‘Robotics In Africa’ Forum At IROS 2024 To Highlight Africa’s Remarkable Progress In Robotics R&D

Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced the 36^th edition of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2024) in Abu Dhabi will include the ‘Robotics in Africa’ Forum to highlight the continent’s remarkable progress, especially in research and innovation, and release a status report on the robotics sector in Africa.

Coming to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the first time, IROS is themed ‘Robotics for Sustainable Development’ and will be hosted from 14-18 October 2024 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), gathering researchers, academics, leading corporate majors, and industry professionals from around the globe. The Robotics in Africa Forum, scheduled for 16 October 2024, will explore opportunities for robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, and foster networking, while highlighting the impact of research and development in Africa. A total of 13 forums will be organized during IROS 2024.

Dr. Jorge Dias, General Chair, IROS 20204 and Director, Khalifa University Center for Autonomous Robotics Systems (KU-CARS), said: “IROS 2024 gathers participants from academia, government and industry stakeholders and the Robotics in Africa Forum will be a perfect platform for showcasing the state of robotics in the continent, as well as its cutting-edge research to practical industrial applications, education, and training. It will also offer robotics enthusiasts within Africa an opportunity to engage with the global robotics community. The status report on robotics in Africa will outline the major achievements of various segments within robotics and will seek to find more technology solutions to the challenges facing the sector.”

The agenda will include two keynote talks, poster presentations, as well as a panel discussion on the various aspects of robotics.

The speakers at the forum include Dr. Paul Amayo, Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the African Robotics Unit at the University of Cape Town, Dr. David Vernon,technical mentor at the Carnegie Mellon University Africa-Industry Innovation Lab (IIL), Marwa A. ElDiwiny PhD researcher who also hosts the IEEE RAS Soft Robotics Podcast, NdivhuwoMakondo, a Research Scientist in Machine Learning at IBM Research, South Africa Lab, and Chinwe Ekenna (University of Albany).

Chinwe Ekenna, University of Albany, Kenechukwu C. Mbanisi Olin College of Engineering, Simeon Adebola, University of California, Berkeley, and Addisu Taddese, Intrinsic. And the Steering Committee includes Ken Goldberg – UC. Berkeley, Amir Patel, University of Cape Town, and Aisha Walcott-Bryant, Google Research, are part of the Program Committee.

The event is sponsored by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau, the Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ), the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), the New Technology Foundation, and the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES).

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