Bilal Maassarani
Mechatronic systems and control enthusiast currently working on a novel scalable hybrid-flight mode aerial system at the RISC lab with Professor Eric Feron.
Biography
Bilal Maassarani is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He holds a B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering (2014) and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering (2017) from the University of Waterloo. His bachelor’s program included six co-op internships in roles spanning verification engineering, computational research, ASIC verification, hardware design, and radio modeling at companies including IDT, Natural Resources Canada, Ciena, General Motors, BlackBerry, and Broadcom. After completing his master’s degree, he worked as an FPGA developer at Ericsson.
Bilal joined KAUST initially under the supervision of Prof. Jeff Shamma and is currently advised by Prof. Eric Feron. His research focuses on mechatronic systems, particularly taking engineering problems from concept to functional prototypes. During his master’s studies he developed a dynamic check-weighing machine, and his Ph.D. work centers on the design and control of a novel hybrid-flight-mode unmanned aerial system.
Alongside his academic work, Bilal has contributed to several early-stage start-ups involving smart luggage, agricultural automation, and palm-tree-harvesting tools.
Research Interests
Bilal is interested in finding mechatronic solutions and taking them from problem to a functional proof-of-concept. He developed a dynamic weighing machine during his master's and currently a novel hybrid-flight mode unmanned aerial system as a Ph.D. Candidate.
About
Work Experience
- 2017.10 - 2018.07 FPGA Developer, Advanced Antenna Systems, Ericsson, Canada
- 2014.09 - 2017.01 Teaching Assistant (3 semesters), ECE and MTE courses, University of Waterloo, Canada
- 2013.05 - 2013.09 WLAN RFIC Designer Intern, Broadcom, USA
- 2012.09 - 2012.12 Digital Hardware Design Intern, Advanced Radio Systems, Blackberry, Canada
- 2012.01 - 2012.04 Maintenance Group Leader Intern, Chassis Plant, General Motors, Canada
- 2011.05 - 2011.08 ASIC Verification Intern, Ciena, Canada
- 2010.09 - 2010.12 Computational Research Intern, CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, Canada
- 2010.01 - 2010.04 Verification Engineer Intern, IDT, Canada
Professional Profile
Service Contributions
- Service to the Institution
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CEMSE division student ambassador, 2022 - present
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Robotics mentor for KAUST's Virtual Academy 2023, 2023
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Spring 2023 Orientation leader, 2023
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Fall 2022 Orientation leader, 2022
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Conference volunteer at the Global Sustainable Development Congress 2023 at KAUST, 2023
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Chairing sessions and general volunteering for RobotoKAUST conference 2023, 2023
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Chairing sessions and general volunteering for RobotoKAUST conference 2022, 2022
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- Service to the Discipline or Profession
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Peer-reviewed a paper submitted to Sage Journal, 2022
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Peer-reviewed a paper (by delegation) submitted to IROS 2022, 2022
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- Public Outreach
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Volunteer at the computer science week at the KAUST Kindergarten, 2022
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Judge at KAUST's Winter Enrichment Program's (WEP) science fair for school students, 2019
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Awards and Distinctions
- Dean's list award, KAUST, 2021 - 2022
- Best Air Team, European Robotics League, 2019
- Best drone GPS accuracy, European Robotics League in collaboration with Septentrio, 2019
- Winners of the Science of Storytelling, KAUST, 2019
- Iron Warrior Graduate Scholarship, University of Waterloo, 2014
- University of Waterloo President's Scholarship of Distinction, University of Waterloo, 2009
Qualifications
Education
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2017
- Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
- Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2014
- English
- Native or bilingual proficiency
- Arabic
- Native or bilingual proficiency
- French
- Limited working proficiency
- Spanish
- Elementary proficiency
- Russian
- Elementary proficiency
Languages
Quote
The real world is its own best model.
Selected Publications
- Maassarani, B., Epps, J., Garanger, K., Shahab, M. T., Wali, O., & Feron, E. (2023). Tetrahedral and Dodecahedral UASs, Structured Designs. In Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Applications: Challenges and Trends (pp. 3-41). Springer. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32037-8_1
