Proceedings of the 6^th International Conference
on Control, Dynamic Systems, and Robotics (CDSR'19)

Dr. Kaan Erkorkmaz
University of Waterloo, Canada

Kaan Erkorkmaz obtained his bachelor’s degree from Istanbul Technical University (1995) and his M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia (1999, 2004). In 2004, he joined the University of Waterloo as an Assistant Professor, where he subsequently received promotion to the rank of Associate Professor (2009) and Professor (2015).

At Waterloo, Prof. Erkorkmaz established the Precision Controls Laboratory (UW/PCL) which conducts research on cutting mechanics, machine tool dynamics, virtual manufacturing, and high performance Computer Numerical Controls (CNC). UW/PCL has a successful record of technology co-development with, and transfer to, industry partners such as Pratt & Whitney Canada, Ontario Drive & Gear, and Danobat Group. Parallel to his research interests, Prof. Erkorkmaz’ teaching activities at Waterloo include giving undergraduate and graduate level courses in the areas of manufacturing, precision engineering, and controls.

Prof. Erkorkmaz is recipient of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2007), Government of Ontario Early Researcher Award (2008), InnoLecture visiting Professorship at the University of Stuttgart (2011), American Society for Precision Engineering Best Poster Paper Award (2013), and the Sandford Fleming Foundation Teaching Excellence Award (2016). In 2014, he was elected Fellow to the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), where he currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Collaborative Working Group on Self-Optimizing (Intelligent) Machining Systems, and on the Editorial Committee of CIRP.

Topic of Keynote:
Boosting Manufacturing through Virtualization and Intelligence

Dr. Davide Spinello
University of Ottawa, Canada

Davide Spinello received the B.Sc. And the Laurea degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 2001 and 2005, respectively, and the PhD. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech in 2006, working under the supervision of Romesh Batra. From January 2007 to July 2009 he has been a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Autonomous Systems and Control Laboratory at Virginia Tech. In September 2009 he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, where he teaches courses on control, dynamical systems, and continuum mechanics. His research interests include cooperative and distributed control and estimation, dynamical systems, continuum mechanics and distributed parameter systems, micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems, multi-physics systems, and numerical methods.

Topic of Keynote:
Distributed cooperative control and estimation with multi-agent robotic systems: stabilization notwithstanding unreliable communications, and optimization in evolving environments

Dr. Howard Schwarz
Carleton University, Canada

Dr. Howard Schwartz received his BEng. degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University, and his MSc. and Ph.D. degrees from M.I.T., in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, respectfully. He is currently Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carleton University. He served as Department Chairman of the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University from 2009 to 2013.

Dr. Schwartz’s research is in the field of Machine Learning, Adaptive Control and Multi-Agent Machine Learning for teams of mobile robots. He has published over 100 technical papers in leading journals and international conferences. He is Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics and is the author of the book Multi-Agent Machine Learning: A Reinforcement Approach, Wiley, 2014.

Dr. Schwartz developed early versions of high performance GPS receivers while employed with the Canadian Marconi Co. (1982-1984). He has spent sabbaticals at March Networks (2001- 2002) developing real time video analytics, at CMC Electronics working on software quality control (2008) and most recently he spent a sabbatical year at Espial Inc. (2014-2015) as a software developer.

Topic of Keynote:
Multi-Agent Machine Learning for Mobile Robots: A Reinforcement Learning Approach