Who We Are

The Autonomous Robotics Research Center (ARRC) at the Technology Innovation Institute is the region’s leading organisation advancing robotics, computer vision, and bio-inspired technologies.

We have built an international team of experts from top-tier academic institutions and research institutes that enjoy strong ties to peer scientists and researchers. Our robotics specialisation includes perception, communication, control and decision making, bio-inspiration, and modular and self-organised autonomous systems. We explore their application across multiple environments: air, land, on-sea and underwater.

Crucially, we have deliberately built a hybrid, interdisciplinary team of scientists, researchers, practitioners, prototype developers, quality assurance technicians and validators across the robotics fields of communication, decision-making and self-organisation.

Building on this hybrid approach, our methodology involves fundamental research that draws on: models and simulations; empirical experiments involving simulations and real hardware; prototype development, testing and validation; stress testing and optimisation; and large audience demonstrations.

ARRC is part of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), a UAE-based research center that aims to lead global advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, quantum computing, cryptography and quantum communications, directed energy, secure communication, smart devices, advanced materials, and propulsion and space technologies.

We belong to the Abu Dhabi Government’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), which oversees technology research in the emirate.

What We Do 

At ARRC, we research, develop, and apply novel technologies to innovate robotics solutions that are fully independent of human intervention and human infrastructure, while still being able to interact with humans and other biological systems in the environment.

Working in an open research environment in collaboration with academic partners, our long-term goal is to realise autonomous, fully distributed, situation-aware, hybrid, multi-robot biological societies that can operate in any environment.

Our solutions will solve problems in areas such as search and rescue, environmental monitoring, shipwreck recovery, oil-spill recovery, surveillance, mapping of confined or large environments, and reconstruction of damaged ecosystems.

Our priority areas include:

Our Team
Dr. Ray O. Johnson
Dr. Ray O. Johnson Chief Executive Officer Technology Innovation Institute and ASPIRE
Dr. Najwa
Dr. Najwa Aaraj Chief Researcher
Eliseo
Dr. Eliseo Ferrante Vice President
Prof. Enrico Natalizio
Prof. Enrico Natalizio Vice President
Eloy
Dr. Eloy Roura Senior Director
Giulia
Dr. Giulia De Masi Principal Scientist
Giovani Pau
Dr. Giovanni Pau Technical Director
Anour
Anouar Dhouibi Senior Director
Aaesha Al Shehhi
Aaesha Al Shehhi Associate Researcher
Abdulla
Abdulla Al Breiki Senior Associate Engineer
TE00287_Abdulla
Abdulla Al Mansoori Associate Researcher
Ahmed Khalifa Salem Mohamed Alghfeli
Ahmed Alghfeli Associate Researcher
Alketbi
Ahmed AlKetbi Associate Researcher
Ahmad
Ahmad Muaz Muttalib Robotics Engineer
AlKatheeri
Ahmed Alkatheeri Senior Associate Engineer
Ahmed Zeher Dik
Ahmed Zeher Dik Electronics Engineer
Alya
Alya AlMarzooqi Senior Associate Researcher
amine
Amine Gaagouch Senior Project Manager
Amna Humaid Salem Khalfan Almehrzi
Amna Almehrzi Associate Researcher
Andrea Ferrarelli
Andrea Ferrarelli Senior Engineer
Anton Ovchinnikov
Anton Ovchinnikov Senior Research Engineer
Asraa Saeed Al-Ali
Asraa Al-Ali Associate Researcher
André Luis Fialho Jesus
André Luis Fialho Jesus Researcher
Alberto Luvisutto, Intern
Alberto Luvisutto Researcher
Allan Antony
Allan Antony Marine Robotics Engineer
Aristeidis Noulis
Aristeidis Noulis Software and Integration Engineer
Alejandro Garcia-Vaquero Velasco, Hardware Design and System Integration Engineer
Alejandro Garcia-Vaquero Velasco Hardware Design and System Integration Engineer
Andrea Finazzi
Andrea Finazzi Software Engineer Autonomous Platform
Amina Markabayeva
Amina Markabayeva Project Coordinator
TE00304_Amina
Amina Al Marri Associate Researcher
Artem Gorodilov
Artem Gorodilov Research Engineer Multimodal Communications
Arun Muraleedharan
Arun Muraleedharan Senior Researcher
Ashay Wakode
Ashay Wakode Intern
Aysha Aleissaee
Aysha Aleissaee Associate Researcher
Aysha Almazrouei
Aysha AlMazrouei Associate Researcher
Ayoub Asri
Ayoub Asri Senior Robotics Engineer
Bader
Bader Bamaes Associate Researcher
Bayu Kanugrahan Luknanto
Bayu Luknanto System Engineer
Christos Chrysikos
Christos Chrysikos Robotics Engineer
Claire Dabon
Claire Dabon Project Coordinator
Ahmad Danial
Danial Rahman UAV Engineer
Adrian Bojko
Dr. Adrian Bojko Senior Computer Vision and ML Researcher
TE00286_Agata
Dr. Agata Barcis Senior Researcher Swarm
Davide Aguiari
Dr. Davide Aguiari Senior Researcher
Davide Lanzoni
Davide Lanzoni Intern
Davide Malatesta
Davide Malatesta Senior Engineer Software Platform
David Souto
David Souto Underwater Robotics Research Engineer
Dimitrios
Dimitrios Pediaditis Senior Robotics Engineer
Diogo Alexandre Martins
Diogo Alexandre Martins Intern
Dmitrii Belimov
Dmitrii Belimov Senior Digital Circuits Engineer
Claudio
Dr. Claudio Tortorici Lead Researcher
TE00192_Cristino
Dr. Cristino De Souza Junior Lead Researcher - Hardware Design & Prototyping
Dario
Dr. Dario Albani Principal Researcher
Danilo Caporale
Dr. Danilo Caporale Senior Director, Lead PMO
TE00280_Daniel
Dr. Daniel Tortei Lead Researcher
Evgenii Vinogradov
Dr. Evgenii Vinogradov Lead Researcher for Cellular Communications
Igor
Dr. Igor Zhilin Lead Researcher - Underwater Communications
Jacopo Panerati
Dr. Jacopo Panerati Lead Researcher in Machine Learning for Control
Jennifer Simonjan
Dr. Jennifer Simonjan Senior Researcher
Dr. Jeremy Nicola, Lead Researcher
Dr. Jeremy Nicola Principal Researcher
Karthikeyan Elangovan
Dr. Karthikeyan Elangovan Senior Mechanical Researcher
Bushnaq.jpg
Dr. Osama Bushnaq Senior Researcher Communications
Paola
Dr. Paola Ardon Senior Researcher
Pietro Tedeschi
Dr. Pietro Tedeschi Senior Security Researcher
prasanna
Dr. Prasanna Raut Senior Researcher
Reem
Dr. Reem Ashour Senior Researcher
Vouloutsi
Dr. Vicky Vouloutsi Senior Researcher
Michal
Dr. Michal Barcis Senior Researcher Communications and Networking
Dr. Min Wang
Dr. Min Wang Senior Engineer - Control Systems
Eugen Marin
Eugen Marin Lead DevOps
Erwin Lejeune
Erwin Lejeune Robotics Software Engineer
Enrico Pallota
Enrico Pallotta Intern
TE00300_Fares
Fares Al Neyadi Associate Researcher
Fatema Saif Khamis Khalaf Aldahmani
Fatema Aldahmani Associate Researcher
Fatima
Fatima Al Nuaimi Senior Associate Engineer
Fayyaz Chemban
Fayyaz Chemban Robotics Engineer
Flavio Pinzarrone
Flavio Pinzarrone Intern
Gautier Focillon
Gautier Focillon Senior Project Manager
Geovane Mimoso
Geovane Mimoso Lead Underwater Robotics Engineer
Guillermo Villalobos
Guillermo Villalobos Robotics Engineer
Gyordan Caminati
Gyordan Caminati Intern
Gustavo Neves
Gustavo Neves Senior Underwater Research Engineer
Hashim Kamily
Hashim Kahily Senior System UAV and Perception Engineer
Hassan
Hassan Alhosani Associate Researcher
Himank Gupta, Research Engineer
Himank Gupta Research Engineer
Haoui Hamza
Hamza Haoui Full-Stack Developer for Web Application
Igor Campos, UAV Engineer
Igor Campos UAV Engineer
Israel Cerqueira Motta Neto
Israel Motta Neto Robotics Engineer
Ivo Simoes
Ivo Simões Robotics Engineer
Jacopo Vivaldi, Researcher
Jacopo Vivaldi Engineer
Jesus Martin
Jesus Martin Director System Engineering
Jamal
Jamal Zeddoug Lead Engineer
Jobin Mathew
Jobin Mathew Robotics Engineer
Jonas
Jonas Eschmann Senior Associate Engineer
John Mempin, UAV Engineer
John Mempin UAV Engineer
Jules Berhault
Jules Berhault USV Engineer
Khawla AlMazrouei
Khawla AlMazrouei Associate Researcher
Khalifa
Khalifa AlQaydi Associate Researcher
Kuldeep Dhiman
Kuldeep Dhiman Senior Robotics Researcher
Leonardo Montecchiari, Intern
Leonardo Montecchiari Senior Researcher
Lorenzo
Lorenzo Bellone Researcher
Leonardo
Leonardo Plotegher Senior Engineer
Luca Iacone
Luca Iacone Intern
Aohammed AlDhaheri
Mohammed AlDhaheri Associate Researcher
Marco Carraro
Dr. Marco Carraro Lead Underwater Robotics Researcher
Marco Sicklinger
Marco Sicklinger Intern
Maryam Alhashmi
Maryam Abdulla Alhashmi Associate Researcher
TE00268_Mohammed
Mohammad AlShimmari Associate Researcher
Mohamed Abdulla Salem Mohamed Alsalami
Mohamed Alsalami Associate Researcher
Mehdi Belal, Associate Engineer
Mehdi Belal Engineer
Malik Bekmurat
Malik Bekmurat Computer Vision Engineer
Marco Pellegrino
Marco Pellegrino Intern
Mary Gail Mabini
Mary Gail Mabini Executive Assistant - ARRC
Mateusz Ochal
Mateusz Ochal Senior Underwater Perception Research Engineer
Mattia Miolato
Mattia Miolato Researcher
Matheus Santos
Matheus Santos Intern
Michael Bosello
Michael Bosello Researcher
Mohammed Agharbi
Mohammed Agharbi Prototype Engineer
Halepota
Muhammad Junaid Halepota Integration Engineer
Murilo Mendonca
Murilo Mendonca Marine Robotics Engineer
Kaabi_2
Nouf AlKaabi Associate Researcher
Nektarios Sfyris
Nektarios Sfyris Senior Robotics Engineer
Nidhi Raj
Nidhi Raj System Engineer
Nikita
Nikita Mankovskii Senior Associate Engineer
Nikolaos Mitropoulos
Nikolaos Mitropoulos Robotics Engineer
Nikita Shatravka
Nikita Shatravka Senior Developer
Omar
Omar Al-Ali Associate Researcher
Maleki
Omar Al Maleki Associate Researcher
Paula
Paula Sanches Project Manager
Pavel Kopanev
Pavel Kopanev Computer Vision Engineer for 3D Reconstruction
Polina Koornneef
Polina Koornneef Senior DevOps Engineer
Prathap Kandasamy
Prathap Kandasamy Marine Mechanical Robotics Engineer
Rafael Fernandes
Rafael Fernandes ML Perception into Action Engineer
Reem Ahmad Matar Abdulrahman Almheiri
Reem Almheiri Associate Researcher
Ricardo De Jesus
Ricardo De Jesus Fabrication Engineer
Romeo Sumeracruz
Romeo Sumeracruz UAV Engineer
Sabrina Dina Ahmim
Dina Ahmim Intern
Rodrigo Santos Leonello
Rodrigo Santos Leonello Underwater Robotics Engineer
Sai Avula
Sai Avula Computer Vision and Perception Engineer
Salma Aldhanhani
Salma Aldhanhani Associate Researcher
Salman
Salman Amiri Associate Researcher
Sara
Sara Aldhaheri Associate Researcher
Kiade Sara
Sara Kiade Intern
Seppe Geuens
Seppe Geuens UAV Engineer
Shamsa Ahmed Ali Alshughel Almehrzi
Shamsa Almehrzi Associate Researcher
Shamma
Shamma Al Muharrami Associate Researcher
Shamma Alhajeri
Shamma Alhajeri Associate Researcher
Sivaranjani Jayaprakash
Sivaranjani Jayaprakash Senior SW Engineer in Computer Vision
Suhair Kuruvampara Payanthapurath
Suhair Payanthapurath Robotics Engineer
Teguh Prabowo
Teguh Prabowo UAV Engineer
Tiga Leung
Tiga Ho Yin Leung Real-time Trajectory Planning Engineer
Tiziano
Tiziano Manoni Senior Researcher
Tommaso Ferrari
Tommaso Ferrari Researcher - Applied Machine Learning for Robotics
Tony Joseph
Tony Joseph Mechatronics Engineer
Vivek
Vivek Radhakrishnan Senior Researcher Design Engineer
Yuri De Matos Alves De Oliveira
Yuri De Matos Alves De Oliveira Intern
Zaki Egeh
Zaki Egeh Associate Researcher – ARRC
Zulkarnaen Bin Surya Dharma
Zulkarnaen Bin Surya Dharma Research Engineer
Scientific Advisory Board

We have assembled a scientific board of leading world-renowned scientists specialising in ARRC’s areas of expertise.

Prof. Ian F. Akyildiz
Prof. Ian F. Akyildiz
luca
Prof. Luca Benini
Prof. Marko Bertogna
Prof. Marko Bertogna
Prof. A. E. Eiben
Prof. A. E. Eiben
Prof. Giuseppe Loianno
Prof. Giuseppe Loianno
Prof. Martin Saska
Prof. Martin Saska