Sanem Sarıel Uzer

Sanem Sarıel Uzer is a Professor at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering, part of the College of Computer and Informatics. She has been a faculty member at ITU since 2007, progressing from Instructor to Associate Professor in 2016 and achieving full Professor status in 2024. She is the founder and coordinator of the ITU Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory and leads multiple research initiatives in cognitive robotics, planning, and machine learning.

• Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, Istanbul Technical University (2002–2007)
• M.Sc. in Computer Engineering, Istanbul Technical University (1999–2002)
• B.Sc. in Control and Computer Engineering, Istanbul Technical University (1995–1999)

Her research focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning, particularly in enabling cognitive systems and robots to reason, plan, and learn in complex environments. She investigates lifelong learning methods, multi-robot team strategies, and safe robot manipulation using deep reinforcement learning. Her recent work emphasizes failure anticipation, multimodal detection, and knowledge distillation to improve robot safety and autonomy.

The trend in her recent publications (2023–2024) shows a strong focus on enhancing the safety and reliability of robotic manipulation through AI techniques such as deep reinforcement learning, adversarial learning, and multimodal perception. Her work spans both theoretical algorithm development and practical applications in service and industrial robotics.

Scientific Awards:

• Siemens Turkey Excellence Award (2004)
• TÜBİTAK 13th Technology Award – Best Product (2018)
• TÜBİTAK 13th Technology Award – University-Industry Collaboration Mention (2018)
• Best Visual Presentation Award, IEEE SIU (2016)
• ITU Project Performance Award (2020)
• TÜBİTAK Ufuk 2020 (2019)
• Necdet Eraslan Project Competition Mention (2007)

She has supervised numerous students in RoboCup competitions and led multiple funded research projects, including two TÜBİTAK projects on lifelong learning for cognitive robots and the development of the open-source Violet system for robot vision. She has also served as a consultant on AI projects with companies like Triodor, Artı Teknoloji, and Analitik Bilişim. Her grants include funding from TÜBİTAK, ITU Scientific Research Projects, and the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology.

She leads the ITU Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory and is actively involved in national and international collaborations, including with Georgia Tech, University of Pennsylvania, and University of South Florida. She also contributes to professional communities such as IEEE, AAAI, RoboCup, and EUCog.