Tariq Iqbal is an Associate Professor of Systems Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Virginia. His research interests lie at the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics. He leads the Collaborative Robotics Lab (CRL) at UVA. His group is interested in building robotic systems that are capable of working alongside people in complex human environments.
His research focuses on building robotic systems that can fluently coordinate and collaborate with people in complex human environments – for example, in a factory setting in close proximity with people. In order to successfully act within a group, a robot must be able to perceive and predict the intentions of other group members and use that knowledge to determine when, where, and how to act for the team’s benefit. His work uses robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning approaches to tackle these problems.
Prior to joining UVA, Iqbal was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked with Professor Julie Shah. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) with Professor Laurel Riek.