On December 1, 2018, the members of the ALARIS lab presentув their current research projects to President of of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, during his visit to the new C4 Nazarbayev University research complex. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev is the First Chair of the High Board of Trustees of Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools and the Nazarbayev Fund. The Head of State was accompanied by Mr. Shigeo Katsu, President of Nazarbayev University, Head of the Administration of the President Mr. Aset Issekeshev, Minister of Education and Science Mr. Yerlan Sagadiyev, and other officials.
Dr. Almas Shintemirov with help of ALARIS team members, full-time research assistant Mr. Talgat Tursynbekov, robotics master student Mr Anton Kruchinin, and senior undergraduate robotics and mechatronics student Mr. Anton Kim, presented the lab’s ongoing research projects on development of a low-cost robotic hand for robot manipulation and prosthetics research, an intuitive real-time teleoperation of robot-manipulators using a wireless human arm motion tracking system, an industrial manipulator based object pick-and-place and sorting system and others. President Nazarbayev asked specific questions about commercial applicability of the projects and positively evaluated our work.
ALARIS is very proud to be among 5 research laboratories selected to represent Nazarbayev University in this important event. The lab members have gained an incredible experience to present their research work to the Head of State and received the message to see more practically oriented developments in future that would benefit the country’s industry and society in future.
More information is available in Kazakh and Russian here.
ALARIS principal investigator Dr. Almas Shintemirov received a Scopus Award 2018 in the “Top Researcher in Engineering and Technologies” nomination. The first in Kazakhstan awards ceremony was organized by Elsevier and held on 13 November 2018 in Astana to recognize best Kazakhstan researchers according to Elsevier’s Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.
ALARIS principal investigator Dr. Almas Shintemirov was awarded with a Certificate of Merit of the Republic of Kazakhstan signed by President of Kazakhstan Nursulatn Nazarbayev for “…achievements in state and public activities, significant contribution to the social-economic and cultural development of the country, strengthening friendship and cooperation among nations”. The award was delivered to Dr. Shintemirov by Nazarbayev University President Shigeo Katsu at the beginning of the End-of-Year Meeting on 14 December 2017.
The Astana LAboratory for Robotic and Intelligent Systems (ALARIS) within the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics at Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan (www.nu.edu.kz) is seeking candidates for a postdoctoral scholar position with a background in robotics, mechatronics or other related area to work on one of the ongoing or perspective new ALARIS projects aimed at developing rehabilitation robotic and/or exoskeleton platforms, optimal control systems for industrial and mobile robotic platforms, machine learning based methods and algorithms for various fundamental and applied robotics tasks,etc. The postdoctoral scholar is also expected to teach one course per semester relevant to his/her area of research and/or based on Department’s needs.
Interested candidates should send a detailed CV with a list of publications and a motivation letter to Dr. Almas Shintemirov at the email ashintemirov@nu.edu.kz for initial discussion on possible research directions and formal application details.
The Nazarbayev University campus is located in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, in the heart of the new and ultra-modern Left-Bank region of the city. Incoming faculty will enjoy a cosmopolitan living experience, interwoven with traditional cultural influences in food and entertainment. The social life offers a rich and vibrant atmosphere with excellent clubs and restaurants, theater, music, opera, dancing, museums, modern and traditional bazaar shopping, professional and amateur sports, outdoor recreation, and much more.
Review of applications will begin immediately but full consideration will be given to applications submitted no later than December 20, 2017.
The PhD candidates, citizens of Kazakhstan, will be considered for awarding a state postgraduate research scholarship covering the cost of studying at NU, an attractive monthly stipend and student accommodation on campus. In addition, an employment as a part-time teaching assistant (up to 0.5 rate appointment) in the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics can be arranged.
Please contact Dr. Almas Shintemirov at ashintemirov@nu.edu.kz before 18 May, 2107 for informal inquiry regarding the PhD application and PhD project proposal writing . You are kindly asked to provide your (i) no more than 0.5-1 page motivation letter describing your research interests and goals, (ii) CV, (iii) transcripts, (iv) certificates, (v) contacts for two references, and (vi) relevant publications or other supporting documents you may consider helpful (if any) in PDF format.
Please state clearly in the admission application form that the PhD track you wish to be considered for is Robotics (within the SST Department of Robotics and Mechatronics), and the proposed PhD supervisor is Dr. Almas Shintemirov.
Application deadline May 20, 2017.
The research project aims to accelerate the development and application of robotic rehabilitation in Kazakhstan. Robotic rehabilitation is an effective platform for sensorimotor training in persons suffering a cerebral vascular accident (stroke) and children with movement disorders. The PhD student will focus on designing a fully functioning prototype of a novel wrist rehabilitation robot system with a human-robot interface. Assist-as-needed control algorithms will be researched and implemented to allow flexible robot rehabilitation performance that can be later tested through clinical trials.
The research will start with upper limb (wrist) rehabilitation but the results will contribute to the development of other medical robot devices that require physical interaction with human.
Requirements: We are seeking for highly motivated candidates with (or be expecting) a Master’s Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Engineering or a closely related field.
– Excellent English language skills: PhD program has a mandatory level of English language proficiency equal to an IELTS overall grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the subtests or a TOEFL score of 232 for Computer-Based Test (CBT), 575 for Paper-Based Test (PBT) and 90 for Internet-Based Test (IBT) or a CPEoverall score of 45 and pass in all components. Applicants, who obtained university level degree in educational institutions with English as the language of instruction, are exempt from the provision of the English language proficiency test reports.
– Good computer programming skills, preferably in MATLAB and C/C++.
– Previous background/experience in 3D CAD mechanism design and/or electric motor control system design.
– Good analytical and self-development skills.
– Experience of preparing research publications.
The PhD research project addresses the needs of Kazakhstan’s economy in developing and application of innovative digital technologies contributing to technological modernization (automation and robotization) of Kazakhstan’s economy towards “Industry 4.0” standards. Currently, industrial robot-manipulators are widely applied for various automated tasks in standardized industrial processes that require monotonic execution of preprogrammed repetitive tasks with high precision and/or productivity. The project aims to create an intelligent robot assistive system (The 3rd hand) for flexible human-robot collaborative assembly tasks in industrial settings by designing a novel interactive control interface for a 6 degrees-of-freedom robot-manipulator involving development of robotic vision and machine learning algorithms for human operator intent recognition and autonomous object recognition and grasping by the robot.
The research will be focused on intiituve real-time control of a state-of-the-art industrial robot-manipulator but the research results will also contribute to the development of medical assistive robotic systems for disabled people support that require physical interaction with human.
Requirements: We are seeking for highly motivated candidates with (or be expecting) a Master’s Degree in Electrical, Computer Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Engineering, Applied Math and Computer Science or a closely related field.
– Excellent computer programming skills, preferably in C/C++.
– Previous background/experience in machine learning and/or image processing.
– Previous research experience in electronics/embedded system design.
The research project aims to address urgent need for low-cost robotized upper limb prostheses in Kazakhstan. The PhD student will focus on designing a fully functioning prototype of a novel anthropomorphic robot hand and prosthesis with a human-robot interface. Research will include mechanical desing of the prototype, battery powered finger actuator embedded control system desing. Different myoelectric interfaces for user intent recognition will be researched and adopted in the prosthesis prototype. Relevant hand control algorithms will be also developed. It is expected that by the end of the project the prototype will be ready for trial testing.
The research will start with upper limb prosthesis but the results will contribute to the development of other medical robot devices that require physical interaction with human.
Requirements: We are seeking for highly motivated candidates with (or be finishing) a Master’s Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Engineering or a closely related field.