Academic Profile : Faculty
Assoc Prof Sameer Alam
Associate Professor, School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Director, Air Traffic Management Research Institute (ATMRI)
Email
Sameer Alam is the Director of the Air Traffic Management Research Institute (A joint research institute of Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and NTU, Singapore) and an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NTU, Singapore. He leads (as PI) a team of 26 research scientists and 6 PhD students in developing the next generation of intelligent Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems. He also served as Co-Director of the Saab-NTU Joint Lab where he led Digital and Remote Tower research from 2020 to 2024.
Sameer received his PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Machine Learning, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, in 2008. His postdoctoral research on AI algorithms for advanced air traffic concepts was supported by Eurocontrol (CARE Innovative Research Grant, 2009–2010) and Airservices Australia (ARC Linkage Grant, 2010–2011).
In 2011, he was appointed as a University Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at UNSW Canberra and was promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor equivalent) in 2015. He joined NTU Singapore as an Associate Professor in Aerospace Engineering in 2017 and was granted tenure in 2023. Sameer has also been a visiting scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, California (2011), and at École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC), Toulouse, France (2016–2017).
His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications to ATM and airport operations. His expertise spans Human-AI Teaming, Conformal Automation, Multi-Agent Systems, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Computer Vision, and Learning under Uncertainty. He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals and international conferences.
Sameer serves as Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (since 2023), AIAA Journal of Air Transport (special issue, 2023), and as a member of the Editorial Board of Elsevier's Transportation Research Part C (since 2018). He has also served as Associate Editor for the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (2024), as a Program Committee member for the FAA-Eurocontrol U.S./Europe ATM R&D Seminar (since 2020) and Program Committee member for the SESAR Innovation Days (since 2024).
His research has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including:
-ANU Science Medal, Australian National University, 2011
-Fresh Science Award, Science in Public, Australia, 2009
-Young Tall Poppy Science Award, Australian Institute of Policy and Science, 2011
-Over 12 Best Paper Awards at leading conferences such as the ATM R&D Seminar, ICNS, ICRAT, and DASC.
Sameer has served as a technical consultant for:
-ICAO’s Middle East Regional Monitoring Agency (2013–2024)
-Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, Kingdom of Bahrain (2015–2024)
-Saab Singapore (2022–2024)
He has also contributed to academic leadership by serving as Organizing Co-Chair for the 28th Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (2016, Canberra) and the 11th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation (ICRAT 2024, Singapore), and has chaired or served on program committees for numerous international conferences.
Beyond his academic and professional work, Sameer is an aviation enthusiast who enjoys general aviation flying, fishing, and mountain hiking.
Sameer received his PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Machine Learning, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, in 2008. His postdoctoral research on AI algorithms for advanced air traffic concepts was supported by Eurocontrol (CARE Innovative Research Grant, 2009–2010) and Airservices Australia (ARC Linkage Grant, 2010–2011).
In 2011, he was appointed as a University Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at UNSW Canberra and was promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor equivalent) in 2015. He joined NTU Singapore as an Associate Professor in Aerospace Engineering in 2017 and was granted tenure in 2023. Sameer has also been a visiting scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, California (2011), and at École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC), Toulouse, France (2016–2017).
His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications to ATM and airport operations. His expertise spans Human-AI Teaming, Conformal Automation, Multi-Agent Systems, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Computer Vision, and Learning under Uncertainty. He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals and international conferences.
Sameer serves as Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (since 2023), AIAA Journal of Air Transport (special issue, 2023), and as a member of the Editorial Board of Elsevier's Transportation Research Part C (since 2018). He has also served as Associate Editor for the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (2024), as a Program Committee member for the FAA-Eurocontrol U.S./Europe ATM R&D Seminar (since 2020) and Program Committee member for the SESAR Innovation Days (since 2024).
His research has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including:
-ANU Science Medal, Australian National University, 2011
-Fresh Science Award, Science in Public, Australia, 2009
-Young Tall Poppy Science Award, Australian Institute of Policy and Science, 2011
-Over 12 Best Paper Awards at leading conferences such as the ATM R&D Seminar, ICNS, ICRAT, and DASC.
Sameer has served as a technical consultant for:
-ICAO’s Middle East Regional Monitoring Agency (2013–2024)
-Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, Kingdom of Bahrain (2015–2024)
-Saab Singapore (2022–2024)
He has also contributed to academic leadership by serving as Organizing Co-Chair for the 28th Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (2016, Canberra) and the 11th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation (ICRAT 2024, Singapore), and has chaired or served on program committees for numerous international conferences.
Beyond his academic and professional work, Sameer is an aviation enthusiast who enjoys 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
- A Top-Of-Descent Prediction Model for Optimal Continuous Descent Operation and its Integration in the AIR-LAB Ecosystem
- Artificial Intelligence for Air Traffic Management
- ATMRI Overheads Recovery
- ATMRI Programmes (2nd Extended Term)
- Future Airspace Architecture Fostering Human-AI Hybrid Automation to Cater to Future Air Traffic Demand
- Future Airspace Architecture subsystems
- Human-AI Hybrid Toolkits
- Operating costs for ATMRI's 2nd Extended Term (NTU's funding)
- Operating costs of ATMRI (2nd Extended Term)
- Programme for ATMRI's 2nd Extended Term (NTU's Funding)
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)