Erik Coelingh is the Technology Advisor at Zenuity and the Adjunct Professor of Technology at Chalmers University. Erik joined the Volvo Car Corporation more than 15 years ago, where he was responsible for Volvo's first application of Automatic Emergency Braking and led the advanced engineering activities for Pedestrian Detection and Intersection Collision Avoidance.

In 2008, he took on the role of Technical Leader for Safety Technologies, pioneering the Drive Me program, Volvo's revolutionary research project on autonomous driving, taking place on public roads, and involving local drivers to integrate autonomous driving technology into their daily lives.

Erik’s approach focuses on a fail-operational system, in which each autonomous feature has multiple backups, similar to an airplane's autopilot technology. His research focuses on algorithm and system design for active safety features for collision avoidance by means of warning and automatic emergency braking and steering. He also works on the design of driver support features to take over part of the driving task, utilizing adaptive cruise control, automatic parking and autonomous vehicles. His ultimate vision, as well as that of Zenuity's, is to design cars that can be driven fully automatically without incident.

"It is relatively easy to build and demonstrate a self-driving concept vehicle, but if you want to create an impact in the real world, you have to design and produce a complete system that will be safe, robust and affordable for ordinary customers.”

Erik has an extensive track record of providing solutions in the following areas:

• Algorithm & System Design

• Vehicle Safety Technology

• Autonomous Driving Software

• Emergency Braking & Driver Assistance

• Technical Leadership