Dr Behnaz Sohani is a Lecturer in Robotics and Automation at 色狗导航 and a member of the Intelligent Automation Centre. She is a Chartered Engineer, a Senior Member of the IEEE, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and an IET Mentor.
Her research and teaching activities focus on robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and adaptive control of complex dynamical systems, with applications in autonomous and medical systems and a strong emphasis on addressing real-world challenges across industry and healthcare.
She holds a PhD in Robotics and Biomedical Engineering from London South Bank University, awarded in November 2020, and an MSc degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering (Robotics Engineering) from University of Tehran. Following the completion of her doctorate, she undertook postdoctoral research at London South Bank University and the University of Lincoln, contributing to several interdisciplinary research projects through the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems Research (L-CAS) and the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT).
Prior to joining 色狗导航 in July 2024, Dr Sohani served as a Lecturer in Robotics and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Lincoln from 2021 to 2024, where she developed and delivered teaching in robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, and engineering design, while contributing to a range of research and industry engagement activities. She regularly delivers invited talks and actively collaborates with academic, industrial, and international partners.
Dr Sohani has extensive experience supervising student research projects across multiple levels of higher education. To date, she has served as primary supervisor for over four PhD students, three MRes students, more than 100 undergraduate project students, and over 50 MSc students. She has also contributed to doctoral examination and quality assurance activities, serving as an External Examiner at Ulster University and as both an external and internal examiner for several PhD candidates at the University of Lincoln.
Her teaching philosophy centres on developing career-focused engineering education that equips graduates with strong technical expertise, innovation skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset to support the needs of modern industry and society. She remains actively engaged with a number of international professional and non-profit organisations, promoting collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the advancement of engineering education and research.
Dr Sohani's research focuses on robotics, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, computer vision, intelligent control systems, and autonomous technologies. Her principal research interests lie in the development and application of adaptive and robust nonlinear control methods, observer design for uncertain dynamical systems, and intelligent decision-making frameworks for complex engineering systems. Her work addresses challenges arising from model uncertainties, external disturbances, and nonlinearities, with the aim of improving system stability, resilience, safety, and performance.
She has developed strong expertise in adaptive and robust control strategies, intelligent sensing, computer vision, AI-driven systems, and robotic technologies, with applications spanning autonomous systems, intelligent transportation systems, medical and diagnostic robotics, imaging systems, soft robotics, and rehabilitation technologies. A particular focus of her research is the integration of control engineering, machine learning, and computational intelligence to enable autonomous systems capable of learning, adapting, and operating effectively in dynamic and uncertain environments.
Her research interests encompass adaptive and robust nonlinear control, observer design for uncertain dynamical systems, intelligent decision-making, and autonomous systems. Her work explores human-inspired cognitive control for next-generation robotics, integrating principles from human perception, cognition, and motor control to develop adaptive, resilient, and intelligent autonomous technologies. She also investigates advanced control, optimisation, and decision-making frameworks for intelligent transportation systems, vehicle dynamics, connected and autonomous mobility, smart infrastructure, and renewable energy systems. Her research has resulted in numerous publications in leading international journals and conference proceedings.
In healthcare, her research investigates the development of advanced robotic, sensing, and intelligent technologies for medical, surgical, and rehabilitation applications. This includes surgical and diagnostic robotic systems, soft robotics, wearable and embedded sensor technologies, human movement analysis, rehabilitation robotics, and assistive technologies for post-stroke recovery, musculoskeletal injury rehabilitation, sports performance, and patient monitoring. Her work combines robotics, artificial intelligence, intelligent sensing, computer vision, and biomechanical modelling to develop safe, adaptive, and patient-centred technologies that enhance clinical decision-making, improve patient outcomes, and support the future of healthcare delivery.
Dr Sohani has established a strong interdisciplinary research profile spanning robotics, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, intelligent control, and emerging digital technologies. Her research has been published extensively in leading peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. She has successfully supervised PhD, Master’s by Research (MRes), MSc, and undergraduate research projects in areas including robotics, automation, intelligent systems, computer vision, image and signal processing, sensing technologies, control engineering, data-driven modelling, autonomous systems, and related transformational technologies. She will assist with both proposal development and/or proposal consolidation to ensure your pursuit of higher education is smooth and on track from the outset.
Grants and Contracts
- British Council - International Science Partnerships Fund Research Collaborations Grant - 2025
- Productivity Programme for Greater Lincolnshire (Productivity Voucher Application) - University of Lincoln 2023
- Research Grants: The Royal Society (£70K) - The Royal Society 2022
- Productivity Programme for Greater Lincolnshire (Productivity Voucher Application) - University of Lincoln 2021
- Recipient Knowledge Exchange Voucher scholarship - London South Bank University Enterprise Centre 2020
- Access to Innovation (A2i) scope of works - London South Bank University Enterprise Centre 2019
Teaching responsibilities
- WSP417 - Industry 5.0 and Robotic Challenges (Module Leader)
- WSC104 - Robotics and Control (Module Leader)
- WSC911 - Industrial Machine Vision (Module Leader)
- WSD911 - Industrial Machine Vision with AI (Module Leader)
- WSC334 - Deployment of Machine Learning Inference Models in loT Devices
- WSC500 Individual Project
- WSD500 Advanced Individual Project
Administrative responsibilities
- Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS) mentor for IET
- Personal tutor for UG students
- Industrial placement student supervisor
Outreach
- STEM ambassador
Collaborators
- Imperial College London
- University of Sheffield
- University Of Surrey
- University of Lincoln
- London South Bank University
- UK National Health Service – Pilgrim Hospital
- National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC)
- Queen's Medical Centre (QMC), Nottingham
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Leicester Royal Infirmary