References

I had the pleasure to have Umar in my team for around one and half years. He just radiates positivity and good feeling that can be appreciated in any work environment. Umar is solution centric in his work, not only trying but getting things to work. What I value the most, is the capacity to take initiative. He has demonstrated that in so many ways: Calling for problem-solving sessions when he sees the need. Writing academic articles while working on engineering topics full time and not required to do so e.g. to graduate. He has even bravely relocated multiple times across cultures, which is not easy.

I had the pleasure of working with Umar for 3 years as the Chair of the International Technical Evaluation Committee of FABULOS project. The FABULOS project funded and accelerated the introduction of new types of automated last-mile solutions entering the market. The funded companies provided proof-of-concepts of all-inclusive solutions (SW, HW, fleet, operations, service etc.) for the management of autonomous fleets as part of the regular public transportation systems in six open road pilots across Europe.

Umar was acting as a product owner and technical lead, and during this time, Sensible4 was awarded with 1M€ R&D funding from the European Commission via FABULOS. Technical results achieved were impressive, to say the least: the capability to manage a fleet of autonomous vehicles in busy urban mixed traffic conditions was proven, as were the operations of a Remote Control Centre, monitoring the fleets. The speeds of the Sensible4 pilot vehicles reached 30 km/h with passengers on board, driving also in a steep hill environment and winter conditions. Also, obstacle avoidance and retrofitting of autonomous driving software in various ‘regular’ vehicles was validated and improved. The FABULOS project brought a significant increase in the technical robustness and reliability of the pilot vehicles and overall solutions.

When working with Umar, I especially appreciated his ability to explain complex entities with clarity and ease, as well as his attitude of reaching out to people with a small threshold. I am impressed by his achievements in the CAM field and very happy to continue collaboration!

Umar has been involved with SAE International journals in a number of ways: as a peer reviewer, Associate Editor, and Guest Editor for several special issues. I have found Umar to have great attention to detail, to be responsive to queries, and to be proactive and timely in handling his responsibilities by providing thoughtful, helpful peer reviews; soliciting manuscripts for special issues that he has initiated and led; handling the peer-review process as an Associate Editor and Guest Editor; and accepting or rejecting manuscripts as appropriate. Umar is enthusiastic about his responsibilities and has been very helpful in promoting SAE works to colleagues and acquaintances.

Umar is a highly-skilled AD engineer and an expert within the field of automotive autonomous software development. Umar is experienced with working in a fast-paced start-up and scale-up environment. While I worked together with Umar, I have only known him as a top professional and very dedicated person who always goes the extra mile.

Umar is a very respected individual in the automotive industry with a great multitude of knowledge in different topics but most importantly in the field of autonomous driving and autonomous vehicles. I had the opportunity to chair a We.Connect, Scale Up 360 event where Umar was a featured speaker and his broad knowledge of V2V and V2X was very impressive. Umar can tackle the most challenging questions and it was great to have him on a panel such the Automotive AI.

I have known Umar for several years now, as we have worked together on several special issues of journals in which he served as co-editor and I was one of the co-authors with prospective research results. First of all, I would like to express that Umar takes his tasks and responsibilities very seriously and tries to fulfill them to the best of his ability. In doing so, I must also express that he is very kind and flexible enough to adjust the requirements and expectations to the needs and capabilities of the team. In our limited remote interaction, his role was to edit and manage special issues of journals, for which he provided textbook examples of good performance. I can proudly say that it was a pleasure and an honor to work with Umar on a number of special issues. All of these special issues were publications in the field of automated driving, for which Umar is an undisputed expert. With his expertise in this field, as well as his interpersonal and organizational skills, he was able to manage the publication of high-quality and high-impact scientific research. In my opinion, Umar has very good skills and abilities as a mentor, team leader and a top researcher in his field. I look forward to meeting him and perhaps working with him on a joint project!

I have known Umar since his PhD study years. Since then, we have worked on a couple of projects, i.e. editing a book "Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicle: Ensuring Reliable Driverless Navigation and Control Maneuver" and also as co-editor of Special Issue for 'International Journal of Vehicle Design'. Umar is a motivated researcher and a famous expert in autonomous driving area, and I enjoy my experience working with him.

I've been co-editing two special issues in automotive journals together with Umar, and our collaboration has been great. Umar takes initiative and makes sure that everyone is onboard.

I have worked with Umar in two tenures - first when we were both researching in Autonomous Vehicle and ADAS fields with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia & PROTON Berhad, and the second one was when we were working with Moovita (Singaporean company). Umar is professionally motivated and skilful. Having him in the same team inspired the teams to push our limit. Personally, Umar is also a team-player that is both cheerful and respectful. I certainly can recommend Umar as an AV Expert based on this experience.

Umar Zakir Abdul Hamid is a very talented engineer with a deep knowledge of autonomous vehicles. In the book project entitled as "Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicle: Ensuring Reliable Driverless Navigation and Control Maneuver", which we co-edited with him, I observed that he was a very hardworking researcher with high coordination skills. It was enjoyable to work with him. He is a great continuous learner and I believe that his current success will continue to increase.

I have been collaborating with Umar the last two years in different projects, with highlights our Special Issue for 'International Journal of Vehicle Design' and the our joint special session at the flagship IEEE conference on Intelligent Transportations Systems. From our current collaboration, I have recognized Umar as a highly motivated researcher, and a perseverant and hard-working person, characteristics that I truly admire on him. He is well-known for his capabilities in the field of autonomous driving area, and I always seek for ways to collaborate with him as it is always a great experience.

During my time working with Umar, I found him to be a kind, ambitious, highly intelligent and a very helpful person. He was always smiling and always offering to help. I know very little about his field of expertise (the autonomous vehicles and the high tech), but I do know a kind and a good person when I meet one. I wish Umar nothing but well and all the amazing opportunities the universe has to offer him.

Sincerely,
Maria Sarin
Former Office Manger and co-worker at Sensible 4.

Umar Zakir Abdul Hamid is probably the best supervisor I've had in my years of studies. He's attentive, down to earth, super knowledgeable in his field, and an absolute expert in writing scientific papers. He advised me greatly in writing my bachelor thesis. He's also a great manager who knows how to balance the employee's individual wishes as well as the company's goals. With regards to his professional experience, his LinkedIn profile speaks for itself.

We both started working in Sensible 4 at early stage, developing autonomous driving systems side-by-side. Umar’s previous experience on the field, his deep devotion on making things happen -at every level- and also his warm human relations skills make him a perfect workmate and team member. I was working as a first senior project manager in the company and was also tackling many other things, which is necessary in growing start-up.

Umar took a great leap leaving his home country with his family, and moving into a different culture and climate in Finland. I’m sure it hasn’t been always easy, but he has been in good spirits. With Umar I have had many interesting discussions also about other things than worklife. But although we share many views, we didn’t always think the same, but with Umar that has never been an issue. He’s easy to talk to, and that is super important at work, solving hard problems!

In autonomous driving many aspects are new and after reaching a certain capability, or level of performance, it opens a new view on the field. That is a continous process and Umar’s agility, calmness and professionalism in this kind of environment is highly valuable. He is a person who can be trusted in tough or complex situations, and believe me, we saw plenty of those on our path.

To me Umar is a great combination of nice person with good humor, a man with hard scientific facts and sustaining drive to make things happen in real life. We had a great success together and I was happy that I had an opportunity to work with him in Sensible 4.

It’s always been a pleasure to work with Umar. H, his good mood, and exceptional laughter associated with a strong team spirit bring this positive energy that any leaders must have!

I had the honor to work with Umar for one year at Sensible 4, where he was the lead for our team. Umar is a very positive guy and active on many fronts. Firstly, he is very knowledgeable in field of autonomous vehicles, and the automotive industry in general. He follows the latest news and publications closely, shares this to his colleagues and brought the ideas into practice for the product that we are developing. As a team lead he is sympathetic, always ready to listen and to lighten up the mood, but at the same time he is supportive of new ideas and improvements to make the ways of working even better. All in all, it has been a great pleasure to work with Umar and I recommend him both as an expert and also as a very kind colleague.

Umar and I worked in the same cross-functional team at Sensible 4 Oy, he had always been supportive and provided resources necessary from Control and Planning side to help me get things done.

Umar is an excellent Team Leader. He can keep the team morale up in any situation and he always manages the experience of his team very well. It was pleasure to work with him for 1 year.

Umar has been great colleague during these four years at Sensible 4. Ambitious and always forward looking attitude, is what comes to mind to describe him. These qualities are also what makes him a very inspiring person to work with, thus, highly recommended.

Umar is an outstanding specialist and a very versatile personality. It was great to work with him in the same company, and I am glad to meet you, Umar! Спасибо за твой вклад!

Umar and I have worked at Sensible 4 together. Even though we used to work in different teams, he was consistently establishing the communication between the teams to ensure the quality. He always welcomed and encouraged the new and creative ideas. It was a pleasure to work with you Umar!

I never worked with Umar directly as I haven't worked in motion control, I know he's a nice guy who knows stuff, but seriously - just go to Google Scholar and check the name. Then check your co-worker's.

I had the pleasure working with Umar in Sensible 4. First of all, his smile brightened up the office, and secondly, he is intelligent and can explain complicated things in a way that everyone understands. That's rare and something I admire and appreciate as working in communications.

I got in contact with Umar when my team at CEVT needed guidance on GDPR compliance. Umar kindly led us through the whole process as our SME. Even though SME was a new role assigned to him on top of his main responsibilities, he provided us the quickest and most professional support that one can ask for. He is diligent in his work and trustworthy. Being as busy as he was, he always managed to review our GDPR documents in time.

Umar is also a great mentor who is never shy of sharing his experience and insights of the industry. He is always ready to offer help and full of positive energy. I cannot wait to work with him again!

I know Umar Zakir since about 2019, when we started exchanging research collaboration ideas and started engaging on a journal special issue. Interestingly, was like knowing Umar Zakir more years than that. Actually one could say that Umar Zakir could be considered my "academic grand-child" given that his PhD supervisor, Dr Hairi Zamzuri (now one of the leading authorities in self-driving /autonomous vehicles), was (many years ago) my PhD student/graduate (supervised together with the late Prof Roger Goodall).

Indeed, I had the pleasure working with Umar Zakir very closely on the special issue on MDPI Electronics journal on "Feasible, Robust and Reliable Automation and Control for Autonomous Systems". Umar Zakir led much of the activity in a highly professional way. A highly knowledgeable professional in the wider topic of future mobility (i.e. connected and autonomous vehicles), he is a young fellow yet he has already established a strong portfolio of leading activities in the area. An innovative thinker, a bright engineer, and I must say a very nice person to work with. We maintain our collaborative relationship with Umar Zakir, and I would very happily work with him again on future projects/activities.

I worked with Umar as part of the start-up Sensible 4. As part of a scaling start-up in automotive Umar was able to build valuable product offerings out of the research-led development. He has a great in-depth and hands-on knowlege of the driver assistance and autonomous driving segment and is able to communicate this at any level. Umar is a leading expert in our field and a joy to work with.

I had the pleasure of working closely with Umar on several occasions and I can highly recommend him for his expertise in autonomous vehicles' planning and control, as well as his outstanding product owning, project management, and technical skills.

Umar is an expert in his field, with a deep understanding of the entire autonomous driving stack. He was instrumental in the success of the cross-functional features we designed and managed to fruition, working effectively with teams of developers to ensure that our projects were completed on time and to the highest standard.

His ability to think strategically and lead projects from concept to completion made him a valuable asset to our team. He consistently demonstrated his ability to manage complex projects and deliver high-quality results.

In addition to his technical expertise, Umar is a pleasure to work with. He is a strong communicator and a natural collaborator, and his positive attitude and professionalism are contagious.

I highly recommend Umar for any project or opportunity that requires a skilled and experienced leader in the field of autonomous vehicles (and even robotics) planning and control.

I worked with Umar for a little over three years, of which he was my supervisor for about a year and a half. During that time I got to know him as intelligent and hard-working, but above all as a nice person you enjoy working with. His always supporting and cheering attitude made him best possible team lead one could hope for.