Antonia Holzapfel

Antonia Holzapfel is a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Data Science in Mechanical Engineering (DSME) of RWTH Aachen University. Supervised by Prof. Sebastian Trimpe, her work focuses on safe and explainable machine learning (XAI) for robotics and time-series modeling, with applications in mechanical engineering and medical technology.

• Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering (Design Engineering specialization)
• Master's in General Mechanical Engineering (Simulation Technology and Medical Technology specializations)

Her research addresses safety in learning processes, including Bayesian optimization for quadcopters and concept extraction for model interpretability. Her Friedrich-Wilhelm Award-winning thesis (2024) explored safe online learning in time-varying environments, presented at the L4DC conference. She contributes to DFG-funded projects on data-driven process modeling in forming technology.

Key scientific contributions include:

• Advancing safe Bayesian optimization for autonomous systems
• Developing explainable AI methods for time-series analysis
• Improving model robustness through internal representation patterns

Scientific awards:

• Friedrich-Wilhelm Award for outstanding Master's thesis (2024)

Antonia's work bridges machine learning safety with practical applications in robotics and industrial processes.