Prof. Krzysztof Czarnecki

October 11th, 2024,11am-12pm, EC4-2101A

This talk will provide an overview of the current state of autonomous vehicles, exploring both active deployments and emerging research directions. I will briefly examine the designs powering existing and next-generation autonomous systems, including classical architectures, end-to-end neural networks, and dual-processing systems. Drawing on the growing body of experience from real-world deployments, I will highlight key challenges such as new categories of driving errors, safety assurance hurdles, and the high development costs of systems intended for deployment on public road. These insights will lead into a discussion of future research needs in the field. Additionally, I will offer a brief overview of ongoing research at the WISE Lab.

Krzysztof Czarnecki is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a University Research Chair at the University of Waterloo, where he leads the Waterloo Intelligent Systems Engineering (WISE) Laboratory. His research focuses on ensuring the safety of AI systems and driving behavior. In 2018, he co-led the development of the first autonomous vehicle tested on public roads in Canada. He has made significant contributions to automotive AI and software safety standards, including SAE J3164 and ISO 8800. Before joining the University of Waterloo, he worked at DaimlerChrysler Research in Germany (1995-2002), where he advanced software development practices and technologies for enterprise, automotive, and aerospace sectors. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Premier’s Research Excellence Award (2004) and the British Computing Society’s Upper Canada Award for Outstanding Contributions to the IT Industry (2008). He has also received twelve Best Paper Awards, two ACM Distinguished Paper Awards, and five Most Influential Paper Awards.