of Evry, where his field of specialisation was Artificial Intelligence. Prior to this, he studied in Portugal between the years of 2007 and 2015 before his academic career took him to South America.
"Since I like adventure and new challenges, I decided to move to South America where I held a position of associate professor and head of the Intelligent & Interactive Systems Lab (SI2 Lab) at the Universidad de Las Américas, Ecuador for four years."
When Yves Rybarczyk was offered the position of professor at Dalarna University, he was unable to say no.
"I am happy to be a new professor at Dalarna University. This is a completely different environment than the one in South America. I feel I have more time to dedicate to my teaching and research activities. My expectations are to improve the quality of the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes."
In his freetime, Yves Rybarczyk enjoys sporting activities, especially running and swimming. He now lives in Borlänge with his wife and two children, and hopes within a short time to be able to move from their current apartment into a house close to the University.
Arend Hintze is also a Professor of Microdata Analysis and has a background that differs from that of Yves. He holds a doctoral degree in genetics and worked the last 14 years within the field of cognitive system development focusing on the control of virtual robots. Currently, he lives in Vika, just outside Falun, with his wife and four children.
"I am happy to be here, and I enjoy working with all the new people. I like the applied aspect, and I prefer experiential teaching on real-world problems, where you can see the difference you are making. Besides research itself, I think that mentoring is the coolest aspect of being a professor," he says.
What do you like doing in your free time?
"Since my work is mostly virtual and theoretical, I like to do things with my hands in my free time. I build remote-controlled airplanes, create Halloween costumes for my kids, and I also write computer games and participate in Game Jams, which are events where you and your team try to write a computer game in 48-72 hours," he explains.
Dalarna University has also employed a new professor in the field of Social Work. His name is Thomas Strandberg and most recently he worked at Örebro University, where he was employed for 18 years and where his career also actually began.
"I began my doctoral studies in 2001. Before that, I taught in the nursing programme and before that within a care organisation for people with disabilties. My interest in research grew during that time when I wanted to learn more about people with disabilities, and I joined the research environment entitled Institutet för handikappvetenskap. My research has focussed on the rehabilitation process for people returning to normal life after brain injury."
Thomas will continue to live in Örebro and commute on a weekly basis to Campus Falun. When it comes to his thoughts on leaving a position he has enjoyed for 18 years, he says, "It feels good and it will be a challenge to start at a new university after 18 years being at the same workplace."