Human Machine Intelligence Research Group
Welcome to our research group page. We are supported by a variety of UKRI, H2020, and Defence & Securities funding, totalling over £19m. Full list of grants is here. Access to our and wider university labs relevant to our group is here.
The team is diverse and consists of 20+ members
from many countries:
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Lecturer (1 Dedicated):
Yang Xing - AI in autonomous systems
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University 75th Anniversary Fellow (1):
Alexander Elliott - digital twin of dynamical systems
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Research Fellows/Assistants (7 Dedicated):
Adolfo Perrusquia (Group/Centre dedicated 2021-, RAEng IC Fellow 2021-23) - reinforcement learning
Zhuangkun Wei (EPSRC UKRI TAS-S: RS2C 2021-24) - secure communications in autonomy
Deepak Panda (Group/Centre dedicated 2022-25) - autonomy and AI
Miguel Arana Catania (Group/Centre dedicated 2022-25) - verification & causal inference in AI
Inigo Galan Ona (Leonardo CDAS 2023-25) - trustworthy learning for autonomous navigation
Mariusz Winsinewski (Leonardo CDAS 2023-25) - XAI for sensor fusion
Yongkang Gong (EPSRC TAS-S and EPSRC CHEDDAR 2023-26) - distributed autonomy across heterogeneous continuum
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Ph.D. Students (8 Primary Supervisor):
Mengbang Zou (2020-23) - resilience of dynamic networked systems
Almina Jin (2020-23, US AFOSR) - social network influence analysis
Danny Holt (2021-24, EPSRC DTP with Saab) - XAI based radar signal classification for UTM
Jinsheng Yuan (2021-24) - adversarial machine learning in transport
Robert Brown (2022-25, EPSRC DTP with Saab) - Drone intention prediction using a non-cooperative radar system
Dimitris Panagopoulos (2023-26, EPSRC iCASE with Thales) - human machine teaming for search & rescue
Yifan Yang (2023-26) - civil aviation safety for air mobility on demand
Lakhepatil Ajinkya (2023-26, EPSRC TAS-S: RS2/3) - human adaptation informed secure networked learning [Arriving]
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Ph.D. Students (6 Co-/External-Supervisor):
Andra Sonea (2018-25 PT, EPSRC CDT in Urban Science) [Warwick] - urban digital financial service access
Peter Strong (2020-23, EPSRC CDT in Complexity) [Warwick] - migration modelling for refugees
Jon Ricketts (2020-27 PT, QinetiQ) - NLP for aviation safety
Janice Liu (2020-23) - AI prediction of digestate of anaerobic digestion
Tabitha Watson (2021-25) [Exeter] - Climate induced migration modeling
Peter Geragersian (2021-24, EPSRC DTP with Spirent) - AI based PNT solution for autonomous systems
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Visiting PhD and MRes Students (2 Co-Supervisor):
Jiaming Pan (2023-24, Peking University) - complexity science in transport networks
James Shepherd (2022-23) - Deep learning for EV charging in renewable grids
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Previous Group Members (20):
Academia - A. Al-Shami (Ass. Prof. @ S. Arkansas Uni.), I. Atthanayake (Lecturer @ Open Uni. Sri Lanka), N. Tkachenko (Fellow @ Oxford Uni.), G. Aquino (Lecturer @ Goldsmiths Uni. of London), H. Yuan (Lecturer @ Kingston Uni.), S. Qiu (Ass. Prof. @ Southwest Jiaotong Uni), N. Gupta (Teaching Fellow @ Warwick Uni.), C. Pilgrim (Research Fellow @ UCL), M. Mazzamurro (.), Z. Wei (Research Fellow @ Cranfield Uni.), M. Abbaszadeh (Research Fellow @ Imperial College), Liang Wang (Ass. Prof. @ Northwestern Uni.), Kai Fung Chu (Fellow @ Cambridge Uni)
Industry - G. Mosquera (Chief Data Scientist @ Alpha Analytics), S. Esfahani (Engineer @ Occuity), S. Chotvijit (Consultant @NTT), G. Moutsinas (Researcher @ AlphaGrep), W. Qi (Wireless Engineer @Ranplan), S. Sun (Senior Data Scientist @ Micron Tech), Chen Li (.)
Research Directions
Details of these areas and their researchers are given below.



Cyber - Autonomy and Networking in Extreme Environments
Design a new generation of machine learning (federated, trustworthy, tiny) and networks (radio, molecular, DNA) for extreme environments: ultra-light, energy efficient, and nanoscale. Paving the way for new 6G Internet of NanoThings and swarm UAVs connectivity, with strong application in military, healthcare, and industry.
Awards:
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Bell Labs 2014 - Finalist
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IEEE Best Paper 2014
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IET Innovation Award 2015 - Winner
Key Papers:
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"Random Sketch Learning for Deep Neural Networks in Edge Computing," Nature Computational Science, 2021
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"Tabletop Molecular Communication: Text Messages Through Chemical Signals" PLOS ONE, 2013
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"On the Accuracy and Efficiency of Sensing and Localization for Robotics,"
IEEE Trans. on Mobile Computing, 2020
Nature Computational Science
IEEE Transactions on NanoBioScience: cover

Physical - Sensing and Digital Twin of Critical Systems
Analysing and sensing the resilience of networked infrastructure as a function of local dynamics and global network topology. Minimise data collection for future Digital Twins using graph signal processing and machine learning. Inform predictive maintenance and long-term design of engineering and engineered systems.
Awards:
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Bell Labs 2019 - Semi-Finalist
Key Papers:
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"Sampling and Inference of Networked Dynamics using Log-Koopman Nonlinear Graph Fourier Transform,"
IEEE Trans. on Signal Processing, 2020 -
"Network community structure of substorms using SuperMAG magnetometers," Nature Communications, vol.12, 2021
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"Node-Level Resilience Loss in Dynamic Complex Networks," Nature Scientific Reports, 2020
Royal Society Open Science - Cover Issue
Nature Communications

Social - Human Response to a Changing Environment
Develop generative models and AI solutions to predict emerging events and conflict, both in the physical and cyber world. Use models to inform political science development (causal discovery, peace negotiation), and stakeholders (government, NGOs, peacekeeping, and sustainable development).
Awards:
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Bell Labs 2016 - Semi-Finalist
Key Papers:
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"Retool AI to Forecast and Limit Wars," Nature, 2018
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"Common Statistical Patterns in Urban Terrorism," Royal Society OS, 2019
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"Simulating Imperial Dynamics and Conflict in the Ancient World," Cliodynamics, 2019
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"Gang Confrontation: The case of Medellin (Colombia)," PLOS ONE, 2019
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"Revealing the Excitation Causality between Climate and Political Violence via a Neural Forward-Intensity Poisson Process," IJCAI, 2022
BBC Interviews
Nature: commentary
