International recognition for KIT robotics

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE ) has inducted Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tamim Asfour into the IEEE Fellow Class of 2026. He receives the award for his contributions to humanoid mechatronics and cognitive humanoid robotics.

Prof. Asfour has headed the High-Performance Humanoid Technologies (H²T) research group at the KIT Faculty of Computer Science since 2012. His research has been shaping humanoid robotics for over two decades. Asfour has been developing the ARMAR family of robots since 1998 and has made significant contributions in the fields of mechano-informatics, grasping and manipulation, robotics cognition and learning from observation. His outstanding scientific results include the development of an episodic memory for humanoid robots, methods for the semantic manipulation of scenes and the expansion of the KIT Whole-Body Human Motion Database to include complex two-handed everyday movements.

In addition to his research, Professor Asfour also has a strong international network and is involved in numerous scientific committees and professional societies. Among other things, he is Editor-in-Chief of the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters and a regular invited speaker at international conferences. As spokesperson for the Robotics Institute Germany (RIG), Asfour also plays a key role in shaping the strategic direction of national robotics research.

Asfour's election as an IEEE Fellow is one of the highest scientific recognitions in engineering, and with more than 400,000 members in 160 countries, the IEEE is a leading authority in a wide range of fields, from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electrical power and consumer electronics.