List of recent highlights

February 2018:

• Appointed head, Software and Intelligent Control Engineering Laboratory (SoftICE Lab), NTNU
• Appointed board member, local Ålesund committee (uLMU), Learning Environment Committee (LMU), NTNU
• Appointed head, CHAOS, internal research project application to Digital Transformation, (budget: 5 PhD positions), NTNU. Application submitted 15 February.
• Appointed WP member, Autoferry, internal research project application to Digital Transformation, (budget: 6 PhD positions), NTNU. Application submitted 15 February. 
• Completed first round of abstract reviews, SIMS 2018.

January 2018:

• As project head, submitted application for 1-2 strategic PhD positions on Autonomous Ships, internal call, NTNU
• Presented a talk on Nature-inspired AI at the annual January seminar at Ålesund high school. This years theme: Digitalization
• Public call for candidates to a PhD position on Autonomous Ships released, for which I will be a supervisor.

December 2017:

• Completed first report draft of the deep evaluation of the master programme in simulation and visualization, NTNU

November 2017:

• Awarded 1 postdoc from the ERCIM Alain Bensoussan Fellowship Programme, 1-year position on Autonomous Ships, filled by Dr. Rachid Oucheikh, starting May 2018.
• Reviewed a professorship candidate application for the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, NTNU

September 2017:

• Appointed technical programme committee co-chair, 59th International Conference of Scandinavian Simulation Society, SIMS 2018, Oslo, Norway

August 2017:

• submitted both papers selected for special publication in the Springer series Communications and Computer Information Science (CCIS)

June 2017:

• elected by scientific staff as a member of the extended leader group of my department for a 4-year period
• appointed deputy board member of the Committee for Research and Research Education for a 4-year period
• PhD student under my supervision, Brice Assimizele, defended his thesis on models and algorithms for optimal dynamic allocation of patrol tugs to oil tankers along the northern Norwegian coast, as a continuation of the DRAMA project that I headed
• appointed member of workgroup for deep evaluation of the master programme in simulation and visualization
• completed the website AI for product design documenting two research projects on computer-automated design of maritime equipiment such as cranes and winches
• bachelor students under my supervision submitted thesis (awarded grade A) on typing on virtual keyboards using EEG and EMG suitable for paralyzed patients
  
• master student under my supervision submitted thesis on autonomous drone swarms (grade to be decided)

April 2017:

• ran as candidate in election to the faculty board (not elected)

May 2017:

• both papers on educational research presented at CSEDU 2017 selected for extended publication (>30%) in the Springer series Communications and Computer Information Science (CCIS)
• attended ECMS 2017 in Budapest and presented one of our two papers on intelligent virtual prototyping

March 2017:

• hosted a seminar and workshop on modern education, including topics such as "automagical" grading and feedback, adaptive learning tool for mathematics, and active learning
• attended CSEDU 2017 in Porto and presented one of two papers on educational research (modern teaching and flipped classroom)
• attended the opening of the Telenor-NTNU AI-Lab, in which the SoftICE lab participates

February 2017:

• promoted to IEEE Senior Member
• three of our bachelor students of automation engineering won a prestigious award for best thesis, which informed a paper on dynamic positioning and aqua farm inspection using USVs that I coauthored and presented at Techno-Ocean 2016 last autumn
• strategic PhD position, in which I will likely be involved with supervision on automation and autonomous ships, awarded our department