Academic Profile : Faculty
Assoc Prof Sameer Alam
Associate Professor, School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Email
Sameer Alam holds the position of Associate Professor (with tenure) at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He serves as the Deputy Director of the Air Traffic Management Research Institute, where he leads groundbreaking research in the application of AI and Data Analytics to Air Transportation. Additionally, Sameer holds the role of Co-Director at the Saab-NTU Joint Lab, leading innovative research in Machine Learning for Digital and Remote Tower technologies. Spearheading a dynamic research team comprising 20 scientists and 6 PhD students, Sameer is dedicated to pioneering the development of the next-generation AI-Human Hybrid ATM system.
Academically, Sameer achieved a PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Artificial Intelligence, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, in 2008. He also holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from BIT, Mesra, India, obtained in 1999. His post-doctoral research focused on the creation of Artificial Intelligence algorithms for evaluating future air traffic concepts and was supported by EUROCONTROL (2009-2010) and Air Services Australia (2010-2011).
Throughout his career, Sameer has made noteworthy contributions. In 2011, he was appointed University Lecturer at UNSW, Canberra, Australia, and later promoted to University Senior Lecturer in 2015. He was appointed Associate Professor at NTU Singapore in 2017, and received tenure in 2023. He has engaged as a visiting scientist at esteemed institutions such as NASA Ames, California (2011), and École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (French Civil Aviation University) in Toulouse (2016-2017).
Sameer's research interests are in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms, applied to Air Traffic Management and Airport Operations. His expertise encompasses Human-AI Teaming. Conformal Automation, Multi-Agent Systems, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Computer Vision and Graph based Learning. With an impressive portfolio, he has authored/co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed research publications in high-impact journals and conferences.
Acknowledged for his proficiency, Sameer's contributions extend to editorial roles and program committees. He became an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligent in 2023, member of the Editorial Board of the Transportation Research-Part C Journal in 2018 and appointed on the Program Committee for the prestigious FAA-Eurocontrol's US & Europe ATM R&D Seminar in 2020.
Moreover, Sameer's achievements have garnered several competitive awards, including:
ANU Science Medal, Australian National University, 2011
Fresh Scientist Award, Science in Public, Australia, 2009
Young Tall Poppy ACT Scientist of the Year Award, Australian Institute of Policy and Science, 2011
Best Paper Award, 15th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Savanaah, US 2023
Best Paper Award, 10th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, Tampa, Florida, USA 2022
Best Paper Award, 41st AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), Portsmouth, VA, USA 2022
Best Paper Award, 13th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019
Best Paper Award, 49th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, Beijing, China, 2019
Best Paper Award, 8th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, Barcelona, Spain, 2018
Best Paper Award, 11th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015
Best Paper Award, 6th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014
Best Paper Award, 9th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Berlin, Germany, 2011
Best Paper Award, 29th IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference, Salt Lake City, USA, 2010
Notably, Sameer has taken on integral roles in numerous research projects and collaborations with prestigious organizations like CAAS, Singapore, ICAO, Air Services Australia, Eurocontrol, and Civil Aviation Authority, Bahrain. He is entrusted with the role of Managing Guest Editor for a special issue on Artificial Intelligence in air traffic management for Transport Research Part-C and frequently contributes as an invited reviewer for esteemed journals and conferences.
In 2019, Sameer initiated the inaugural International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics for Air Transportation (IEEE AIDA-AT) in Singapore. His contributions to academia extend to organizational responsibilities, such as being an organizing co-chair for the 28th Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Canberra, Australia, in 2016, and serving as a conference session chair/member PC for various prestigious events.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Sameer has a passion for general aviation flying, fishing, and mountain hiking.
Academically, Sameer achieved a PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Artificial Intelligence, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, in 2008. He also holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from BIT, Mesra, India, obtained in 1999. His post-doctoral research focused on the creation of Artificial Intelligence algorithms for evaluating future air traffic concepts and was supported by EUROCONTROL (2009-2010) and Air Services Australia (2010-2011).
Throughout his career, Sameer has made noteworthy contributions. In 2011, he was appointed University Lecturer at UNSW, Canberra, Australia, and later promoted to University Senior Lecturer in 2015. He was appointed Associate Professor at NTU Singapore in 2017, and received tenure in 2023. He has engaged as a visiting scientist at esteemed institutions such as NASA Ames, California (2011), and École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (French Civil Aviation University) in Toulouse (2016-2017).
Sameer's research interests are in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms, applied to Air Traffic Management and Airport Operations. His expertise encompasses Human-AI Teaming. Conformal Automation, Multi-Agent Systems, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Computer Vision and Graph based Learning. With an impressive portfolio, he has authored/co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed research publications in high-impact journals and conferences.
Acknowledged for his proficiency, Sameer's contributions extend to editorial roles and program committees. He became an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligent in 2023, member of the Editorial Board of the Transportation Research-Part C Journal in 2018 and appointed on the Program Committee for the prestigious FAA-Eurocontrol's US & Europe ATM R&D Seminar in 2020.
Moreover, Sameer's achievements have garnered several competitive awards, including:
ANU Science Medal, Australian National University, 2011
Fresh Scientist Award, Science in Public, Australia, 2009
Young Tall Poppy ACT Scientist of the Year Award, Australian Institute of Policy and Science, 2011
Best Paper Award, 15th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Savanaah, US 2023
Best Paper Award, 10th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, Tampa, Florida, USA 2022
Best Paper Award, 41st AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), Portsmouth, VA, USA 2022
Best Paper Award, 13th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019
Best Paper Award, 49th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, Beijing, China, 2019
Best Paper Award, 8th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, Barcelona, Spain, 2018
Best Paper Award, 11th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015
Best Paper Award, 6th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014
Best Paper Award, 9th US-Europe ATM R&D Seminar, Berlin, Germany, 2011
Best Paper Award, 29th IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference, Salt Lake City, USA, 2010
Notably, Sameer has taken on integral roles in numerous research projects and collaborations with prestigious organizations like CAAS, Singapore, ICAO, Air Services Australia, Eurocontrol, and Civil Aviation Authority, Bahrain. He is entrusted with the role of Managing Guest Editor for a special issue on Artificial Intelligence in air traffic management for Transport Research Part-C and frequently contributes as an invited reviewer for esteemed journals and conferences.
In 2019, Sameer initiated the inaugural International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics for Air Transportation (IEEE AIDA-AT) in Singapore. His contributions to academia extend to organizational responsibilities, such as being an organizing co-chair for the 28th Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Canberra, Australia, in 2016, and serving as a conference session chair/member PC for various prestigious events.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Sameer has a passion for general aviation flying, fishing, and mountain hiking.
Artificial Intelligence methods for Air Traffic Management and Airport Operations Machine Learning Swarm Intelligence and Ant Colony Optimization Genetic Algorithms and Evolutionary Computation Multi Objective Optimization
- Artificial Intelligence for Air Traffic Management
- ASEAN ATM Network Fuel Inefficiency Study
- Dynamic Air Traffic Flow Configuration for Flow-centric Airspace Management
- France-Singapore Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Air Traffic Management
- Machine Learning For Airport Management And Tower Control
- Mixed Airspace Integration CONOPS Models For Singapore
- P4.11 : Systematic Exploration and Synthesis of Literature Supporting the Investigation into Hybrid Human-AI ATC System
Courses Taught
MA7932 Air Transportation Systems
MA0218 Intro to Data Science & Artificial Intl.
MA4880 Airport Operations and Systems
MA4881 Air Traffic Management
MA6932 Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control
MA1008 Introduction to Computational Thinking
MA2006 Engineering Mathematics
MA0218 Intro to Data Science & Artificial Intl.
MA4880 Airport Operations and Systems
MA4881 Air Traffic Management
MA6932 Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control
MA1008 Introduction to Computational Thinking
MA2006 Engineering Mathematics
Supervision of PhD Students
Yash Guleria 2020 - Present Main Supervisor Data Driven Ground Delay Management under Weather and Traffic Uncertainties
Lam Jun Guang Andy 2019 - Present Main Supervisor Machine learning for airport management and tower control
Lim Zhi Jun 2019 - Present Main Supervisor A Multi-Agent Approach for Extended Arrival Manager in Fragmented Airspace using Machine Learning Methods
Ky Gregoire Arthur 2021 - Present Co-Supervisor Virtual Centralized Air Traffic Flow Management
Nguyen Yen Duy 2020 - Present Co-Supervisor Air Traffic Flow Management
Thai Van Phat 2019 - 2023 Main Supervisor Detection, tracking and classification of small flying objects in wide-area (Graduated)
Zeng Yixi 2019 - 2022 Co- Supervisor Machine learning for hybrid AI-Human Control-Automation (Graduated)
Hasnain Ali 2018 - 2022 Main Supervisor Machine Learning Algorithms for Airport Surface Movement Optimization (Graduated)
Wai Lun Cheung 2015 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Optimizing arrival and departure management coupled with surface management and runway optimization techniques (Graduated)
Chunyao Ma 2018 - 2023 Main Supervisor Machine Algorithms for Airspace Safety and Traffic Flow Management (Graduated)
Lam Jun Guang Andy 2019 - Present Main Supervisor Machine learning for airport management and tower control
Lim Zhi Jun 2019 - Present Main Supervisor A Multi-Agent Approach for Extended Arrival Manager in Fragmented Airspace using Machine Learning Methods
Ky Gregoire Arthur 2021 - Present Co-Supervisor Virtual Centralized Air Traffic Flow Management
Nguyen Yen Duy 2020 - Present Co-Supervisor Air Traffic Flow Management
Thai Van Phat 2019 - 2023 Main Supervisor Detection, tracking and classification of small flying objects in wide-area (Graduated)
Zeng Yixi 2019 - 2022 Co- Supervisor Machine learning for hybrid AI-Human Control-Automation (Graduated)
Hasnain Ali 2018 - 2022 Main Supervisor Machine Learning Algorithms for Airport Surface Movement Optimization (Graduated)
Wai Lun Cheung 2015 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Optimizing arrival and departure management coupled with surface management and runway optimization techniques (Graduated)
Chunyao Ma 2018 - 2023 Main Supervisor Machine Algorithms for Airspace Safety and Traffic Flow Management (Graduated)