Biography

I am a researcher at the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies and a researcher at the Institute of Competitiveness of the University of Žilina – focusing, in both capacities, on the area of machine learning. In addition, I am currently coordinating the Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence of the University of Žilina (LUIZA).

Interests
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Machine Learning
  • Deep Learning
  • Multi-modal Learning
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • Data Analysis
Education
  • PhD. in Automation, 2014

    University of Žilina

  • Master's Degree (Ing.) in Automation, 2011

    University of Žilina

  • Bachelor's Degree (Bc.) in Automation, 2009

    University of Žilina

Skills

Python

pytorch, scikit-learn, pandas, seaborn, numpy, pyro, …

AI & ML

deep learning; reinforcement learning; metaheuristics; decision trees; …

Programming

Python, C++, C, PHP, Matlab, JavaScript, …

Markup

LaTeX, HTML, CSS, XML, Markdown, …

SCM

git, svn, hg, …

OSes

Windows, Linux

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies
Researcher – Expert
February 2023 – Present Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • Language models and multi-modal learning;
  • DisAI: Improving scientific excellence and creativity in combating disinformation with artificial intelligence and language technologies. HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03-01 - Twinning: 101079164;
  • Commercial projects;
 
 
 
 
 
Institute of Competitiveness and Innovations, University of Žilina
Researcher
January 2017 – Present Žilina, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • KEGA 008ŽU-4/2021: Integrated Teaching for Artificial Intelligence Methods at the University of Žilina.
  • Innovative autonomous logistic vehicle, NFP313010P904.
  • Research in the area of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
  • VEGA 1/0938/16: An adaptive system of internal logistics (ASIL).
 
 
 
 
 
Department of Control and Information Systems, University of Žilina
Associate Professor
July 2021 – January 2023 Žilina, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • Development project 002ZU-2-1-2021: Hybrid Education in the area of artificial intelligence, machine learning and cybernetics at UNIZA;
 
 
 
 
 
Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI)
Visiting Researcher
June 2024 – June 2024 Saarbrücken, Germany
A 2-week staff exchange at DFKI Saarbrücken, working on the multi-lingual component of Horizon Europe project DisAI (https://disai.eu): “Improving scientific excellence of KInIT in AI and language technologies to fight disinformation”.
 
 
 
 
 
University of Strathclyde
Secondee
September 2019 – December 2019 Glasgow, UK
A 3-month research secondment; H2020 project SENSIBLE. Research in deep learning and binary classification of parking spaces using synthetic data.
 
 
 
 
 
University of California, Berkeley
Visiting Scholar
September 2018 – February 2019 Berkeley, California, USA

A 6-month research stay at the UCB. Participation in VEHICAL:

  • BAIR (Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research) laboratory;
  • HART (Human-Assistive Robotic Technologies) laboratory.

Human driver modeling, psychoacoustic aspects of driving, deep reinforcement learning for decreasing psychoacoustic annoyance.

 
 
 
 
 
Tongji University
Secondee
February 2018 – March 2018 Shanghai, China
A 2-month research secondment; H2020 project SENSIBLE. Research in deep learning, binary classification of parking spaces, visual detection of vehicles in paring lots, usage of imperfectly annotated data, …
 
 
 
 
 
Department of Control and Information Systems, University of Žilina
Researcher
August 2014 – June 2021 Žilina, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • KEGA 014ŽU-4 / 2018: Broadening the content in a field of study with respect to the current requirements of the industry as regards artificial intelligence methods and IT (deputy project leader).
  • H2020-MSCA-RISE-2016, 734331: SENSIBLE – SENSors and Intelligence in BuiLt Environment.
  • KEGA 038ŽU-4 / 2017: Laboratory methods of teaching automatic identification and localization using radio-frequency identification technology.
  • APVV-16-0006: Automated robotic assembly cell as an instrument of concept Industry 4.0 (project coordinator for the University of Žilina).
  • KEGA 010ŽU-4 / 2013: Modernization of didactic equipment and teaching methods with a focus on the area of robotics.
  • VEGA 1 / 0453 / 12 Study of interactions of a motor vehicle, traffic flow and road.
 
 
 
 
 
University Science Park, University of Žilina
Researcher
September 2014 – December 2016 Žilina, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • The University Science Park of the University of Žilina. ITMS 26220220184.
 
 
 
 
 
Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence of the University of Žilina (LUIZA)
Coordinator
April 2019 – Present Žilina, Slovak Republic
 
 
 
 
 
University of Patras
PhD. Erasmus
April 2013 – June 2013 Patras, Greece
 
 
 
 
 
Institute of Competitiveness and Innovations, University of Žilina
Student Researcher
September 2006 – August 2014 Žilina, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • Development of a voice control system.
  • VMROS – Development of modular mobile robotic systems, investigator of activity 2.1 “Design and optimization of modular robotic configurations in virtual reality”.
  • ZATIPS – Competence Center for Knowledge technology innovation of production systems in industry and services. ITMS: 26220220155.
 
 
 
 
 
Department of Control and Information Systems, University of Žilina
PhD. Student
September 2011 – August 2014 Žilina, Slovak Republic

Activities:

  • KEGA 010ŽU-4 / 2013: Modernization of didactic equipment and teaching methods with a focus on the area of robotics.
  • VEGA 1 / 0453 / 12 Study of interactions of a motor vehicle, traffic flow and road.
  • Centre of excellence for systems and services of intelligent transport. University of Žilina. ITMS 26220120028, ITMS 26220120050.
  • New methods of measuring physical dynamic parameters and interactions of motor vehicles, in cooperation with Betamont, s.r.o. ITMS: 26220220089.
  • Activity 1.3 Centre of telematic systems at the University of Žilina, project Research Center of Traffic Telematics. Coordinator: BETAMONT s.r.o. ITMS: 26220220169.

Teaching

lectures, seminars and labs

University of Žilina

  • Machine Learning – lectures, seminars (Summer ‘2023).
  • Artificial Intelligence 1 – labs and selected lectures (Summer ‘2016 – ‘2022).
  • Computer Vision – lectures, labs, projects (Winter ‘2022); lectures + projects (Winter ‘2023).
  • Fundaments of Data Analysis – lectures, seminars (Winter ‘2022).
  • Artificial Intelligence – labs (Winter ‘2022).
  • Artificial Intelligence 2 – labs (Winter ‘2016, ‘2017).
  • Artificial Intelligence – seminars and labs (Summer ‘2011 – ‘2015).
  • Expert Systems – labs (Winter ‘2011 – ‘2015).

Erasmus

  • Intro to AI, deep learning, embeddings and face clustering (Summer ‘2019).
  • Deep learning, reinforcement learning (Summer ‘2015, ‘2017).

Textbooks

  • Gregor, M. Umelá inteligencia 1 [Artificial Intelligence 1]. Žilina: CEIT, a.s., 2014. ISBN 978-80-971684-1-4;
  • Gregor, M. – Nemec, D. – Hruboš, M. – Spalek, J. Umelá inteligencia 2: Hlboké učenie [Artificial Intelligence 2]. CEIT, a.s., 2017. ISBN 978-80-89865-03-1;
  • Gregor, M. – Hruboš, M. – Nemec, D. Umelá inteligencia, skriptá I: Návody na vybrané cvičenia [Artificial Intelligence, Lecture Notes I]. CEIT, a.s., 2017. ISBN 978-80-89865-02-4;
  • Gregor, M. – Janota, A. – Hruboš, M. Kompendium vybraných metód umelej inteligencie. EDIS: Vydavateľstvo Žilinskej univerzity, 2019.

Students

thesis supervisor, interns, mentoring, …

Interns

@KInIT

  • Pavol Kebis (2024):
    Graduate of the Commenius University in Bratislava and University of Oxford, interning at KInIT; Topic: Efficient adaptation of large language models to low-resource languages.

  • Kristína Sásiková (2024):
    Student of the Commenius University in Bratislava participating in the DisAI Replication Challenge; Topic: Replicating paper Scaling Sentence Embeddings with Large Language Models.

  • Michael Pavlík (2023):
    Intern from Tilburg University; Topics: unsupervised reasoning and self-correction in LLMs.

@UNIZA

  • Gaétan Becker (2022):
    Intern from Télécom SudParis. Topics: Deep learning architectures for predicting a quantity from other data during sensor outage.

  • Sylvain Courty (2019):
    Intern from Université d’Angers. Topics: Probabilistic generation of synthetic data for visual object detection.

  • Daniel Adamkovič (2017–2018):
    Intern from UNIZA. Topics: Machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, …

More...

Undergrads @UNIZA

  • Erik Dobeš (2021 / 2022):
    BSc. thesis: Controlling a balancing robot using artificial intelligence methods (In Slovak: Riadenie balansujúceho robota s podporou metód umelej inteligencie).

  • Andrej Kováč (2018 / 2019):
    BSc. thesis: Scraping Information from the Web and Summarizing it in a Formatted Output (In Slovak: Scraping informácií z web-u a ich sumarizácia vo formátovanom výstupe).

  • Martin Vít (2017 / 2018):
    BSc. thesis: Implementation of Artificial Players for 2048 (In Slovak: Implementácia umelých hráčov pre hru 2048).

  • Lukáš Slováček (2015 / 2016):
    BSc. thesis: Chatbot Systems (In Slovak: Chatbot systémy).

Graduates @UNIZA

  • Filip Kalus (2022 / 2023):
    MSc. thesis: Traffic Signal Control using Deep Reinforcement Learning Methods (In Slovak: Riadenie dopravy pomocou metód hlbokého učenia s odmenou).

  • Martin Vít (2019 / 2020):
    MSc. thesis: An Interface for Speech Recognition Using Deep Learning (In Slovak: Rozhranie pre rozpoznávanie reči pomocou metód hlbokého učenia).

  • Martin Vojtyla (2018 / 2019):
    MSc. thesis: Solving Scheduling Problems using MiniZinc (In Slovak: Riešenie rozvrhovacích problémov pomocou nástroja MiniZinc).

  • Lukáš Slováček (2017 / 2018):
    MSc. thesis: Simulation of Traffic and its Control using SUMO (In Slovak: Simulácia dopravy a jej riadenia pomocou nástroja SUMO).

  • Matej Lokaj (2017 / 2018):
    MSc. thesis: Grammar Checking based on Recurrent Neural Networks (In Slovak: Kontrola pravopisu na báze rekurentných neurónových sietí).

  • Jakub Hanes (2016 / 2017):
    MSc. thesis: Reinforcement Learning (In Slovak: Učenie s odmenou).

  • Juraj Kindernay (2016 / 2017):
    MSc. thesis: Rebuilding of the graphical user interface for the Fuzzylite library (In Slovak: Prestavba grafického užívateľského rozhrania pre knižnicu Fuzzylite).

  • Dávid Bujňák (2015 / 2016):
    MSc. thesis: Implementation and Solution of a Planning Problem (In Slovak: Implementácia a riešenie plánovacieho problému).

  • Michal Jombík (2013 / 2014):
    MSc. thesis: Chatbot Systems (In Slovak: Chatbot systémy).

  • Michal Kubica (2017 / 2018):
    MSc. thesis: A Robotic Workplace for Washing Machine Assembly (In Slovak: Robotizované pracovisko montáže automatickej práčky). Co-advisor: Ing. Anton Tomáš.

  • Vladimír Cingel (2015 / 2016):
    MSc. thesis: Visualization and Control of a Virtual Industrial Robot (In Slovak: Vizualizácia a riadenie virtuálneho priemyselného robota). Co-advisor: Ing. Tomáš Michulek, PhD.

  • Lukáš Hrčka (2015 / 2016):
    MSc. thesis: A Monitoring System for an Automated Industrial Logistic System (In Slovak: Monitorovací systém autonómnej podnikovej logistiky). Co-advisor: Ing. Tomáš Michulek, PhD.

  • Miloš Kapišovský (2015 / 2016):
    MSc. thesis: Control of an Industrial Robot using a PLC Controller (In Slovak: Riadenie priemyselného robota prostredníctvom PLC automatu). Co-advisor: Ing. Peter Marčan.

Service

service to the community, committees, events, memberships, …

Memberships

  • 2023: Honorary member of the National Centre of Robotics;
  • 2023: Honorary member of the Department of Control and Information Systems, University of Žilina;
  • 2021: Member of the executive board of association AI4SK;

Service

  • 2019: Founding of the Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence of the University of Žilina (LUIZA);
  • 2019: Cooperation on the preparation of the Slovak national strategy for artificial intelligence with Slovak.AI
  • 2019—… Co-organizing the annual Machine Learning Summer School at the University of Žilina;
  • 2014—… Reviewer: Applied Soft Computing, Computing and Informatics, ICANN, ELEKTRO, TRANSCOM, C&I, …

Theses

my qualification theses

PhD. Thesis: Control System of an Autonomous Robot for Solving Multi-objective Tasks
Supervisor: prof. Ing. Juraj Spalek, PhD.

The thesis proposes multiple approaches that improve the speed of learning in the context of reinforcement learning. It shows multiple ways in which prior knowledge can be utilized. It considers both external objectives and intrinsic motivational signals in a single multi-objective motivational system.
MSc Thesis: Applications of Artificial Intelligence Methods to Design and Control of Robotic Systems
Supervisor: prof. Ing. Juraj Spalek, PhD.

The thesis deals with the application of artificial intelligence methods – especially of genetic algorithms and genetic programming – to design and control of robotic systems. It proposes several adaptive mechanisms and shows in what ways these improve upon vanilla genetic programming.
BSc Thesis: Automatic Speech Recognition System
Supervisor: Ing. Tomáš Michulek, PhD.

The thesis deals with automatic speech recognition systems. It develops and verifies a system for recognition of isolated speech units, based on artificial neural networks.

Contact