News/Events

  • I initiated AI for Smart Mobility Medium.com publication as a collective hub exploring AI’s transformation of transportation infrastructure, people mobility and logistics.
  • I participate as a panelist in Ontario Tech Research Day 2024, February 20, 2024, Oshawa, Onatrio, Canada.
  • I'll give a keynote speech in The IEEE International Conference on Smart Applications, Communications and Networkin (SmartNets 2024), May 28-30, 2024, Harrisonburg/Washington DC – USA.
  • I'll give a keynote speech in The International Conference on Electrical Systems and Smart Technologies (ICESST 2024), Dec. 13-15, 2024, Dakhla, Moracco.
  • I gave a keynote speech entitled Smart Mobility for Traffic Safety in The Sixth International Traffic Safety Forum and Exhibition, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, December 6, 2023.
  • I gave a keynote speech entitledSmart Mobility for Sustainable Development Goals: Enablers and Barriers in FARI Conference: Local & Sustainable AI, Data, and Robotics in Brussels, Belgium, Sepetmber 2023.
  • Call for Papers: The 2023 IEEE International Conference on Smart Mobility that will take place in King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in March 19-21, 2023. Paper submission deadline is December 15, 2022.
  • My interview with the Italian Law & HR magazine focusing on my book: Smart Mobility: Exploring Foundational Technologies and Wider Impacts. [posted November 23, 2022]
  • A summary of main takeaways from a panel discussion entitled “Smart Mobility Triad” I moderated at 2022 IEEE International Conference on Smart Mobility is available here.
  • Call for Papers: The 2022 IEEE International Conference on Smart Mobility that will take place in the smart coastal city of New Alamein, Egypt in March 6-7, 2022. Paper submission deadline is February 21, 2022. [posted February 6, 2022]
  • My book entitled "Smart Mobility: Exploring Foundational Technologies and Wider Impacts" is now available. This book gives the reader a comprehensive and easy-to-digest introduction to the current and emerging smart mobility systems focusing on foundational technologies, technology enablers, and disruptors that will shape the future of mobility. [posted June 19, 2021]
  • I have been interviewed by GM Media team in Employee Spotlight Series. [posted June 14, 2020]
  • Call for Participation: I co-organize a workshop enttiled "The Roles of Robotics in Achieving the UN's Social Development Goals". This workshop will take place as part of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021). IROS is a premier flagship conference in robotics.. [posted June 10, 2021]
  • I give a talk entitled "Humanitarian Robotics for a Landmine-free World" in The Mine Detection Symposium 2019: Expansion on Explosive Detection Sensor Technology for Unmanned Aerial Systems organized by Urs Endress Foundation and Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Switzerland. [posted October 19, 2019]
  • I am pleased and honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2018 IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) Achievement Award. The selection was made by the IEEE MGA Board Awards and Recognition Committee and approved by the IEEE MGA Board during its 17 November 2018 meeting. In the congratulation letter, Professor Martin J. Bastiaans, the 2018 IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Vice President mentioned the following: "This is a very prestigious award, and we are pleased to honor you for the outstanding contributions you have made to numerous IEEE activities and the example you set in carrying forward the goals and objectives of the IEEE MGA Board.". [posted March 1, 2019]
  • I've participated in the Smart Cities Mixer at The Fields Institute in Toronto. In this event, I briefly talked about artificial Intelligence, machine learning and autonomous vehicles as my current research areas and gave some examples of my previous activities and projects in the area of AI for sustainable development, humanitarian robotics, predictive maintenance and smart mobility. More info: Smart Cities Mixer. [posted June 1, 2018]
  • I have a talk entitled "AI: A Key Enabler for Sustainable Development Goals" at BioVision 2018 - Bibliotheca Alexandrina in April 22, 2018. Slides are available at: SlideShare. [posted April 29, 2018]
  • I published a paper entitled "Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Promises and Limitations". Paper is available at: Dataconomy Media. [posted April 15, 2018]
  • I joined General Motors Canada in July 2017 as Senior AI/ML Expert. [posted October 1, 2017]
  • I was the main technical advisor of Sypron Hyperloop project in my capacity as Head of Advanced Development Division at Sypron Solutions. One-passenger full-scale capsule and 1:12 scale prototype have been built to participate in SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. A YouTube Video for Sypron Hyperloop is available here. [posted October 1, 2017]
  • MineProbe: A Distributed Mobile Sensor System for Minefield Reconnaissance and Mapping project has been finished in May 27, 2017. A YouTube Video for field trials is available here. [posted October 1, 2017]
  • I gave a talk entitled "Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory" in Maker Faire 2017. Slides are available on ResearchGate. [posted October 1, 2017]
  • I gave two guest lectures about motion planning algorithms in the undergraduate course ECE486: Robot Dynamics and Control, Spring 2016 (30 students), ECE department, University of Waterloo, Canada. Slides are available on ResearchGate. [posted July 25, 2016]
  • I gave a guest lecture about genetic algorithms in the postgraudate course ECE657: Computational Intelligence/Intelligent Systems Design, Spring 2016 (70 students), ECE department, University of Waterloo, Canada [posted July 25, 2016]
  • I gave webinar entitled "Cooperative Multirobot Systems" orgnaized by Egypt Scholars and Minesweepers: Toward a Landmine-free World competition. [posted July 23, 2016]
  • I published an article entitled Mobile robots fight against deadly legacies of war in Robohub. [posted April 28, 2016]
  • I'll give a talk entitled Humanitarian Robotics: Minefield Reconnaissance and Mapping at Robotics and Automation for Humanitarian Applications (RAHA - 2016) in December 18-20th 2016, Amrita University, Kerala, India. [posted April 14, 2016]
  • I'll give a webinar organized by Egypt Schoalrs Inc. entitled Multirobot Systems on Sunday June 5, 2016 at 8:00PM (Time in Cairo, Egypt). [posted April 14, 2016]
  • Call for Papers: Second International Workshop on Recent Advances in Robotics and Sensor Technology for Humanitarian Demining and Counter-IEDs. Submission Deadline: July 18, 2016. I'm the founder of this international workshop. [posted April 14, 2016]
  • I have been appointed as 2016 Advisory Committee Member of IEEE RAS-SIGHT (Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology) and a member of IEEE SIGHT Partnerships SubCommittee. [posted April 14, 2016]
  • Call for Participation: Fifth edition of Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World. I'm the founder of this international competition. [posted April 14, 2016]
  • I've been interviewed by EEWeb. [posted December 21, 2015]
  • I'll give a webinar organized by Egypt Schoalrs Inc. entitled Shaping the future of Robotics and Automation in Egypt on Sunday November 22 at 1:00pm (EST). [posted November 19, 2015]
  • I gave a talk entitled Machine Intelligence: Promises and Challenges at Techne Summit 2015. Download [posted October 5, 2015]
  • I gave a talk entitled "Humanitarian Demining: Facts, Technology Enablers and Initiatives" in the International Workshop on Recent Advanced on Robotics and Sensor Technology for Humanitarian Demining in The 6th International Conference on Computing and Informatics in Northern Chile (INFONOR-Chile 2015). [posted August 26, 2015]
  • I teach this spring the 4th year course ECE457A: Cooperative and Adaptive Algorithms in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at University of Waterloo, Canada. [posted April 22, 2015]
  • I gave a guest lecture entitled Innovative Sensor Technologies, State Estimation and Multisensor Data Fusion in ECE 750 Intelligent Sensors and Sensor Networks course at the University of Waterloo. [posted April 20, 2015]
  • I will give a keynote speech entitled Machine Intelligence and its Role in Strengthening Industry-Academia Collaboration in Robotics and AI Track at at IAC2015. The slides of the talk are available here. [posted March 18, 2015]
  • I organize Workshop on Recent Advanced on Robotics and Sensor Technology for Humanitarian Demining in The 6th International Conference on Computing and Informatics in Northern Chile (INFONOR-Chile 2015). IEEE RAS Egypt Chapter chair is the co-organizer of this workshop. Paper submission deadline is March 1, 2015. [posted Feb 15, 2015]
  • IEEE Robotics and Automation Society– Egypt Chapter has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 IEEE RAS Chapter of the Year Award. I'm the founder and chair of this chapter. [posted December 8, 2014]
  • Robohub coverage for Minesweepers competition: Minesweepers 2014: Outdoor robotic competition on humanitarian demining. [posted November 25, 2014]
  • I teach this winter the 4th year course SYDE522: Machine Intelligence in the Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada. Number of enrolled students is 50. [posted November 9, 2014]
  • Four patents have been recently filed to US Patent Office (USPTO) for methods I co-invented at Vestec, Inc. about speaker adaptation, noise type identification, SNR estimation and smart speech enhancement. [posted September 20, 2014]
  • I teach this spring the 4th year course ECE457A: Cooperative and Adaptive Algorithms in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at University of Waterloo, Canada. Number of enrolled students is 148. [posted May 15, 2014]
  • Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World has been featured at Robohub. [posted April 28, 2014]
  • Call for Participation: Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World. The third edition of competition is organized in September 1-3, 2014 by Institute for Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra under the auspices of IEEE RAS Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (RAS-SIGHT). Registration due date is May 31, 2914. [posted April 6, 2014]
  • I’ll give a keynote speech entitled “The Role of Cooperation in Multirobot Systems” in the International Conference on Industry Academia Collaboration (IAC2014) that will take place in Fairmont Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt in March 3-5, 2014. Slides of the talk are available here. [posted March 20, 2014]
  • Call for Papers: RoboSense 2014: The International Workshop on Cooperative Robots and Sensor Networks. I serve as TPC member for this workshop. [posted December 19, 2013]
  • IEEE Institute Interview: I have been interviewed by IEEE Institute to talk about Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World competition for December 2013 issue of IEEE The Institute. [posted December 4, 2013]
  • Call for Papers: Robotics Technology and Artificial Intelligence, International Conference on Industry Acamedia Collaboration, March 3-5, 2014, Cairo, Egypt. I'm the track co-chair. [posted Noevmber 2, 2013]
  • The 2013 International Conference on Individual and Collective Behaviors in Robotics (ICBR2013), December 15-17, 2013, Sousse, Tunisia. I'm serving as TPC member in this conference' [posted November 1, 2013]
  • I gave a seminar entitled Cooperative Multirobot Systems at the University of New Brunswick, Fredricton, NB, Canada. [posted October 7, 2013]
  • IEEE Robotics and Automation Society– Egypt Chapter has been selected as the winner of the 2012 Chapter of the Year Award in IEEE Region 8 (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Our chapter has obtained this most prestigious award for being especially engaged in humanitarian activities of national importance and for being able to put into practice the mission of IEEE, “…to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.” [posted April 30, 2013]
  • I gave a seminar entitled Robotics between Fact and Fiction in the orientation session of ROV competition that took place at Ain Shams University. [posted February 23, 2013]
  • Call for Participation for Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-Free World, first international robotic outdoor competition for humanitarian demining. This competition is organized by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society ? Egypt Chapter and is sponsored and hosted this year by the German University in Cairo (GUC). It is supported by Executive Secretariat for the Demining & Development of the North West Coast, Ministry of International Cooperation, Mines Action & Human Rights Foundation and Protection Against Armaments & Consequences and African Robotics Network (AFRON). I'm the creator and coordinator of this competition. [posted February 22, 2013]
  • I gave a seminar about "Cooperative Multirobot Systems" organized by IEEE RAS - Egypt Chapter in Faculty of Computers and Information Science at Ain Shams University. [posted November 30, 2012]
  • I offered a free intenstive course entitled "Optimization with Engineering Applications" at Suez Canal University. [posted November 1, 2012]
  • Announcement of African Robotics Network (AFRON) "$10 Robot" Design Challenge Winners. I served as a juror in this competition. [posted October 1, 2012]
  • Call for Papers: Special Issue on Intelligent Systems in Context-based Distributed Information Fusion of International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks. Manuscript due: January 18, 2013. I'm serving as guest editor for this special issue. [posted September 23, 2012]
  • Announcement of Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-Free Egypt competition winners. I was the creator and coordinator of this competition. [posted September 18, 2012]
  • I was interviewed by CBC channel to talk about Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-Free Egypt competition. [posted September 18, 2012]
  • I'm in a short stay as a visiting professor in Planiart Lab, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. [posted August 1, 2012]
  • My journal paper entitled Multisensor Data Fusion: A Review of the State-of-the-art has been the number one most downloaded paper of the Information Fusion Journal within the last 90 days. [posted July 12, 2012]
  • MSc Thesis Defence: Bayesian Appraoch to Multisensor Data Fusion with Pre- and Post-Filtering by Eng. Waleed Abdul Hafiz in July 2, 2012 in H15 at GUC. I'm the supervisor of this thesis. [posted June 23, 2012]
  • MSc Thesis Defence: Team-theoretic Approach to Cooperative Multirobot System by Eng. Asser El-gindy in July 4, 2012 in H15 at GUC. I'm the supervisor of this thesis. [posted June 23, 2012]
  • IEEE Robotics & Automation Society - Egypt Chapter has won funding from IEEE RAS Member Activities Board to support the chapter activities. The chapter organizes a national robotic competition on humanitarian demining, a free intensive course about "How to Build a Real Robot", the International Conference on Engineering and Technology (ICET 2012), a special session and competition on robot vision . I'm the founder and chair of this chapter. [posted June 21, 2012]
  • I was interviewed by Egyptian TV channel of Scientific Research to talk about Robotics and Automation in Egypt. [posted June 15, 2012]
  • Call for Papers for International Conference on Engineering and Technology (ICET 2012) that will take place at German University in Cairo (GUC) in New Cairo City, Egypt in October 10-11, 2012. I'm the founder and program chair of this conference. [posted April 15, 2012]
  • I got promoted to the Associate Professor rank by the Permanent Scientific Committee for Promotion to Associate Professorship and Professorship in Electronics, Computer and System Engineering, Supreme Council of Universities in Egypt. [posted April 08, 2012]
  • I gave an IEEE Webinar about Mobile Robot Locomotion and Positioning Systems. [posted April 07, 2012]
  • I taught the Master's seminar course "Cooperative Multirobot Systems"in the Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain. [posted April 01, 2012]
  • IEEE RAS Egypt Chapter Webinars: IEEE RAS Egypt Chapter will broadcast a set of Webinars (Web Seminars) to help interested students and engineers in constructing demining robots covering different related topics such as locomotion systems, environment perception, buried mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection, robot navigation and wireless communication. The first webinar will take place on this Saturday March 10, 2012 at 6:00PM (Cairo Time). In this first webinar, competition organizers will explain the Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-Free Egypt competition rules. To join this webinar, please use this link. [posted March 10, 2012]
  • RASTalks: Multirobot Cooperation in the context of Humanitarian Demining, by my Master's student Eng. Asser El-Gindy [March 08, 2012, 3rd slot in H6]. These seminars have been covered by local media. [posted March 8, 2012]
  • My intensive training course entitled "How to Build a Real Robot" is given at Tanta University starting from March 1, 2012. This course is organized by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society - Egypt Chapter and is given for free to the all interested students from different departments. [posted March 3, 2012]
  • First Call for Participation for Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-Free Egypt: As Egypt has been listed as the country most contaminated by landmines in the world with an estimate of approximately 23,000,000 landmines, Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-Free Egypt is the first national robotic competition aimed at fostering robotics research and its applications in the area of humanitarian demining in Egypt. This competition will raise the public awareness of the role of science and technology in solving this problem and will motivate professors, engineers and students working in this pertinent area of national importance. The competition is organized by IEEE Rbotics and Automation Society - Egypt Chapter and is sponsored and hosted this year at the German University in Cairo. This competition is also sponsored by Executive Secretariat for the Demining and Development of the North West Coast, Ministry of International Cooperation and Mines Actions & Human Rights Foundation. The compeition will take place in September 4-5, 2012 in conjunction with Egyptian Engineering Day (EED 2012). I am the creator and the coordinator of this competition. [posted December 30, 2011]
  • I have been awarded a Visiting Professor Mobility Grant from Spanish Ministry of Education for the academic year 2011-2012 to teach a seminar coursein the Master Program in Robotics and Automation, Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, Carlos III University of Madrid, 2011. [posted December 20, 2011]
  • I have been invited to give a Seminar Course on Advanced Mechatronics and Robotics Research at Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology in the PhD Program in Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering. [posted December 16, 2011]
  • I serve as a TPC member for The 10th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems that takes place at University of Salamanca (Spain) from 28-30th March, 2012. [posted December 05, 2011]
  • I give an intensive training course entitled "How to Build a Real Robot" at Suez Canal University. This course is organized by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society - Egypt Chapter and is given for free to the all interested students from different departments. It will be offered soon at different Egyptian universities such as Ain Shams and Tanta University. [posted November 15, 2011]
  • Launch Event of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Egypt Chapter has taken place on Sunday September 18, 2011 at the GUC. The event has been covered by local media. A photo gallary of the event is available here. I have been elected as chair for the IEEE RAS Egypt Chapter. [posted October 1, 2011]
  • I have been awarded Visiting Professor Mobility Grant from Spanish Ministry of Education, MAS2010-00127-P to teach the course Metaheuristic Optimization and its Applications in Robotics and Automation in the Master Program in Robotics and Automation, Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, Carlos III University of Madrid, 2011. [posted June 5, 2011]
  • I've started GUC RASTalks, a series of seminars organized by the Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Research Group in collaboration with Scientific Committee of the Student Union. The main aim is to provide a communication point for undergraduate and postgraduate students to share and learn about others research ideas in an informal manner. [posted September 25, 2011]
  • Available Graduation Projects 2010-2011, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, German University in Cairo. [posted December 16, 2010]
  • International Conference on Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (AIS 2011) Call for Papers
    The 2nd International Conference on Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (AIS 2011) is held in conjunction with the 8th International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition in the beautiful city of Burnaby on the outskirt of Vancouver, Canada. It aims at providing a platform for researchers, engineers, academics and industrial professionals to present their recent research work and to explore future trends in various areas of autonomous and intelligent systems. The conference will address recent advances in theory, methodologies and applications in the field. The scientific program will include keynote and invited speakers and fully refereed contributions that will be published as a special volume in Springer Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence Series. It will be also indexed in major indexing sites. As with the first edition of AIS, selected articles will be published in the International Journal of Robotics and Automation and The International Journal on Control and Intelligent Systems, among other journals. AIS 2011 is technically co-sponsored by the IEEE. [posted December 16, 2010]
  • I have been elevated to the grade of Senior Member in the IEEE [posted February 24, 2010]
  • International Conference on Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (AIS 2010) Second Call for Papers
    AIS 2010 will address recent advances in theory, methodologies and applications of autonomous and intelligent systems. Paper manuscripts reporting original research results on all aspects of autonomous and intelligent systems are welcome. Proposals for workshop and special sessions on new topics or innovative applications are invited. The scientific program will include invited speakers and fully refereed contributions that will be published in the conference proceedings. AIS 2010 is technically co-sponsored by the IEEE. Accepted papers will be published in the conference CDROM and on the IEEE Xplore. [posted February 24, 2010]
  • Cooperative Discrimination Power Control of Critical Targets in Pervasive Multimodal Surveillance Systems, NSERC-Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) grant application has been approved.
    Fund: CA$ 945,400
    Starting Date: May, 2010
    Research Consortium: PAMI Group at University of Waterloo, University of Sherbrooke, Defence R&D Canada - Valcartier, Thales Canada Inc. and Menya Solutions Inc.
    Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Mohamed Kamel
    Local Coordinator at University of Waterloo: Dr. Alaa Khamis [posted January 12, 2010]
  • Immediate opening for a Postdoc at University of Waterloo in the area of multimodal data fusion and robotics.
    The Partners of the NSERC CRD project "Discrimination of Critical Objects and Events in Pervasive Multimodal Surveillance Systems" invite motivated PhD holders, in the fields of multimodal data fusion, sequential decision making under uncertainty and robotics, to apply for Postdoctral Fellowships.
    This project addresses the problem of the maximizing discrimination power in critical surveillance operations using a pervasive multi-modal system. A closed-loop approach that combines adaptive data fusion and sensor management will be used.
    Successful candidates must hold a Ph.D.in an engineering discipline related to multimodal data fusion, sensor management, target tracking or sequential decision making under uncertainty, have a strong interest in robotics and multiagent research, and have a good level in both written and spoken English.
    All applications should include a cover letter indicating the motivation and research interests of the candidate, a CV including a list of publications, proof of academic qualifications and should provide the names and contact details of two referees. Send materials by email to Dr. Alaa Khamis. [posted January 12, 2010]
  • Immediate opening for a Ph.D. student at University of Waterloo in the area of multimodal data fusion and robotics.
    The Partners of the NSERC CRD project "Discrimination of Critical Objects and Events in Pervasive Multimodal Surveillance Systems" invite motivated young scientists, in the fields of multimodal data fusion, sequential decision making under uncertainty and robotics, to apply for Ph.D. scholarships. This project addresses the problem of the maximizing discrimination power in critical surveillance operations using a pervasive multi-modal system. A closed-loop approach that combines adaptive data fusion and sensor management will be used.
    Successful candidates must hold an excellent academic degree (MSc/Diploma) in an engineering discipline related to multimodal data fusion, sensor management, target tracking or sequential decision making under uncertainty, have a strong interest in robotics and multiagent research, and have a good level in both written and spoken English.
    All applications should include a cover letter indicating the motivation and research interests of the candidate, a CV including a list of publications, proof of academic qualifications and should provide the names and contact details of two referees. Send materials by email to Dr. Alaa Khamis. [posted January 12, 2010]
  • MUSES_SECRET Research Activities in PAMI Lab
    This talk summarizes our research activities in MUSES_SECRET project. I gave this talk in the first MUSES workshop, which took place in 11-12 December 2009, in Ottawa. The workshop is sponsored by University of Ottawa and IEEE Ottawa Section. [posted December 24, 2010]