The postgraduate doctoral student (Shahed Sebeh Ghintab) from the Control and Systems Engineering Department received a doctorate degree in (Control Engineering) with a grade of (very good) for her thesis entitled (Deep Learning Based Autonomous Driving in Urban Areas). The discussion was held on Monday, March 4, 2024, in the discussion Hall (Hall No. 9) in the department,

and the discussion committee consisted of:

1- Prof. Dr. Hazem Ibrahim Ali / Chairman

2- Prof. Dr. Hadeel Nusrat Abdullah / Member

3- Asst. Prof. Dr. Firas Abdul Razzaq Rahim / Member

4- Asst. Prof. Dr. Osama Ali Awad / Member

5- Asst. Prof. Dr. Bushra Kadhum Oleiwi / Member

6- Prof. Dr. Muhammad Youssef Hassan / Member and Supervisor

Autonomous vehicles have emerged as an interesting field in engineering, offering a potential solution to reduce accidents caused by human error and maximize the use of parking in cities. This work investigates the significant impact of autonomous vehicle technology on transportation infrastructure, emphasizing the necessity of a comprehensive framework that integrates perception, localization, planning, and control to ensure reliable autonomous navigation. The thesis proposes an adaptive integrated derivative Type-2 fuzzy logic controller. Advanced technology has been employed in localization, where convolutional neural networks were used and trained on images of red, blue, and green types after modifying one of the networks known as AlexNet. The A* algorithm was used for path planning. For environmental perception, a network called You Only Look Once (YOLO) version 3 was utilized, providing accurate localization results for autonomous driving within the city despite various weather conditions. Only color images were relied upon, without resorting to expensive sensors, such as radar and LiDAR technology. The algorithm for merging regular images with depth images was adopted to obtain good results when examining the network trained using the MATLAB program. Subsequently, the trained network was rebuilt using the Python language so that it could be linked with the simulation program for autonomous driving cars called CARLA. The simulation results with the trained network and simulation showed remarkable and excellent performance in perceiving the surrounding environment of the vehicles. The achieved results from localization, perception, and path planning were used alongside the proposed controller, whose variables were tuned using the fly optimization algorithm, which demonstrated the accuracy and robustness of the proposed algorithm through the improvement ratio of the mean squared error for the steering angle compared to the reference results. In particular, the proposed algorithm achieved an improvement in the mean squared error for the steering angle by 89.68% compared to the results of reference [77]. As for speed, there was an improvement in the square error rate compared to the same reference with an improvement rate of 98.52%. The proposed solution effectively adjusts the parameters of the control unit accurately, while staying flexible and adaptable to changing conditions. It can be implemented in real-world scenarios to achieve safe and successful navigation. The defense was attended by the Assistant Head of the Department for Scientific Affairs and Postgraduate Studies (Prof. Dr. Abbas Hussein Issa) along with a group of professors in the department. On this occasion, we congratulate the student (Shahed Sebeh Ghintab) and wish her success and prosperity.

  The Control and Systems Engineering Department organized, for the first time in Iraq and on the grounds of the University of Technology, the Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT UOT-2024), which is an academic competition that provides the opportunity for master’s and doctoral students to present their scientific research to the public in three minutes and in a simplified and clear manner. The competition aims to highlight the most important research carried out by postgraduate students (Master’s and PhD), in addition to creating a spirit of competition between students in the department and the university and encouraging them to communicate their scientific ideas to society. The committee supervising the competition consisted of Prof. Dr. Hazem Ibrahim Ali, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ahmed Alaa Ogla, Asst. Prof. Dr. Laila Hatem Abboud, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Yasser Nabil. The competition was attended by the Assistant Head of the Department for Scientific Affairs and Graduate Studies Prof. Dr. Abbas Hussein Issa and a group of graduate students in the department.

The Women’s Empowerment Unit, in cooperation with the Control and Systems Engineering Department and the Registration and Student Affairs Department, held a workshop entitled (Leading Women in the Era of Development (Challenges and Innovations)) in the Conference Hall of the Control and Systems Engineering Department, where the workshop was delivered by Asst. Prof. Dr. Ahmed Siddiq Al-Jaf. The workshop included presenting the most important points about the role of women in leadership work, while allowing the opportunity for some positions to be presented by working women and highlighting the most prominent problems they face within the scope of the job. At the end of the workshop, the participants were honored by Prof. Dr. Farhad Muhammad Othman, Assistant President of the University for the Administrative Affairs.

  Under the slogan (Towards the Goal), the department held its fourth sports festival for motor games on Wednesday, 21/2/2024, with the support and presence of the honorable President of the University, (Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Ghabban). In cooperation with the Department of Student Activities and the (Iraqiya Here) team, this festival was held at the university stadium with the participation of three teams, including the Control and Systems Engineering Team - University of Technology, the College of Engineering Team - Iraqi University, and the College of Science Team - Al-Mustansiriya University. The competition among the three teams and the scoring of points were very close in the sections of the festival, which included group movement games, and the Mustansiriya University team won the championship cup. The team leaders expressed their gratitude for the good organization of the festival and the enjoyment of the students, along with the audience who came to support their teams. The goal of this festival, which is organized by the Control and Systems Engineering Department every year, is to enhance the spirit of teamwork and cooperation to achieve the goal, as well as to alleviate the academic burden of students away from school, as stated by Prof. Dr. Azad Raheem (Head of the Control and Systems Engineering Department) in an interview with him. On this occasion, we congratulate all the participating teams and the winning team.