MARC Second Offsite Meeting-Kick off 2025

13/2/2025

MARC's second offsite meeting took place yesterday at the Plaza Hotel in Västerås, bringing together key stakeholders—including the management team, the Scientific Advisory Board, and industrial partners—to review progress across its three research directions. Held four times a year, these meetings serve as a crucial platform for collaboration and strategic alignment.

The meeting was attended by the MARC team, along with representatives from the Scientific Advisory Board and industry. Riikka Virkkunen represented the Scientific Advisory Board, while Anna Bird from MITC, Anna Wenemark from Alfa Laval, Carlo Vitucci from Ericsson, Ulf Håkansson from Skanska, and Åsa Nordin from Robotdalen participated as key industry partners. Their presence underscored the importance of close collaboration between academia and industry in advancing MARC’s research initiatives.

Setting the tone for the meeting, MARC Director Thomas introduced new members who will contribute to the research efforts. Edoardo Tinto, a visiting PhD student from the University of Padova in Italy, will focus on investigating the orchestration of migrating computations within Research Area 2. Meanwhile, Ludvig Svedlund, a PhD student from Chalmers, will work on demonstrator development in Research Area 1. The meeting also highlighted an upcoming academic initiative, as Visiting Professor Tommaso Cucinotta will be delivering the PhD course "Fundamentals of Real-Time & High-Performance Computing on Linux" this month.

The discussions featured insightful research presentations, where MARC researchers showcased their latest technical advancements. Mohammad Ashjaei presented his work on software application offloading to edge-cloud computing, while Mojtaba Kaheni explored cybersecurity and anomaly detection in cyber-physical systems. Branko Miloradović shared his research on robust online epistemic replanning for multi-robot missions, sparking valuable discussions among attendees.

Each research leader provided updates on their respective areas, outlining key milestones and preliminary business use cases while refining ongoing study plans. The meeting also highlighted MARC’s growing contributions to education, with more than eleven bachelor’s and master’s theses currently in progress and over ten affiliated projects in application. The research output remains strong, with four publications already accepted and six more under review.

Last but not least, in the communication workshop led by Communication Officer Yi Wei. all participants shared their thoughts about how to build the MARC brand with their contributions.

With ongoing research, strong industry collaboration, and a commitment to academic excellence, MARC continues to make significant strides in advancing cutting-edge technology. The meeting served as a testament to the center’s dedication to fostering innovation and strengthening partnerships across academia and industry.