Chair’s Welcome Message | 2026–2029
Dear colleagues and friends,
Welcome to the IFAC Technical Committee 7.5 on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (TC-IAV)!
It is an honor to serve as Chair of TC 7.5 for the 2026–2029 term. I extend my sincere appreciation to our outgoing Chair, Professor Zdzisław Kowalczuk, and to the committee’s past chairs, officers, and members for their leadership, dedication, and contributions to our international community. I am pleased to introduce the new TC 7.5 leadership team for 2026-2029 and look forward to working together to advance the committee’s mission:
- Junmin Wang, Chair
- Lounis Adouane, Vice Chair for Industry
- Mostafa Ameli, Vice Chair for Education
- Yan Chen, Vice Chair for Social Media
- Zdzislaw Kowalczuk, Vice Chair for Symposium Steering Committee
- Mahdi Shahbakhti, Vice Chair for Publications
Intelligent autonomous vehicles bring together some of the most exciting challenges in modeling, estimation, control, robotics, and artificial intelligence. As these technologies advance, our community has a vital role in translating scientific progress into autonomous systems that operate safely, reliably, and effectively in complex environments. TC 7.5 provides a forum for exchanging ideas and advancing research across such mobility applications, with interests spanning perception, navigation, planning, decision-making, control, and cooperation among autonomous systems.
During the 2026–2029 term, I look forward to working with you to strengthen the connections between fundamental research and practical applications. Particular opportunities lie in bringing control-theoretic rigor to learning-enabled intelligence and autonomy, improving robustness and resilience under uncertainty, and advancing effective interaction between people and autonomous vehicles. Collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and industry will be essential to this effort.
A central priority will be to support an active, inclusive, and internationally connected community. I warmly encourage students, early-career researchers, and colleagues from academia, industry, and research organizations to participate in our activities. Through the IFAC Symposium on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles, technical sessions, and other opportunities for exchange, we can share emerging results, identify open challenges, and build lasting collaborations.
This committee’s strength rests on the ideas, initiative, and engagement of its members. Whether you are a longstanding contributor or new to TC 7.5, I invite you to help shape our activities and future directions.
Thank you for your support. I look forward to a productive and rewarding term together.
Junmin Wang
Chair, IFAC TC 7.5 — Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles
2026–2029
