Eric Feron

January 2026

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  Tiny sensor could transform head injury detection

  1 min read · Mon, Jan 12 2026

  News Clip News

  sensors

  After losing his brother to undetected head trauma, a KAUST researcher helped design a sensor that instantly distinguishes minor bumps from dangerous blows.

December 2025

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  Four KAUST innovators named to Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 2025

  1 min read · Mon, Dec 29 2025

  News Clip Awards News

  The recognition reflects a research ecosystem shaping talent at KAUST.

May 2023

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  SRSI Students mentored at RISC Lab excel at Regeneron ISEF 2023

  1 min read · Mon, May 22 2023

  News

  In a remarkable display of talent and dedication, two high school students, Maria Qumsani and Bandar AlBraheem, started their journey at the KAUST SRSI program last year. The students were mentored by students from the Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control (RISC) Lab under the guidance of Professor Eric Feron. Maria and Bandar participated in the national competition IBDAA, where their outstanding performance granted them a pass to the renowned International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2023 in Dallas, Texas. The world’s largest pre-college STEM serves as a launching pad for
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  Professor Feron chaired Panel Discussion titled: Exploring the Potential of Advanced Air Mobility for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  1 min read · Mon, May 22 2023

  News

  KROW

  Research Open Week is a unique forum for a broader discussion providing networking opportunities to faculty, research staff, and colleagues from industry and government entities. National and International experts from leading organizations in the areas of energy, water, environment, food and health, and the digital domain. The forum showcased how research at KAUST is contributing, and helping to shape the Kingdom's future through education, community engagement, and scientific investigation. Throughout the week, KAUST researchers presented science and engineering research highlights in

October 2022

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  Professor Feron receives two best paper awards at DASC 2022

  4 min read · Tue, Oct 11 2022

  Awards News

  KAUST Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Eric Feron received two best paper awards at this year’s 41st American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)/Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC 2022).

May 2022

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  Renzo Caballero: Ph.D. Research Proposal Defense

  1 min read · Mon, May 23 2022

  News

  PH.D. RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEFENSE Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at 08:30 a.m. Building 2, Level 5, Room 5220; Join Zoom Meeting "Theory and Dynamics of Self-Repair Systems" Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Shinkyu Park, Prof. Diogo Gomez, Prof. David Keyes, Prof. Taous-Meriem Laleg Abstract We propose approaching the self-repair concept in robots from a control theory and mathematical modeling point of view by understanding the self-repair dynamics and finding conditions for stability in the repair process. We utilize a 3D printer as a proof of concept. Through experimentation and
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  Nawaf Alotaibi: Master's Thesis Defense

  1 min read · Tue, May 17 2022

  News

  MASTER'S THESIS DEFENSE Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Building 4, Level 5, Room 5220; Join Zoom Meeting "Vision Approach for Position Estimation Using Moiré Patterns and Convolutional Neural Networks" Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Gaetano Magnotti, Prof. Shinkyu Park Abstract In order for a robot to operate autonomously in an environment, it must be able to locate itself within it. A robot's position and orientation cannot be directly measured by physical sensors, so estimating it is a non-trivial problem. There are sensors that provide this information, such as the Global
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  Bilal Maassarani: Ph.D. Research Proposal Defense

  1 min read · Sun, May 15 2022

  News

  PH.D. RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEFENSE Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. Building 3, Level 5, Room 5220 “The TetraheDrone: A Modular Fractal Vertical Take Off and Landing Unmanned Aerial System" Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Shinkyu Park, Prof. Gilles Lubineau Abstract We introduce the TetraheDrone, a hover-capable module in the shape of a tetrahedron that can be assembled in larger tetrahedral configurations and can transition to winged flight. Inspired by earlier designs by Alexander Graham Bell, the TetraheDrone can become a large vehicle while keeping an inherent ability for
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  Abdulaziz Yaslam: Master's Thesis Defense

  1 min read · Tue, May 10 2022

  News

  Master's Thesis Defense Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 9:00 AM Building 3, Level 5, Room 5209; Join Zoom Meeting: https://kaust.zoom.us/j/4852668297; Meeting ID: 485 266 8297 "Exploration of Mandibular Input for Human Machine Interfaces." Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Stefan Arold, and Prof. Shinkyu Park Abstract The direct connection of the jaw to the brain allows it to retain its motor and sensory capabilities even after severe spinal cord injuries. As such, it can be an accessible means of providing inputs for people with paralysis to manipulate their environment. This paper

April 2022

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  Safa Saber: Ph.D. Research Proposal Defense

  1 min read · Mon, Apr 25 2022

  News

  PH.D. RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEFENSE Monday, April 25, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. Building 2, Level 5, Room 5220 “Contingency Planning for Commercial Aircraft Formations" Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Deanna Lacoste, Prof. Shinkyu Park Abstract It has long been proven that flying aircraft in formations that utilize wake vortex energy reduces fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and airspace congestion. Though military transport class aircraft utilize formation flight, the commercial air transportation industry has yet to take advantage of its benefits in favor of maintaining traditional individual
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  Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

  1 min read · Sun, Apr 17 2022

  News

  award

  MERGE Group is delighted and proud to announce that Ph.D Student Otavio Jose Dezem Bertozzi Junior has been announced the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for the academic year 2021-2022. This award recognizes Teaching Assistants (TAs) who demonstrate superior instructional skills while serving in the classroom or laboratory. This award is based on nominations from graduate students of the CEMSE Division. Otavio currently serves as a TA for the Cyber-Physical System course (ECE263), taught by Professor Eric Feron. Congratulations Otavio!
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  Yi-Hsuan Chen: Master's Thesis Defense

  1 min read · Sun, Apr 3 2022

  News

  Master's Thesis Defense Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at 5:30 pm Building 3, Level 5, Room 5220; Join Zoom Meeting: https://kaust.zoom.us/j/91694715622; Meeting ID: 916 9471 5622 "Control design and analysis for reduced-gravity atmospheric flights." Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. David Keyes, and Prof. Shinkyu Park Abstract This work presents a longitudinal flight control algorithm to guide an aircraft to follow a parabolic trajectory by minimizing the position deviation between the aircraft and a reference object (proof mass). As an aircraft flies along the parabolic trajectory, it will

March 2022

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  Fatema Alhani: Master's Thesis Defense

  1 min read · Wed, Mar 30 2022

  News

  MASTER'S THESIS DEFENSE Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at 4:00 PM Building 2, Level 5, Room 5205 "Run-Time Assurance via Real-Time Trajectory Generation and Transverse Dynamics Regulation Law." Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Shinkyu Park, Dr. Ricardo Manuel Pinto de Lima Abstract In safety-critical environments, it is crucial to have a backup strategy the system can turn to when facing a potentially unsafe situation. Run-time assurance provides a reliable methodology as a backup strategy. This work introduces a new framework for Run-time assurance, by generating trajectories in real
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  Juman AlAbdullatif: Master's Thesis Defense

  1 min read · Tue, Mar 29 2022

  News

  MASTER'S THESIS DEFENSE Thursday, March 29, 2022, at 2:00 PM Building 3, Level 5, Room 5209 "A Decentralized Approach for Human-Robot Object Transportation Through the Control of a Catenary Cable." Committee Members Prof. Eric Feron, Prof. Shinkyu Park, and Prof. Omar Knio Abstract An important challenge for human-robot interaction is for both the human and the robot to agree on a model of motion. However, most applications require machine learning and heavy communication for the robot to be an active member in executing a joint task and adapt to human behavior. In this work, we develop a

February 2022

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  Learning about robots and coding through play

  1 min read · Wed, Feb 16 2022

  News

  robotics coding Decoding learning

  "Hour of Code,” a worldwide initiative with the scope to teach children the basics of computer science, recently took place at The KAUST School Kindergarten. During Computer Science Education Week, December 5-9, 2021, researchers from the KAUST RISC Lab volunteered to help the children to “demystify” code and grasp their first concepts of robotics.

January 2022

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  Recording: Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Eric Feron, WEP Resilient Robotics

  1 min read · Mon, Jan 17 2022

  News

  Distinguished Lecture | Resilient Robotics | Eric Feron Eric Feron, professor of Electrical Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, speaks on resilient robotics during WEP.

November 2021

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  The KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022 #RobotoKAUST

  1 min read · Tue, Nov 2 2021

  News

  robotics research conference

  Building upon our successful online conference in spring 2021, the KAUST Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control Lab (RISC Lab) will host the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022 (#RobotoKAUST2022) from February 28 until March 2, 2022. The conference will address the most recent trends of robotics application in a range of disciplines.

October 2021

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  The Recordings of the #RobotoKAUST talks are available

  1 min read · Tue, Oct 19 2021

  News

  research conference RobotoKAUST

  The first KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2021, #RobotoKAUST, brought together leading international and in-Kingdom robotics researchers and government and industry representatives from the robotics industry to discuss robotics and its applications. The recordings of the talks are available online! To watch the talks, please visit our website #RobotoKAUST or our KAUST RISC Lab YouTube Channel.

May 2021

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  Reinforcement Learning and Path Planning for Urban Air Mobility

  1 min read · Sun, May 30 2021

  News

  We focus on the development of safe guidance strategies for aerial vehicles capable of routine and emergency maneuvers, using recent progress in Reinforcement learning, graph neural network and transfer learning. Our study will complement the original automaton concept with “emergency maneuvers” that are adapted to the various kind of failures that can be encountered by the flying machine. We will formulate trajectory planning as a reinforcement learning problem. In this context, we will explore how value functions learned in a context-free environment maybe properly adapted and used in
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  NASA’s helicopter Ingenuity flies on Mars: the challenges behind the exploration of other planets

  5 min read · Mon, May 3 2021

  News

  On April 19, 2021, NASA flew the first helicopter in history on Mars. Ingenuity – the small, unmanned solar helicopter - rose 3 m over the ground and hovered in the thin Martian air for about 40 seconds. Ingenuity landed on Mars attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover on February 18, 2021. Before Ingenuity, the first flight on a planet beyond Earth was an unpowered balloon carried on Venus by the Soviet probe Vega 1, in 1985.

March 2021

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  KAUST Research Conference of Robotics and Autonomy 2021

  1 min read · Wed, Mar 31 2021

  News

  research conference RobotoKAUST

  The KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2021, #RobotoKAUST, brought together leading international and in-Kingdom robotics researchers and government and industry representatives from the robotics industry to discuss robotics and its applications. The online event was organized by Prof. E. Feron, Prof. B. Ghanem, Prof. X. Zhang and had six sessions on Marine Robotics, Human-Robot Interactions, Aerospace Robotics, Mobile Robotics, Wearable Robotics & Microrobotics, Assured Autonomy. Twenty-seven speakers (seven from KSA including three from KAUST, and three from industry)
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  KAUST RISC lab hosts Center of Excellence for Aeronautics and Astronautics(KACST)

  1 min read · Thu, Mar 4 2021

  News

  robotics drones

  KAUST Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control (RISC) Lab hosts a 3-day visit by personnel from the Center of Excellence for Aeronautics and Astronautics at King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology ( https://ceaa.kacst.edu.sa/). During their visit, a team of ten, led by Dr. Hesham Shageer of KACST attended talks by RISC Profs. Eric Feron and Shinkyu Park on diverse aspects of robotics. The KACST team also visited FalconViz ( http://www.falconviz.com/) and Firnas ( https://www.firnas.aero/home.php)Two KAUST startups relying on drone technology to perform a variety of tasks, such as

July 2020

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  An Airline observatory created by Passengers for Passengers

  1 min read · Wed, Jul 1 2020

  News

  aerospace software system optimization control systems

  The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a significant worldwide disruption to flight operations, affecting the lives of millions of passengers.

April 2020

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  12 April 2020 International Day of Human Space Flight

  3 min read · Sun, Apr 12 2020

  News

  aerodynamics aerospace software engineering

  Rocket Scientists @KAUST Which is your main ongoing RESEARCH in the aerospace and space flight sectors? I study high pressure flames and high speed combustion. Both are simplified versions of what’s happening in rocket engines and other propulsion systems. Prof. Deanna Lacoste I work in high pressure combustion, just what is needed in a rocket engine or other propulsion device. Prof. William Roberts Two keywords here: "turbulence" and "computational aerodynamics". In my group we conduct research in simulating turbulent flows over airfoils, wings and other aerodynamic shapes to better

November 2019

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  CEMSE New Faculty: Eric Feron, Professor of Aerospace Software Engineering

  3 min read · Wed, Nov 27 2019

  News

  control systems aerospace software system

  Eric Feron is a professor of aerospace software engineering who recently joined the KAUST CEMSE Division from the Georgia Institute of Technology.