Ata Khan
Ata M. Khan is a Professor Emeritus in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. His research interests focus on intelligent systems, automation in driving, policy and planning, and safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation.
He has carried out research/consulting/evaluation projects for the United Nations; the United Arab Emirates; federal, provincial, and municipal governments in Canada; and private sector companies/societies in the USA, Japan, and Canada. Ata M. Khan has co-authored one textbook, co-edited one book, authored or co-authored 11 Chapters in books, and over 175 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings.
Omar Choudry
Omar Choudhry P. Eng. is Senior Specialist for Intelligent Transportation Systems at the City of Ottawa. He has worked extensively on projects across the United States and Canada, covering the entire range of applications from development of system architectures to electronic collection systems design and from data integration for system operations to deployment of information management systems. Omar spent 10 years working in the United States before returning to Ottawa to create the boutique consulting company which assisted government agencies in developing and deploying advanced technological solutions to solve traffic problems, and then venturing into the startup world founding or advising companies in the digital data and blockchain spaces.
Omar has been developing and implementing technology solutions for over 25 years on projects across the United States and Canada. His work currently focuses on new technologies in the Intelligent Transportation Systems and Connected Automated Vehicle spaces to assist in improving mobility, traveller information and traffic management for residents. Omar been asked to moderate panel sessions, spoken at conferences across North America and published numerous articles on the subject of traffic information, data processing and management.
Anthony Pizarro
Mr. Pizarro is President and co-founder of Romaeris, designer and operator of novel unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for remote sensing missions. Romaeris is the first company to fly a flex-wing, weight shift control aircraft by autopilot. Mr. Pizarro is also chair and project lead of the UAV Greenhouse Gas Consortium (UAV-GHG), an international group that will monitor greenhouse gases with UAVs. He was a member of the steering committee of the UAV Training, Innovation, and Leadership Initiative (UTILI), a group of 16 companies and 5 universities in three countries developing novel UAV missions and training over 100 engineering graduate students. He is co-inventor on two patents and has been co-supervisor of 21 successful R&D collaboration projects which resulted in two postdoctoral fellowships, four graduate theses, 80 engineering capstone projects, and 11 scientific publications on AI and satellite technology.
Matthew Hu
Dr. Matthew Hu, Director of the Engineering Management Program in Industrial Engineering at the University of Houston and former Senior Vice President of Engineering and Chief Quality Officer at HAYLION Technologies, is a recognized expert and leader in robust engineering, quality, reliability, Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), and Robust Design for Reliability. Dr. Hu has made significant contributions as an engineer, specialist, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, program manager, and executive throughout his distinguished career in technology and product development, manufacturing, supply chain, commercialization, and operations.
He has held numerous leadership roles in industries including automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, technology, medical devices, and consulting. His work has resulted in over $19 million in cost savings for companies, including more than $5.5 million for Ford Motor Company. Dr. Hu’s achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the Ford Motor Company Global Customer Satisfaction Gold Winner Award.
Currently, Dr. Hu leads the Supply Chain Innovation Lab initiative. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Wayne State University, as well as two master’s degrees—an MS in Statistics and an MS in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
Dr. Hu is a Certified Robust Design Expert using Taguchi Method, a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a Certified DFSS Master Black Belt, a Certified Quality Engineer, and a Certified Reliability Engineer.
Roula Thomas
Roula Thomas, is Vice President of IP and IP Ontario (IPON), Ontario’s Agency for trusted IP support to innovators. She has been practicing IP law for over 25 years as a Registered Canadian and US Patent Agent in the area of Biotechnology and the Life Sciences predominantly in private practice and then in government at the National Research Council, Leading NRC’s IP Team and overseeing NRC’s extensive IP Portfolio across 13 Research Centres. Roula was also the Director of the IP Assist Program at NRC IRAP and continues to be a recognized leader within Canada’s IP ecosystem.
Yuriy Zabolotnyuk
Yuriy Zabolotnyuk is an Associate Professor of Finance. He holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Simon Fraser University, a M.A. in Economics from the Kyiv School of Economics (EERC) and a M.Sc. in Management from Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev, Ukraine. He also holds both the CFA and FRM designations. Yuriy has taught courses in Corporate Finance, Investments, Fixed Income Analysis, Financial Analytics, Derivatives, Valuation, Business Statistics, International Finance, and Managerial Economics at both undergraduate and MBA levels. Yuriy has extensive international experience, having taught numerous finance courses in various schools in Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark and Iran, among others. He has published his research in reputable peer-reviewed journals such as Financial Management, Journal of Corporate Finance, International Review of Finance, and Multinational Finance Journal among others. His research is regularly presented at conferences such as the Financial Management Association, the Northern Finance Association, and the Multinational Finance Society meetings. He is also actively involved with the CFA Society Ottawa as a liaison between the local universities and the financial industry.
Yuriy’s research interests include empirical corporate finance, fixed income securities, derivatives, and he has a growing interest in financial technology, blockchain and financial data analytics.
Arash Abarghooei
Arash Abarghooei received the B.Sc. degree from Shahid Rajaee University, Tehran, Iran, in 2014, and the M.Sc. degree from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2017. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering at Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada, since 2021. His research focuses on autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems, aiming to develop intelligent shared control strategies for assisted driving. His work includes designing intelligent learning control and sensing systems for autonomous vehicles, as well as formulating risk assessments based on vehicle dynamics, driving conditions, and driver state. His contributions aim to arbitrate shared control between the driver and the autonomous vehicle, minimizing overall accident risk and advancing the field of intelligent transportation systems.
Joshua Marshall
Joshua Marshall, PhD, PEng, is a robotics engineer, educator, and consultant with expertise in data-driven control systems engineering, mobile robotics, autonomous vehicle navigation and mapping. He has a special interest in and experience with autonomous robot applications in mining, space, marine, and defence, as well as in other harsh-environment applications. Dr. Marshall earned his doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering, specializing in systems control, from the University of Toronto in 2005. He joined Queen’s University in 2010 where he started the multidisciplinary Offroad Robotics research group and, most recently, lead the collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence-focused Ingenuity Labs Research Institute as its founding Director (2018-24). At Queen’s, Dr. Marshall is a full Professor at Smith Engineering in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and is also cross-appointed to the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering and to The Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining where he supervises graduate research. Prior to joining Queen’s, Dr. Marshall was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University where he founded the Robotic Vehicles Group. Before that, he served as an R&D/Control Systems Engineer on both space and terrestrial robotics projects at the firm MacDonald, Dettwiler, and Associates (MDA), Inc., where he worked as on advanced field and mobile robotics projects for industry clients in Canada, the US, Australia, and Scandinavia.
Jonathan Wu
Prof. Q.M. Jonathan Wu is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Windsor, Canada, and a former Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Automotive Sensor and Information Processing. He is internationally renowned for his contributions to computer vision, machine learning, and autonomous systems, with over 450 peer-reviewed publications and one book on 3D computer vision. Prof. Wu has led major research initiatives in intelligent vehicles, 3D imaging, and real-time perception systems, and has served on editorial boards of leading journals in the field.
Halim Yanikomeroglu
Halim Yanikomeroglu is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University; he is also the Founding Director of Carleton-NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks) Lab. He is a Fellow of IEEE, Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA). Dr. Yanikomeroglu has coauthored a high number of papers in 33 different IEEE journals; he also has 42 granted patents. He has supervised or hosted at Carleton ~180 postgraduate researchers; several of his former team members have become professors in Canada, US, UK, and around the world. He gives around 25 invited seminars, keynotes, panel talks, and tutorials every year. He has served as the Steering Committee Chair, General Chair, and Technical Program Chair of several major international IEEE conferences, as well as in the editorial boards of several IEEE periodicals. He also served as a Distinguished Speaker for IEEE Communications Society and IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, and an Expert Panelist of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA|CAC). Dr. Yanikomeroglu received many awards for his research, teaching, and service. He holds a PhD degree in electrical and computer engineering from University of Toronto.
Pablo Madoery
Dr. Pablo Madoery holds a PhD in Engineering Sciences from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow and Chief Researcher in Satellite Networking at the Carleton-NTN Lab, where he co-supervises several PhD students. His research focuses on communication protocols for satellite networks, with an emphasis on topology design, routing algorithms, and software-defined networking for satellite mega-constellations. Combining expertise in simulation tools and machine learning, Dr. Madoery aims to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and scalability of next-generation satellite communication systems.
Mojtaba Ahmadi
Mojtaba Ahmadi (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1989, the M.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Tehran, Tehran, in 1992, and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, in 1998. In 2005, he joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada, where he is currently a Professor and a Cross-Appointed Professor with the Systems and Computer Engineering Department. From 1998 to 2000, he worked on robotic teleoperation and autonomous operation as a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Montreal. From 2000 to 2005, he held senior positions in different industries, such as Opal-RT Technologies Inc., Montreal; Quantum and Matrix Corporations, San Jose, CA, USA; and the Institute for Aerospace Research, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa. He also founded the Advanced Biomechatronics and Locomotion Laboratory (ABL), Ottawa. His research interests include rehabilitation robotics and assistive devices, human-robot interaction, design and control of mechatronic systems, autonomous vehicles, and legged robots.