Physics Nobel Prize Committee Member to Offer Keynote as Event Will Convene Leading International Researchers and Stakeholders from Academia, Industry and Government 

 

Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced it will be hosting NANO 2024 – the 17th International Conference on Nanostructured Materials for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, to highlight advancements in nanostructured materials and facilitate networking among leading global researchers.

 

Scheduled from 3-8 November 2024, NANO 2024 is a premier biennial international conference for leading researchers from academia, industry, and government to discuss and present cutting-edge developments in nanostructured materials, nanomechanics, AI in nanotechnology, as well as nanofluids. The NANO 2024 conference in Abu Dhabi will feature plenary talks from world renowned experts including a Nobel Physics committee member, keynote and invited speakers, as well as 16 technical themes.

 

More than 500 papers have been received by the selection committee with nearly 59% from the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. These papers have over 1,200 authors, out of which 533 are from the UAE, 222 from India, 74 from Saudi Arabia, 59 from Italy, 39 from Qatar and 30 from Japan.

 

Dr. Daniel Choi, Local Chair, NANO 2024, said: “Khalifa University is delighted to partner with various stakeholders to bring the NANO 2024 conference to the UAE and the MENA region for the first time. The conference will serve as a perfect platform to build new connections and presents a valuable opportunity to learn about new trends in nanostructured materials and applications. With live demonstration and hands-on workshops led by world-class international researchers, NANO 2024 will cover a broad spectrum of topics and specialties.”

 

Some of the focus areas of the conference will include Additively Manufactured Nanomaterials, Nanocomposites and Nano-mechanics, Nanomaterials for Electronics, Sensors and Flexible Electronics, Nanomaterials for Water and Energy, Catalysis, and Environmental Applications, Nano-biomaterials and Nano-bionic & Biomedical Applications, Advanced Nano characterization, Magnetic Nanomaterials, Nanomaterials for Photonics and Optoelectronics, Carbon Nanomaterials, and 2D Materials.

 

Papers presented at the 17th ICNM-NANO2024 will be selected to be published by the Royal Society of Chemistry under the theme ‘NANO 2024 – Nanostructured Materials for Energy, Bio, Photonics, and Electronics Applications’, which will include those published on both nanoscale and nanoscale advances. 

The 2024 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP 2024), the flagship conference of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, opened in Abu Dhabi with a theme focusing on ‘Trustworthy Visual Data Processing’.

 

Khalifa University is one of the Education Partners and some faculty, also on the organizing committee, will lead discussions during the conference that aims to explore trustworthiness from a wide perspective covering various aspects such as fidelity with respect to the original data, reliability, reproducibility, robustness, sampling and explainability.

 

Alisha Roy
Science Writer
25 Oct 2024

Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced it has jumped three slots to be ranked top in the UAE and 4th in the Arab region in the QS Arab Region Universities Ranking 2025, which assessed over 246 institutions across the region. 

 

With a score of 100 in Papers per Faculty and International Faculty Ratio, Khalifa University also scored 94.4 in Citations per Paper in the QS Arab University Rankings 2025, using 10 key indicators. 

 

The QS Arab University Rankings assess each academic institution on several metrics, including its reputation amongst academics and employers. The criteria include Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty/Student Ratio, Citations per Faculty, International Faculty Ratio, International Student Ratio as well as International Research Network.

 

Additionally, Khalifa University has moved higher to be ranked within the 201-250 band in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025. 

Event Emphatically Raises Profile of Abu Dhabi as Global Destination for Robotics, Intelligent Systems and Advanced Technology Innovation.

 

The 36th edition of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2024) successfully concluded in Abu Dhabi today, with record number of nearly 10,000, visitors, delegates and participants in attendance, emphatically raising the profile of Abu Dhabi as a global destination for robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as for advanced technology innovation. 

 

Researchers, academics, scientists and regulatory stakeholders inspired guests and visitors with their impactful plenary talks, keynote sessions, and individual poster and oral presentations at IROS 2024 that opened on 14 October at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC). The five-day conference and exhibition also witnessed a host of new technology demonstrations in various challenges and competitions across the fields of applied research in robotics and intelligent systems, captivating the audience for their global appeal and reach.

 

Dr. Jorge Manual Dias, General Chair, IROS 2024, said: “MENA region’s first-ever IROS 2024 turned out to be a massive success in all areas, including the record number of delegates and visitors, the number of innovations that were presented through research papers, the technology demonstrations at the expo, and the massive interest generated for talent hunting that resulted in robotics experts from across the spectrum gathering for the event. The enthusiasm and the topics of general discussions created by IROS 2024 will linger in our minds for a long time in this region, more specifically for scientific exploration and business collaborations. We thank all the sponsors, especially the government stakeholders who supported us in getting IROS 2024 to Abu Dhabi, as well as all the partners who have made this a grand success.”

 

On 18 October, the plenary session was delivered by Dr. Magnus Egerstedt, Dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, US, who focused on ‘From Coordination to Collaboration in Multi-Robot Systems: Lessons from Ecology’, providing insights into deploying multi-robot systems that could lead to new capabilities and skill-sets. 

 

The Keynote Session on ‘Robotic Competitions’ was moderated by Dr. Lakmal Seneviratne, Director, Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems, and Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa University. Speakers included Pedro U. Lima, Full Professor, Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal, who focused on ‘Robot Competitions in Europe: European Robotics League and EuROBIN Coopetitions’, and Dr. Timothy Chung, General Manager, Autonomy and Robotics, Microsoft, US, who highlighted the salient features of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Challenges. 

 

Professor Thomas McCarthy, Executive Director ASPIRE, UAE, spoke about ‘Grand Challenges as a Mechanism to Hasten Translation from Lab to Market’, while Dr. Ubbo Visser, President, RoboCup Federation, Director of Graduate Studies & Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Miami, US, also shared his perspectives. 

 

There were four forums for the last day of IROS 2024 which included one on ‘Marine Robotics in Ocean Decade Initiative for Sustainable Development’, led by Dr. Giulia De Masi, and Dr. Federico Renda from Khalifa University, along with Dr. Gabriele Ferri, from NATO’s Science and Technology Organization – Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (STO-CMRE), LaSpezia, Italy. The forum on ‘Future of Work: AI-Enhanced Robotics and Human Interaction Research in M3S’, led by Dr. Alok Prakash, Singapore MIT-Alliance for Research and Technology’s Mens, Manus, and Machina (SMART – M3S), had seven other speakers.

 

The forum on ‘Industrial Opportunities in Medical Robotics’, led by Dr. Cesare Stefanini, Dr. Gastone Ciuti from the BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy, had nine speakers, while the forum on ‘Robots for a Better Tomorrow: Wellbeing Through Advanced Technology’, led by Dr. Paulo Menezes, University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Dr. Filippo Cavallo, University of Florence, Italy, had five speakers. 

 

In all, more than 500 research papers were presented on the last day, including Pitch Oral Sessions and selected submissions. 

 

More information at https://iros2024-abudhabi.org/ 

 Sessions Covering ‘AI & Robotics’ Narrow the Gap Between Human Capabilities and Robotic Performance

Final winners were announced for all award categories and the robotics competitions and challenges on the penultimate day as groundbreaking sessions on artificial intelligence, biomechanics, and neuroscience also took center stage at the 36th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2024).

 

IROS 2024 witnessed today the announcement of winners for challenges including the Earth Rovers Challenge, the IEEE/RAS Quadruped Robot Challenge, the Robotic Construction Challenge, euROBIN Manipulation, Underwater Robotics Challenges, F1 Tenth Autonomous Racing Competition, and the Falcon Monitoring System.  

 

Winners of the ‘Awards by Sponsors’ were announced in the categories including the IROS Best Paper Award on Cognitive Robotics sponsored by KROS, IROS Best RoboCup Paper Award sponsored by RoboCup Federation, IROS Best Application Paper Award sponsored by ICROS, IROS 2024 Best Conference Student Paper Award, IROS 2024 Best Conference Paper Award.

 

Among the ‘Awards by Steering Committee’, winners were announced for the IROS Fellow, IROS Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies, IROS Distinguished Service Awards, and IROS Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award. Reviewer ‘Awards’ were also presented.

 

The plenary talk exploring the ‘Embodiment of AI and Biomechanics/Neuroscience,’ by Professor Yoshihiko Nakamura, Chair of Robotics Department, Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, generated significant interest and discussion among participants on new avenues of research, promising robots with enhanced human-like capabilities.

Beyond the central theme of AI and Robotics, the fourth day of IROS 2024 showcased a wealth of innovation across the robotics and technology field. Six keynote addresses featured a broad spectrum of topics including ‘Frugal AI’, delivered by Professor Barbara Caputo, Politecnico Di Torino, Italy, while ‘TelecomGPT’ was presented by Professor Merouane Debbah, Khalifa University. The ‘Future of generalist robots’ by Dr. He Wang, Peking University, ‘Soft robot control’ by Dr. Jianwei Zhang, University of Hamburg, Germany, and ‘Crossmodal Learning’ by Professor Eric Xing, President, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), showcased the breadth of current research and innovation. 

 

A series of specialized forums exploring critical issues at the forefront of robotics including ‘Sustainable Medical and Surgical Robotics’ on creating environmentally conscious and accessible medical robots, while ‘Empowering Diverse Voices in Robotics’ fostered discussions on inclusivity and representation within the field. A forward-looking forum on ‘Human-Avatar Symbiosis,’ examined the potential societal impact of remotely controlling multiple avatars. The ‘Moonshot R&D Program Goal 3: Envisioning a Future of Human-Robot Co-Living’ explored the transformative potential of robotics to reshape human lives and living environments, highlighted the broad scope of robotics research and its implications for the future.

 

Over 80 workshops further enriched the conference and knowledge sharing among experts in legged robot systems, healthcare robotics, human-robot interaction, and numerous other specialized areas. The day’s program encompassed a wide array of specializations, including robot vision, deep learning, robot motion planning, navigation, simultaneous localization and mapping, multi-robot systems and swarms, and aerial systems. Reflecting the diverse and rapidly evolving nature of the field were workshops on marine robotics, multifingered hands, soft sensors and actuators, aerial systems mechanics and control, surgical robotics, imitation learning, and flexible robots.

 

More information at https://iros2024-abudhabi.org/

Pioneering Advancements in Drone Technology, and Marine Robotics, Automation to Enhance Efficiency Across Industries 

 

Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced it is showcasing 23 innovative robotics and AI solutions as well as drone technology, during the 36th edition of the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2024), validating its status as an academic institution that remains proactive in advancing automation and technology. 

  

With its theme ‘Robotics for Sustainable Development’, the event marks the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region’s first-ever IROS 2024 to be held in Abu Dhabi. The Khalifa University stand at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) is displaying projects encompassing all areas of robotics and AI solutions for sustainable development in the marine sector, as well as industries such as Space, Telecom, Computing, Transportation, Agriculture and wildlife conservation.  

 

The projects include ‘TomFormer’ for real-time disease detection in tomato leaves, ‘UTM: Unmanned Traffic Management’, ‘Lunar Rover’ for lunar exploration, Exoskeleton wearable robot for enhancing human capabilities, ‘Smart Trash Bin’ using computer vision for efficient waste separation, ‘Ocean Monitoring and Cleaning’ for sustainable marine ecosystems, ‘Autonomous Port Inspection’ for maritime security, ‘Houbara Robot’ for behavioral studies of the Houbara bird in its natural habitat, ‘Coral Reef Inspection’, ‘Autonomous Driving Platform’, and various drone projects including firefighting drones and UAV swarms for inspection and tracking.  

 

Also featured at the Khalifa University stand are the Droneleaf project which focuses on monitoring and analyzing agricultural field, ‘Spider Robot’ for various applications in climbing different terrains, ‘Soft Robotics at KU’ feature flexible and adaptable applications of technology, a ‘Heterogeneous Swarm of Underwater Autonomous Vehicles’ for underwater tasks, ‘Quadrotor Control Projects’ enhancing quadrotor flight control, ‘Satellite Control Levitation Setup’ demonstrates satellite control mechanisms, as well as the project on ‘Design and Performance Evaluation of a Marine-Compliant Gripper’ for handling uneven large objects in marine environments. 

 

‘Autonomous Underwater Robotic System for Aquaculture’, ‘Autonomous Driving Platform’ for developing and testing autonomous technologies, ‘Robotic Manipulator’ for precise manipulation tasks and projects focused on innovative maritime solutions are part of the Maritime Grand Challenge. 

Plenary and Keynote Speakers Highlight ‘Human-Robot Collaboration’ and ‘Speeding up Flying Machines’ 

 

The 36th edition of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) officially opened in Abu Dhabi today, emphatically illustrating the advanced state of research and innovation in the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

 

Hosted by Khalifa University of Science and Technology and supported by various local and international stakeholders, IROS 2024 will run until 18 October at the Abu Dhabi national Exhibition Center (ADNEC).  

 

Among the officials who visited the event and toured the exhibition include Her Excellency Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dhahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, His Excellency Engineer Awaidha Murshed Ali Al Marar, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, H.E. Dr. Hamad Al Yahyai, Advisor to the Minister of Education and Director General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Smart Learning Program at the Ministry of Education, H.E. Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), H.E. Abdulla Ghurair Al Qubaisi as Director General of International Fund for Houbara Conservation, H.E. Dr. Salem Khalfan Al Kaabi, Director General of Operational Affairs, H.E. Engineer Mohamed Al Hammadi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, H.E. Mohamed Alqadi, Director General of Strategic Affairs, H.E. Major General Dr. Rashid Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), H.E. Dr. Abdulwahab Abdulaziz Al Anzi, associated with the GCC Emergency Management Center, and H.E Ali Rashid Al Neyadi, Director General of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA). 

 

Others included Nasser Obaid Al Nasseri, CEO of Barakah One Company, Rashed Humaid Al Qubaisi, Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi Media, and Salem Mohammed Hamad Salem Al Darei, CEO of Abu Dhabi Global Market Authority.  

 

The event has gathered more than 4,000 delegates and participants who will engage in knowledge exchange in addition to sharing of expertise and networking. An elite club of plenary and keynote speakers offered their perspectives on the increasing role of robotics that spans industries and economic segments. 

 

In their welcome address, Dr. Jorge Dias, General Chair, IROS 2024, and Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, General Co-Chair, spoke about how Abu Dhabi has evolved over the years into a modern technology-driven metropolis, utilizing innovations to preserve its culture, heritage and natural resources, while attracting global talent and expertise to establish itself as a destination for academics, research, and scientific exploration.  

 

Dr. Dias said: “I stand here as the General Chair of this special edition of IROS, the first in the MENA region, and gathered here are the brightest minds from around the world, drawn to Abu Dhabi, the land of opportunities. Known for being the safest city globally, Abu Dhabi is rapidly growing and integrating nature with technology. In fact, ‘Robotics for Sustainable Development,’ the theme for IROS 2024, reflects this harmony.” 

 

Dr. Al Hammadi said: “Technology advancements deeply intertwine with heritage  influencing daily life for people and the environment alike in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The country has not forgotten its roots just because today’s life offers advanced technology amenities. For example, our scientists have developed a houbara robotic bird for conservation efforts, combining tradition with cutting-edge technology. These decoys gather crucial data without disturbing nature, helping researchers learn more about this special bird.” 

 

The plenary session was delivered by Professor Oussama Khatib, Stanford University, United States, who offered his insights on ‘Human-Robot Collaboration: Extreme Environments, Health Care, and the Workplace’. 

 

In their keynotes on ‘Speeding up Flying Machines’, moderated by Dr. Yahya Zweiri, Professor, Director, Aerospace Research and Innovation (ARIC), Khalifa University, Professor Davide Scaramuzza, University of Zurich, Switzerland, covered ‘Drone Racing: from a Game to Real World Impact’, while Professor Guido De Croon, TU Delft, Netherlands, focused on ‘Neuromorphic AI for bio-inspired, agile flight’. 

 

Dr. Giuseppe Loianno, Professor, New York University, US, highlighted ‘Enhancing Aerial Autonomy through Agility and Collaboration’, while Dr. Mirko Kovac, Professor, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)-Empa campus, Imperial College London-Switzerland, shared his perspectives on ‘Drones for Environmental Health’. Professor Naira Hovakimyan, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), US, spoke about ‘Safe Learning in Autonomous Systems’. 

 

Practice sessions also started during the day for Robotic Construction Challenge, and Underwater Robotics Challenges, as well as for AI Olympics With RealAIGym, The Earth Rovers Challenge, Automatic Data Annotation Challenge, and Falcon Monitoring System. At the same time, practice sessions continued for euROBIN Manipulation, F1 Tenth Autonomous Racing Competition, and IEEE/RAS Quadruped Robot Challenge (QRC).  

 

There were 16 workshops, the forum on ‘Robotics and AI for a Sustainable World’, and nearly 300 paper and poster presentations during the day, highlighting the diverse nature of robotics, its role in different areas and innovations that will be coming to transform the way humans interact with the machines.