Keynote Speakers
01
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Clarence W. de Silva
University Of British Columbia, Canada
Biography
Clarence W. de Silva is a Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada, since 1988. He has served as Assistant and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (1978-87), Pittsburgh, USA. He graduated from the University of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) with a B.Sc. Engineering degree with First Class Honors and obtaining the Dr. C. H. Hewavitarana Prize. After working in industry for several years, he obtained an MASc degree from University of Toronto, PhD degrees from MIT and University of Cambridge, and in 2020, the ScD degree, the so-called “Higher Doctorate,” from University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of: IEEE, ASME, Canadian Academy of Engineering, and Royal Society of Canada. Also, he has been a Senior Canada Research Chair Professor in Mechatronics and Industrial Automation, NSERC-BC Packers Chair Professor in Industrial Automation, Mobil Endowed Chair Professor, Lilly Fellow (USA), Senior Fulbright Fellow (UK), Killam Fellow (UBC), Erskine Fellow (New Zealand), Professorial Fellow (Australia), Faculty Fellow (UBC), Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK, and a Peter Wall Scholar (UBC). He has authored 26 books and over 600 technical papers, approximately half of which are in journals. Google Scholar Profile. Industrial Automation Laboratory.New Trends in Robotics and Applications for the Developing World
Abstract:
The concept of “Robots” has been of interest to humans from historical times, initially with the desire to create “artificial slaves.” Since the technology was not developing to keep up with the “dreams,” initially Robotics was primarily of entertainment value, relegated to plays, movies, stories, and so on. The practical applications started in the late 1950s and the 1960s with the development of programmable devices for factories and assembly lines, as flexible automation. However, since the expectations were not adequately realized, the general enthusiasm and funding for Robotics subsided to some extent. With subsequent research, developments, and curricular enhancement in Engineering and Computer Science and with the resurgence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning, Robotics has found numerous practical applications today, in industry, medicine, household, the service sector, and the general society. Important developments and practical strides are being made, particularly in Soft Robotics, Mobile Robotics (Aerial—drones, Under Water, Ground-based—autonomous vehicles in particular), Swarm Robotics, Homecare, Surgery, and Assistive Devices, and Active Prosthesis.
This talk will start with a brief history of Robotics while indicating some associated myths and unfair expectations. Emphasis will be given to the importance of “Intelligence” in the autonomous operation of robotic systems. Next, it will outline key developments in the area. In particular, some important practical applications of Intelligent Robotics, as developed by groups worldwide including the Industrial Automation Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, headed by the author, will be indicated. Some misconceptions and shortcomings concerning Intelligent Robotics will be pointed out. The main shortcomings concern the mechanical capabilities and the nature of intelligence. The talk will conclude by mentioning future trends and key opportunities available in Intelligent Robotics, particularly for developing counties.
02
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Saman K. Halgamuge
University of Melbourne, Australia
Biography
Prof Saman K. Halgamuge, FIEEE, School of Electrical, Mechanical and Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia.Fellow of IEEE, IET, and AAIA, received the B.Sc. Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, and the Dipl.-Ing and Ph.D. degrees in data engineering from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the School of Electrical Mechanical and Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also an honorary professor at the Australian National University. He is listed as a top 2% most cited researcher for AI and Image Processing in the Stanford database. He was a distinguished Lecturer at IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (2018-21). His research interests are in AI, and machine learning including deep learning, optimization, big data analytics, and their applications in biomedicine and engineering.
Can 21st Century Al revolutionise robots?
Abstract:
Would the 21st century robots need to be equipped with much better AI given that we may have serious threats like dangerous epidemics, wild uncontrollable fires, floods etc to protect us from? Popular models of AI, in particular machine learning based models have three significant deficiencies preventing robotic research from making more effective contributions: they are mostly manually designed using the experience of AI-experts; they lack human interpretability, i.e., users do not understand the AI architectures either semantically/linguistically or mathematically/scientifically; and they are unable to dynamically change when new data are acquired from the environment they operate. Addressing these deficiencies would provide answers to some of the valid questions about traceability, accountability and the ability to integrate existing knowledge (scientific or linguistically articulated human experience) into the AI model which in turn would help in robotics. To overcome some of these deficiencies, Fair, Accessible, Interpretable and Reproducible (FAIR) AI – a new generation of AI is proposed. This keynote addresses these deficiencies and FAIR AI in the context of several major global problems and the contribution expected from robotics.03
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Max Q.-H. Meng
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Biography
Professor Max Q.-H. Meng is currently a professor and Chairman of the Department of Electronic Engineering at CUHK. Max received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Victoria, Canada, in 1992, advised by Professor Wu-Sheng Lu, and his Master’s degree from Beijing Institute of Technology in 1988. Before he joined CUHK in 2001, he was with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Alberta in Canada, serving as the Director of the ART (Advanced Robotics and Teleoperation) Lab and holding the positions of Assistant Professor (1994), Associate Professor (1998), and Professor (2000), respectively. He was an Overseas Outstanding Scholar Chair Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from 2001 to 2005 and the Honorary Dean of the School of Control Science and Engineering at Shandong University from 2006 to 2010. He is an affiliated member of the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems at Harbin Institute of Technology. Max’s research interests include robotics, medical robotics, active and diagnostic medical devices, perception and sensing, robotic intelligence, human-robot interaction, bio-sensors, and sensor networks, and adaptive and intelligent systems. He has published more than 600 journal and conference papers and book chapters, filed 36 patents, and led more than 60 funded research projects to completion as Principal Investigator.04
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Rafiq Ahmad
University of Alberta, Canada
Biography
Dr. Rafiq Ahmad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta. He is also a Faculty Associate for the Nasseri School of Building Sciences and Engineering at the University of Alberta. Dr. Ahmad is the founder and director of the 1) “Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing, Design and Automation (LIMDA) “ focusing on hybrid & Smart systems, and 2) “Aquaponics 4.0 Learning Factory (AllFactory),” research on system design and development for plants and fish production in a symbiotic ecosystem indoor environment. His research interest includes smart systems design and development, digitization, hybrid-manufacturing combining additive and subtractive technologies, 3Rs (recycling, remanufacturing, and repair), and robotics. Dr. Ahmad is a Ph.D. in advanced manufacturing from Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France and Master’s in design and manufacturing from Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Arts et Metiers (ENSAM-Paris) France. He holds a BSc—degree in Mechanical Engineering from the UET Peshawar, Pakistan. Dr. Ahmad also obtained a Post-doctoral fellow for a two-year at the University of Luxembourg. Besides being an active editor, reviewer, and organizer of numerous international conferences and journals, Dr. Ahmad is a board member of the International Society of Automation (ISA-Edmonton section, Co-UofA Student Section Advisor) and APEGA and ASME.
