People
A highly motivated research team, always open to new ideas and contacts. Feel free to contact us!
Scientific members
In chronological order of joining the group.
Andreas Schrempf
Founder and head of the research group
Andreas is a full professor for Biomechanics and Computer Modelling and Simulation at the Department of Medical Technology. His research interests are modelling and simulation in biomechanics and biomedical engineering, as well as system identification and control theory. He received his master’s degree and PhD from Johannes Kepler University Linz in 1998 and 2004, respectively. After working as a senior researcher at the Linz Competence Center in Mechatronics, he joined the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in 2005.
Robert Merwa
Key researcher
Robert is a full professor for Measurement Instrumentation and Control Engineering as well as Applied Programming and Embedded Systems. His research interests are real-time systems for data acquisition and communication technologies in medical engineering. He received his master’s degree and PhD from Graz University of Technology in 2000 and 2004, respectively. After working as an assistant professor at the Institute of Medical Engineering in Graz, he joined the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in 2009.
Gerhard Halmerbauer
Key researcher
Gerhard is a full professor for Health Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Campus Steyr. Previously, he worked as a physician at the University Children’s Hospital in Vienna, where he did research in allergy and pulmonology. After several years as a doctor and researcher, he became a professor for Health Sciences and soon head of the degree programme Process Management in Health Care. His main research interests are clinical process management, in particular the support of core clinical processes, and improving transparency regarding patient outcomes and costs in the health care system.
Christina Gennari
Research assistant
Christina is a research assistant at the Research Group for Surgical Simulators Linz. Her research interests include 3D construction and printing, materials research, and ultrasound characterization. Her work in 3D construction and printing explores fabrication techniques such as 3D printing and silicone casting for the creation of anatomical models. Her research in ultrasound characterization focuses on analyzing ultrasound properties to develop phantoms for evaluating ultrasound-based techniques. She received her master’s degree in Medical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in 2025 and joined the research group in September 2025.
Former members
Thomas Thurner
Postdoc
His research focused on soft tactile sensors, the electronics needed for data acquisition and the related signal processing. He also worked on materials research and the fabrication of artificial anatomical structures. He spent around six years at ReSSL, where he completed his doctorate in cooperation with JKU Linz. In 2026 he founded AMPIONICS GmbH. There he continues the work started at ReSSL and develops soft sensor skins for surgical simulators, robotics and special applications.
- Lisa Stefely · Research assistant
- Benjamin Esterer · Research assistant
- Teresa Rechberger · Research assistant
- Lisa-Marie Moser · Master student
- Dominik Eder · Research assistant
- Stefan Gabauer · Research assistant
- Marianne Hollensteiner · Postdoc
- David Fürst · Postdoc
- Johannes Razenböck · Bachelor student
- Fabian Hauser · Bachelor student
- Phillipp Mayerhofer · Bachelor student
- Michael Hess · Master student
- Markus Samrykit · Master student
- Nagaraja Ullas · Bachelor student
- Aragonda Sampath Kumar · Bachelor student
- Harald Fischer · Master student and research assistant