Sara Mahmoud

About Me

AI Specialist with 14+ Years in Academia & Industry

I am a Senior AI & Data Science Specialist with a PhD in AI systems design for self-driving cars. I have extensive experience in both academia and industry, translating cutting-edge research into practical business applications.

At Combine, I lead the design and deployment of state-of-the-art AI initiatives. As an AI Course Trainer, I've developed executive AI training programs for management and leadership. At Volvo Cars, I spearheaded the development of a machine learning-based driver understanding system to enhance vehicle safety through advanced driver state analysis.

Technical Skills

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence

Cognitive Systems

Python

Java

C++

Cloud Computing

R&D

Professional Experience

February 2025 — Present

AI Agents Specialist

Combine Control Systems

Proposed, designed, and implemented a state-of-the-art AI roadmap tailored to Combine's business application needs
Built AI agents for system guidance using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), enhancing contextual response capabilities
Designed and implemented an AI-driven automation workflow using n8n to generate and publish daily LinkedIn blog posts. View Haibara's Posts

June 2024 — February 2025

Course Designer & Trainer

Combine Control Systems

Designed and delivered training programs focused on leveraging AI and data-driven decision-making for leadership roles
Utilized interactive techniques to enhance understanding of complex technical concepts
Developed a new training module that significantly improved leaders' knowledge and performance in AI and data-driven decision-making

January 2023 — June 2024

Data Scientist and Developer

Volvo Cars

Led the design and implementation of machine learning-based driver attention monitoring systems within the Driver Understanding System (DUS) project
Proposed and implemented mental model feature that creates a representation of the driver's state, behavior and belief enabling proactive safety interventions
Managed project timelines and deliverables, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives

September 2017 — December 2022

Doctoral Researcher

University of Skövde

Conducted in-depth research in Artificial Cognitive Systems, focusing on developing innovative AI solutions and cognitive architectures for self-driving cars
Collaborated with international research teams on the EU Horizon 2020 project, Dreams4Cars
Published extensively, earning recognition for research methodology and results

August 2014 — June 2016

Research Assistant

UAE University

Pioneered research on UAV softwarization architecture, developing a cloud-based platform for virtualizing drone resources
Implemented a UAV-Cloud middleware system enabling multi-drone collaboration, contributing to scientific publications
Showcased expertise in cloud services and IoT through innovative research

September 2011 — September 2013

Software Research Engineer

University of Khartoum

Led the development of cost-effective CubeSat subsystems, including innovative satellite architecture that significantly reduced costs from $60K to $3K while maintaining performance
Designed critical components and created widely-adopted satellite decoder software
Demonstrated strong project management and software engineering skills in space technology projects

Education

PhD in Informatics

University of Skövde September 2017 — December 2022

Dissertation: "Cognitively Inspired Design: Rethink the wheel for self-driving cars"

Master of Science in Software Engineering

UAE University September 2013 — August 2015

Thesis: "UAV-Cloud: a platform for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) resources"

BSc (Honors) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering

University of Khartoum November 2006 — July 2011

Thesis: "Cube-Satellite Telemetry Decoder Software"

Selected Publications

How to train a self-driving vehicle: On the added value (or lack thereof) of curriculum learning and replay buffers

Mahmoud, Sara, et al.

Frontiers in artificial intelligence 6 (2023): 1098982.

View Publication

Where to from here? On the future development of autonomous vehicles from a cognitive systems perspective

Mahmoud, Sara, et al.

Cognitive Systems Research 76 (2022): 63-77.

View Publication

Cognitively-inspired episodic imagination for self-driving vehicles

Mahmoud, Sara, Henrik Svensson, and Serge Thill.

TCV2019: Towards Cognitive Vehicles: perception, learning and decision making under real-world constraints. Workshop held as part of the 2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2019).

View Publication