Hanan Salam

Dr Hanan Salam is a researcher, professor, and entrepreneur with expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, cognitive and affective computing, human-computer interaction, psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and education. She is the co-founder of Women in AI (WAI), a global organisation focused on increasing female representation and participation in the field of AI. At WAI, she leads education and research initiatives, promoting workshops, content, and events to bridge the gender gap in technology.

Currently, Dr Salam serves as an Assistant Professor and Director of the SMART Lab at New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi. Her research focuses on developing socially and emotionally intelligent machines capable of natural human interaction. This involves analysing and modelling social and emotional signals using computer vision, machine learning, and signal processing to understand human behaviour and predict emotional and mental states. Applications of her research extend to education, healthcare, and support for individuals with autism, Alzheimer’s, and other cognitive challenges.

Previously, Dr Salam worked as a Research and Development Engineer at A.I.Mergence, a robotics start-up, contributing to the creation of autonomous domestic security robots. She has also held academic positions at institutions including emlyon business school and Université Paris-Sorbonne, where she advanced her research in human-robot interaction and affective computing.

Dr Salam earned a PhD in AI from CentraleSupélec, a Master’s degree in Control, Robotics, Image and Signal Processing from Centrale Nantes, and an engineering diploma in Telecommunications and Computer Science from the Lebanese University. She has published extensively, contributing to topics such as facial expression recognition, engagement detection, and emotion analysis in human-robot interactions.

Dr Hanan Salam is a prominent researcher, professor, and entrepreneur known for her extensive contributions to Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and human-computer interaction. She was born in Lebanon and pursued her academic and professional journey with a focus on education, research, and fostering gender diversity in technology.

Dr Hanan completed her Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications and Computer Science from the Lebanese University in 2009. Her passion for technology and innovation led her to pursue a Master’s degree in Image Processing at Centrale Nantes, France, which she completed in 2010. She then enrolled at CentraleSupélec for her PhD in Artificial Intelligence, graduating in 2013. Her doctoral research focused on applying AI to human behaviour understanding and advanced computational models, laying the foundation for her future endeavours in AI and robotics.

From 2011 to 2013, Dr Salam worked as an Assistant Professor at Université de Rennes 1 and INSA de Rennes in France. During this period, she was actively involved in teaching and research, particularly in signal processing and robotics. Post-PhD, she joined ISIR - Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique at Sorbonne University as a Senior Researcher. Her work focused on human-robot interaction and social signal processing, developing systems that could interpret human emotions and behaviours. In 2015, she joined Université Paris-Sorbonne as a Teaching and Research Assistant. Alongside her academic roles, she participated in research projects that integrated psychological and computational approaches to enhance AI’s ability to understand human interactions.

In 2016, Dr Salam transitioned to the industry, joining A.I.Mergence, a robotics start-up, as a Research and Development Engineer. Her role involved developing AI systems for domestic security robots. She contributed to creating autonomous robotic systems capable of monitoring and responding to environmental stimuli. This experience strengthened her expertise in combining AI and robotics for practical applications. She later consulted for Slighter, a Lebanese company focused on smoking cessation technology. Her role involved user data analysis and designing strategies to improve user engagement with the product.

In 2017, Dr Salam co-founded Women in AI (WAI), an international organisation dedicated to increasing female representation and participation in AI. As Head of Education and Research, she spearheaded initiatives to provide workshops, create educational content, and organise events to educate and motivate women to pursue careers in AI. Under her leadership, WAI grew into a global community fostering diversity in technology.

In 2019, Dr Salam became an Associate Professor at Emlyon Business School in France, where she continued her research on AI and human-robot interaction. Her academic journey took a significant turn in 2021 when she joined New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi as an Assistant Professor and Director of the SMART Lab (Social Machines and Robotics Lab). At SMART Lab, her research focuses on building socially and emotionally intelligent robots capable of interacting naturally with humans. The lab explores multi-modal approaches such as computer vision, machine learning, and signal processing to analyse human behaviour and emotional states. Applications of this research span healthcare, education, and support for individuals with autism, Alzheimer’s, and learning disabilities.

Dr Salam has an extensive publication record. Her notable works include "A Multi-level Context-based Modelling of Engagement in Human-Robot Interaction" (2015), which explored the dynamics of engagement in human-robot interactions; "IMI2S: A Lightweight Framework for Distributed Computing" (2014), a framework simplifying complex distributed systems for autonomous robotics; and "A Multimodal Fuzzy Inference System for Emotion Detection" (2012), a study on emotion recognition using visual and acoustic signals. Her research projects include IMMEMO, aimed at developing systems to enhance human-agent interactions through emotion recognition.

Currently, Dr Salam serves as an Assistant Professor at NYU Abu Dhabi and continues to lead SMART Lab. She is actively involved in advancing AI and robotics, focusing on their applications in real-world scenarios, including healthcare and education. Alongside her academic work, she remains committed to promoting gender diversity in AI through Women in AI. Dr Salam’s interdisciplinary expertise and dedication to education and research have made her a significant figure in AI and robotics. Her work continues to shape the future of technology and its applications in both academia and industry.

Dr Hanan Salam envisions a world where Artificial Intelligence and robotics are seamlessly integrated into society to improve lives, particularly in education, healthcare, and support for individuals with special needs. She aims to advance the development of socially intelligent machines that understand and respond to human emotions and behaviours naturally. Through her work, she is committed to promoting ethical AI, fostering diversity in technology, and bridging the gender gap in the field. Dr Salam believes in empowering individuals through education and innovation, ensuring that technology serves humanity equitably and inclusively for a better future.

Dr Hanan Salam has received several notable awards recognising her contributions to artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction. In 2011, she secured first place in the Facial Expression Recognition and Analysis Challenge (FERA) held in Santa Barbara, USA. The following year, she achieved second place in the International Audio/Visual Emotion Challenge and Workshop (AVEC). In 2021, Dr Salam was honoured with the Best Reviewer Award at the International Conference of Multimodal Interaction (ICMI). Additionally, she was recognised as one of the ‘AI Creators You Need To Know’, highlighting her influence and impact in the AI community.