Ferdous Alam

I am a post-doc at MIT working with Faez Ahmed. Previously, I earned my Ph.D. from the Ohio State University where I worked on intelligent robotic manufacturing system and generative computational design. I was fortunate to be supervised by David Hoelzle. I have also worked as a research intern and later a research collaborator at the Autodesk AI Lab on AI for 3D generative computational design. My core expertise includes generative AI, representation learning/reinforcement learning, optimal control theory and AI software integration in manufacturing hardware.

My core vision is to build the next generation of manufacturing automation by taking a synergistic hardware-software approach. I envision an Intelligent and integrated Universal Manufacturing Operating System that combines AI systems at its core for intelligent CAD/CAM/PDM/PLM, robotic manufacturing and process control. During my PhD and continuing thereafter, I have been working towards this vision by developing novel AI algorithms that can incorporate first-principles based knowledge with applications in computational 3D design and digital manufacturing. A significant focus of my research also includes real-time systems integration of AI-software with novel manufacturing hardware. I have shown one of the first successful deployments of real-time AI-assisted decision making for intelligent sensing, planning and control in a custom built additive manufacturing system. The algorithms that I have developed can learn to manufacture complex 3D artifacts while requiring 10x less data samples than traditional approaches.