1. you have completed your doctorate - what does that mean for you personally?
I am incredibly proud to have completed my doctorate alongside a full-time career, as it was a real double burden that required a lot of discipline. For me, the doctorate is the culmination of many years of work in research and development.
2 What is your dissertation about?
The dissertation deals with motion planning for autonomous vehicles, i.e. the question of how a vehicle can find its way through traffic safely, comfortably and efficiently. Three different types of vehicle are being investigated: driverless city shuttles, normal passenger vehicles and lorry-trailer combinations. A multi-layered planning system was developed for the CUbE city shuttle and tested over several years in real urban traffic. Another part analyses how human drivers act in confusing traffic situations so that autonomous vehicles can better anticipate this behaviour. Finally, the paper shows how deep reinforcement learning can be used to learn and control complex driving manoeuvres of road trains.
3. what was a highlight or special experience in connection with your doctorate?
A very special moment was the first time I sat in a self-driving vehicle controlled by software that I had helped to develop. Presenting our work to the world, be it at the IAA, at press and investor events or on business trips to the USA and Japan, were also unforgettable experiences.
4. what plans do you have for your professional future?
My goal is to further strengthen the bridge between research and product development. Through my career, which has taken me from developer to technical team leader to department head, I have learnt that technical leadership only works if you remain true to the technology itself. I currently work at AUMOVIO (formerly Continental) in Singapore with a team specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI), working closely with leading research institutions such as NTU and NUS. In the long term, I would like to translate more of this AI development into series products, with all the safety, quality and durability requirements that the automotive environment demands.
5. what tips can you give future doctoral students?
Above all, a doctorate alongside a career requires patience and the ability to constantly re-motivate yourself. Those who never lose touch with practice and see research and professional experience as mutually enriching will benefit the most.
6 Why did you choose OTH Regensburg for your doctorate?
OTH Regensburg was my home university, and Prof. Dr. Mottok, who has been with me since my studies, recognised early on the potential that my master's thesis in the field of autonomous driving offered for Continental's development goals. His confidence in my abilities and his network paved the way for this doctorate. Through the subsequent cooperation with the Free University of Berlin and Prof Dr Rojas, a pioneer of autonomous driving in Germany, I also had access to a first-class research environment.
LINKS
Dissertation: https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/50516
