Department of Computer Science

20150602_fbinf_gi_kw_awaad_iman.png (DE)

Iman Awaad

PhD Candidate/Researcher, Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems/Assistant director & Study advisor, Master's Programme in Autonomous Systems

iman.awaad@h-brs.de

Unit

Department of Computer Science, Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems (A2S)

Location

Sankt Augustin

Room

C 203

Address

Grantham-Allee 20

53757, Sankt Augustin

Telephone

+49 2241 865 295

Profile

I am currently a doctoral candidate supervised by Prof. Dr. Joachim Hertzberg at the University of Osnabrück, Prof. Dr. Paul Plöger, and the late Prof. Dr. Gerhard K. Kraetzschmar at H-BRS. I obtained my bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Rutgers, the State University of NJ in 1996 and my master's degree in Autonomous Systems in 2008 from H-BRS.

In addition, I serve as the Assistant Director of the b-it Applied Science Institute. In this capacity, I oversee the coordination of the Master's program in Autonomous Systems, contribute to strategic policy development, and play a role in shaping the curriculum. As study adviser, I guide candidates through their application process, assist them during their time in the program, and support them in deciding on their next steps after graduation.

Areas of Interest
  • Automated planning
  • Knowledge representation and reasoning
  • Adaptive and personalized human robot interaction
  • Assistive Technologies
  • Cognitive robotics
  • Knowledge management systems
  • Robot control architectures
  • Simulation

google scholar

 

Service (Akademische Selbstverwaltung)
  • Member of the Department's Examination Board (Prüfungsauschuss) since 2015
  • Member of two Recruitment Commissions for professorships (Berufungskommission)
  • Member of the MAS Admissions Committee since 2008
  • Department representative in the Diversity Audit Committee, a two year process from 2018 to 2020
  • Member of the regional task-force to guide students into their post-study phase (Regionales Netzwerk "Brücken in den Arbeitsmarkt") from 2017 to 2020, resulting in a Career Guide, among other things
  • Organizer of an event during the "Summer of Diversity" (Sommer der Vielfalt) as part of the Respekt! initiative, June 2016
  • Autonomous systems programme's alumni coordinator

 

Activities
  • Co-chair (with J. Benton), diversity and inclusion for the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS) in 2024
  • Co-chair (with Masoumeh Iran Mansouri), diversity and inclusion for the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS) in 2023
  • Co-organizer (with AndreA Orlandini and Alberto Finzi), 9th, 10th , 11th and 12th editions of the Workshop on Planning & Robotics (PlanRob) at ICAPS in 2021-2024.
  • Invited speaker at the Workshop on Robot Execution Failures and Failure Management Strategies at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2023.
  • Local organizing committee, IAV 2016 - 9th IFAC Symposium on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles in Leipzig, Germany
  • Assistant to the VP of the International RoboCup Federation for the RoboCup 2009 World Championships in Graz, Austria
Teaching
  • Planning & Scheduling
    • Lecturer SS 2023 &  SS 2024 (TH Bingen, under the Mary Somerville-Lectureship Program)
    • Lecturer (WS 2010; WS 2015)
    • Co-Lecturer/TA (WS 2008-2009; WS 2011-2014; WS 2016-WS 2019)
  • Control & Systems Theory: TA (WS 2008)
  • Advanced Scientific Working Seminar: Lecturer (WS 2019)
  • Introduction to Scientific Working Seminar: Lecturer (WS 2011)
  • R&D Colloquium Seminar (Depending on circumstances, this has been held in-person, online, and in a hybrid format)
    • Lecturer (WS 2023-SS 2024; SS 2022-WS 2022; SS 2017)
    • Co-Lecturer (SS 2020-WS 2021; SS 2019)
  • Master Seminar: Lecturer (WS 2013)
  • Incoming students' Foundation Course: Organizer and Co-lecturer (since WS 2008)
Supervised R&D Projects
  • Plan execution for service robot Care-O-Bot.
  • Attribute-based similarity measures between objects.
  • Use of recommender system in robotics.

Supervised Master's Theses

  • Task-dependent substitution using feature-based similarity measures for objects.
  • Semantic similarity between objects in home environments.
  • Creating a focused HTN planning problem using DL inferencing.
  • Integrating planning, execution and monitoring for a domestic service robot.
  • Task planning, execution and monitoring for mobile manipulators in industrial domains.
  • Action planning in affordance-based robotics. (MSc Computer Science student)
  • Planning, domain modelling for a domestic service robot. (MSc Computer Science student)
  • Understanding JShop. (MSc Computer Science student)
  • Path optimisation for a VR application using local search.

 

Memberships

Awards

  • Master's Thesis, February 2008. Awarded Best Thesis in Computer Science in 2008 by H-BRS.
  • My PhD work is supported by a scholarship from the Graduate Institute of Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg.
  • My lectureship contract with TH Bingen in the SS 2023 is funded through the Mary Somerville Program of Rheinland-Pfalz for the advancement of women in academia.

 

Projects

  • Center for Assistive Technologies Rhein-Ruhr (ZAT Rhein-Ruhr)
  • RoboCup @Home b-it-bots team
  • RoboCup @Work b-it-bots team
  • RoboCup Midsize League (2005-2006) Fraunhofer AIS/BIT Gryffons team
  • RoCKIn: Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics
  • XPERO: Robot Learning by Experimentation, EU-funded project

Research Projects

Center for Assistive Technologies Rhein-Ruhr

The Center for Assistive Technologies Rhein-Ruhr (De: ZAT Rhein-Ruhr) project is a comprehensive initiative focused on creating a sustainable ecosystem for assistive technologies. It encompasses infrastructure development, ethical considerations, public engagement, and financial sustainability, all with the aim of improving assistive technology research and development, teaching and transfer, thereby ensuring its widespread impact. ZAT's focus is on pro-adaptive solutions (assistive solutions that "proactively tackle adaptability") in the work, home, healthcare, mobility and education domains. The project is conducted in cooperation with Hochschule Rhein-Waal, Hochschule Niederrhein and Universität Duisburg-Essen. The North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Culture and Science (MKW) is funding the project with 2.7 million euros for a period of three years.

Project management at the H-BRS

Prof. Dr Teena Chakkalayil Hassan Iman Awaad
ZAT Projekt Assistive Technologien Hassan 20240325 Foto Juri Kuestenmacher 09

Publications

View on google scholar

  • G. Chenchani, K. Patel, R. Selvaraju, S. Shinde, V. Kalagaturu, V. Mannava, D. Nair, I. Awaad, M. Wasil, S. Thoduka, S. Schneider, N. Hochgeschwender, and P. G. Pl öger, “b-it-bots: Winners of RoboCup@Work 2023,” in RoboCup 2023: Robot World Cup XXVI (C. Buche, A. Rossi, M. Simões, and U. Visser, eds.), (Cham), pp. 350–361, Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024.

  • K. Patel, V. Kalagaturu, V. Mannava, R. Selvaraju, S. Shinde, D. Bakaraniya, D. Nair, M. Wasil, S. Thoduka, I. Awaad, S. Schneider, N. Hochgeschwender, and P. G. Plöger, “b-it-bots robocup@work team description paper 2023,” 2023.

  • A. Mitreski, A. Ortega Sainz, P. Nagel, A. Abdelrahman, I. Awaad, R. Cai Wu, R. Haseloff, M. Nguyen, P. G. Plöger, E. Romero Kramer, H. Schnor, and M. Schöbel, “The b-it-bots RoboCup @Home 2020 team description paper,” in RoboCup, (Bordeaux, France), 2020.

  • A. Padalkar, M. Wasil, S. Mahajan, R. Kumar, D. Bakaraniya, R. Shirodkar, H. Andradi, D. Padmanabhan, C. Wiesse, A. Abdelrahman, S. Chavan, N. Gurulingan, D. Nair, S. Thoduka, I. Awaad, S. Schneider, P. G. Plöger, and G. K. Kraetzschmar, “b-it-bots: Our approach for autonomous robotics in industrial environments,” in RoboCup 2019: Robot World Cup XXIII (S. Chalup, T. Niemueller, J. Suthakorn, and M.-A. Williams, eds.), (Cham), pp. 591–602, Springer International Publishing, 2019.

  • N. Gurulingan, R. Kumar, S. Mahajan, A. Padalkar, D. Vukcevic, M. Wasil, S. Thoduka, D. Nair, A. Abdelrahman, S. Chavan, I. Awaad, S. Schneider, P. Plöger, and G. Kraetzschmar, “The b-it-bots RoboCup @Work 2019 team description paper,” in RoboCup, (Sydney, Australia), 2019.

  • O. Lima, R. Ventura, and I. Awaad, “Integrating Classical Planning and Real Robots in Industrial and Service Robotics Domains,” in Planning and Robotics (PlanRob) Workshop at the 28th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), 2018.

  • A. Padalkar, T. Jandt, M. Wasil, J. Mayoral, D. Nair, D. Vukcevic, S. Thoduka, I. Awaad, N. Hochgeschwender, S. Schneider, and G. Kraetzschmar, “The b-it-bots RoboCup @Work 2018 team description paper,” in RoboCup, (Montreal, Canada), 2018.

  • I. Awaad, A Blueprint for the Evolution of Perspectives: Planning Technology as a Basis for the Mass Customization of Robots. In M. Ghallab, N. Hawes, D. Magazzeni, B. C. Williams, and A. Orlandini, “Planning and Robotics (Dagstuhl Seminar 17031),” Dagstuhl Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 32–73, 2017.

  • S. Ahmed, T. Jandt, P. Kulkarni, O. Lima, A. Mallick, A. Moriarty, D. Nair, S. Thoduka, I. Awaad, R. Dwiputra, et al., “b-it-bots RoboCup @Work team description paper,” 2016.

  • I. Awaad, G. K. Kraetzschmar, and J. Hertzberg, “The role of functional affordances in socializing robots,” International Journal of Social Robotics, vol. 7, pp. 421–438, March 2015.

  • E. Shpieva and I. Awaad, “Integrating task planning, execution and monitoring for a domestic service robot,” Information Technology, vol. 57, pp. 112–121, March 2015.

  • I. Awaad, G. K. Kraetzschmar, and J. Hertzberg, Finding ways to get the job done: An affordance-based approach, in the 24th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), Robotics Track, 2014, Portsmouth, USA.

  • I. Awaad, G. K. Kraetzschmar, and J. Hertzberg. Challenges in finding ways to get the job done. In the Planning and Robotics (PlanRob) Workshop at 24th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), 2014, Portsmouth, USA.

  • R. Dwiputra, M. Füller, F. Hegger, S. Schneider, N. Hochgeschwender, I. Awaad, J. M. S. Loza, A. Y. Ozhigov, S. Biswas, N. V. Deshpande, et al., “The b-it-bots RoboCup @Home 2014 team description paper,” in RoboCup, (Joao Pessoa, Brazil), 2014.

  • F. Amigoni, A. Bonarini, G. Fontana, M. Matteucci, V. Schiaffonati, A. Ahmad, I. Awaad, J. Berghofer, R. Bischoff, R. Capobianco, et al., “General evaluation criteria, modules and metrics for benchmarking through competitions,” 2014.

  • R. Dwiputra, J. Berghofer, A. Ahmad, I. Awaad, F. Amigoni, R. Bischoff, A. Bonarini, G. Fontana, F. Hegger, N. Hochgeschwender, et al., “The RoCKIn@Work Challenge,” in ISR/Robotik 2014; 41st International Symposium on Robotics; Proceedings of, pp. 1–6, VDE, 2014.

  • S. Schneider, F. Hegger, A. Ahmad, I. Awaad, F. Amigoni, J. Berghofer, R. Bischoff, A. Bonarini, R. Dwiputra, G. Fontana, G. Fontana, L. Iocchi, G. Kraetzschmar, P. Lima, M. Matteucci, D. Nardi, and V. Schiaffonati, “The RoCKIn@Home challenge,” in ISR/Robotik 2014; 41st International Symposium on Robotics; Proceedings of, pp. 1–7, 2014.

  • I. Awaad, G. K. Kraetzschmar, and J. Hertzberg. Socializing Robots: The Role of Functional Affordances. In the International Workshop on Developmental Social Robotics (DevSoR) at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2013, Tokyo, Japan.

  • I. Awaad, G. K. Kraetzschmar, and J. Hertzberg. Affordance-based Reasoning for Robot Task Planning. In the Doctoral Consortium at the 23rd International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), 2013, Rome, Italy.

  • I. Awaad, G. K. Kraetzschmar, and J. Hertzberg. Affordance-based Reasoning in Robot Task Planning. In the Planning and Robotics (PlanRob) Workshop at 23rd International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), 2013, Rome, Italy.

  • E. Shpieva and I. Awaad, “Integrating the planning, execution and monitoring systems for a domestic service robot,” in Workshop on Roboterkontrollarchitekturen at Informatik, 2013.

  • A. Bierbrauer, E. Shpieva, I. Ivanovska, S. Schneider, A. Küstenmacher, I. Awaad, M. Füller, R. Dwiputra, J. Paulus, F. Hegger, N. Hochgeschwender, P. Plöger, and G. Kraetzschmar. The b-it-bots RoboCup@Home 2013 Team Description Paper. RoboCup-German Open -2013, Magdeburg, 2013.

  • R. Dwiputra, M. Fueller, F. Hegger, N. Hochgeschwender, J. Paulus, I. Awaad, S. Schneider, A. Bier- brauer, E. Shpieva, I. Ivanovska, N. V. Deshpande, A. J. Gaier, A. Hagg, J. M. S. Loza, A. Y. Ozhigov, P. G. Ploeger, , and G. K. Kraetzschmar, “The b-it-bots RoboCup @Home 2013 team description paper,” in RoboCup, (Eindhoven, Netherlands), 2013.

  • A. Ahmad, I. Awaad, F. Amigoni, J. Berghofer, R. Bischoff, A. Bonarini, R. Dwiputra, G. Fontana, F. Hegger, N. Hochgeschwender, et al., “Specification of general features of scenarios and robots for benchmarking through competitions,” 2013.

  • T. Breuer, G. Giorgana, F. Hegger, C. Müller, Z. Jin, M. Reckhaus, J. Paulus, N. Hochgeschwender, I. Awaad, R. Hartanto, P. Plöger, and G. Kraetzschmar. The b-it-bots RoboCup@Home 2010 Team Description Paper. RoboCup-2010, Singapore, 2010.

  • I. Awaad and B. Leon. XPERSim: A simulator for robot learning by experimentation. SIMPAR 2008.

  • I. Awaad, B. Leon and R. Hartanto. A Software System for Robotic Learning by Experimentation. SIMPAR 2008.

  • I. Awaad, R. Hartanto, B. Leon and P. Plöger. A Software System for Robotic Learning by Experimentation. In the Workshop on Robot simulators: Available software, scientific applications and future at IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2008, Nice, France.

  • I. Awaad and B. Leon. XPERSIF: A software integration framework & architecture for robotic learning by experimentation. Master’s Thesis, February 2008.

  • I. Awaad and B. Leon. XPERSIF: A software integration framework for robot learning by experimentation. Technical report, June 2007.

  • I. Bratko, D. Suc, I. Awaad, J. Demsar, P. Gemeiner, M. Guid, B. Leon, M. Mestnik, J. Prankle, E. Prassler, M. Vincze, and J. Zabkar. Initial experiments in robot discovery in XPERO. In IEEE ICRA Workshop on "Concept Learning for Embodied Agents", April 2007.

  • I. Awaad and B. Leon. XPERSim: Simulation of the robotic experimenter. Technical report, September 2006.