Hello! I am Dr. Muhammad Waseem, a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Oak-Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII). My research includes the modeling and control of Complex Systems.

Research interests:

My research focuses on the automation and control of complex systems. I explore the application of generative AI in production planning and control, aiming to enhance adaptability and efficiency in manufacturing environments. I have hands-on experience in modeling and controlling smart manufacturing systems, and I actively apply machine learning and deep reinforcement learning techniques to develop intelligent, data-driven solutions for industrial challenges.

News:

• January ‘26: I am actively looking for strong PhD candidates with background in manufacturing systems and control and a solid skills in programming (python).
• January ‘26: Happy New Year! Defended my PhD dissertation last December and joined UT Knoxville as a Research Assistant Professor.
• August ‘25: Done with my summer internship at GM. It was a wonderful experience working on the General Assembly lines. Some sota work is along the way to be published soon. Stay tuned!
• June ‘25: Thanks to my co-authors for presenting our work at the NAMRC 53.
• June ‘25: Alhamdulillah! we are blessed with a beautiful baby boy
• May ‘25: I’m happy to join the Materials and Manufacturing Research team at General Motors as a Research intern
• April ‘25: Thanks to Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering for reconginizing my work and awarding me with the Graduate Student Research Award
• April ‘25: Happy to share that I have received UVA Link Lab Distinguished Research Award
• March ‘25: Defended my Ph.D. Proposal! ✅⏳
• Feb ‘25: Our work from 2024 internship at GM got accepted to NAMRC 53’ and fast-tracked to Journal of Manufacturing Systems and shorlisted for Student Research Presentation Competition.
• Aug ‘24: Done with the internship. It was a great experience to work on the battery production lines. I was able to develop a machine learning based model for the throughput estimation and improvement
• Jun ‘24: Attended the 52nd North American Manufacturing Research, NAMRC 52 conference at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. I presented our work on the modelling of Perishable batch manufacturing
• May ‘24: I’m happy to join the Materials and Manufacturing Research team at General Motors as a Research intern
• Mar ‘24: Got my 3rd paper accepted in the Journal of Manufacturing systems. You can find the paper here
• Aug ‘23: Passed my Ph.D. Qualifying Exam! ✅⏳
• July ‘23: “Adaptive Mobile Robot Scheduling in Multi-product Flexible Manufacturing Systems Using Reinforcement Learning” accepted in ASME-JMSE
• January ‘23: “Dynamic Modelling and Analysis of Multi-product Flexible Production Line” accepted in IJCIM

Publications:

1. “Machine Learning-Enhanced Digital Twins for Predictive Analytics in Battery Pack Assembly”: Muhammad Waseem, Changbai Tan, Seog-Chan Oh, Jorge Arinez, and Qing Chang, In Journal of Manufacturing Systems

2. “Integrated energy optimization in manufacturing through multiagent deep reinforcement learning: Holistic control of manufacturing, microgrid systems, and battery storage”: Muhammad Waseem, Mihitha Sarinda Maithripala, Qing Chang, and Zongli Lin, In ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering

3. “Demand-Driven Hierarchical Integrated Planning-Scheduling Control for a Mobile Robot-Operated Flexible Smart Manufacturing System”: Chen Li, Kshitij Bhatta, Muhammad Waseem, and Qing Chang, In Journal of Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing

4. “Dynamic modelling and real-time performance analysis of multiproduct batch manufacturing systems with perishable products”: Kshitij Bhatta, Muhammad Waseem, Chen Li and Qing Chang, In Manufacturing Letters (Presented at NAMRC 52)

5. “Can Pre-trained LLMs be used as out-of-the-box bottleneck detectors? An explorative study”: Chen Li, Kshitij Bhatta, Muhammad Waseem, Jorge Arinez and Qing Chang, Presented at NAMRC 53

6. “From Nash Q-learning to nash-MADDPG: Advancements in multiagent control for multiproduct flexible manufacturing systems”: Muhammad Waseem, and Qing Chang, In Journal of Manufacturing Systems

7. “Adaptive Mobile Robot Scheduling in Multiproduct Flexible Manufacturing Systems Using Reinforcement Learning”: Muhammad Waseem, and Qing Chang, In Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering

9. “Dynamic modeling and analysis of multi-product flexible production line”: Muhammad Waseem, Chen Li, and, Qing Chang, In International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing

10. “Multi-response optimization of tensile creep behavior of PLA 3D printed parts using categorical response surface methodology”: Muhammad Waseem, Bashir Salah, Tufail Habib, Waqas Saleem, Muhammad Abas, Razaullah Khan, and Usman Ghani, In Polymers MDPI

11. “Optimisation of tensile and compressive behaviour of PLA 3D printed parts using categorical response surface methodology”: Muhammad Waseem, Tufail Habib, Usman Ghani, Muhammad Abas, Qazi Muhammad Usman Jan, and Muhammad Alamzaib Khan, In International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering

12. “Manufacturing productivity analysis by applying overall equipment effectiveness metric in a pharmaceutical industry”: Muhammad Zubair, Shahid Maqsood, Tufail Habib, Qazi Muhammad Usman Jan, Uroosa Nadir, Muhammad Waseem, and Qazi Muhammad Yaseen, In Cogent Engineering

13. “Productivity enhancement at molding compound manufacturing plant by applying time and motion analysis”: Muhammad Waseem , Usman Ghani, Tufail Habib, Sahar Noor, and Tauseef Khan, In Mehran University Research Journal Of Engineering & Technology

14. “Productivity enhancement with material handling system design and human factors analysis-a case study”: Muhammad Waseem, Usman Ghani, Tufail Habib, and Sahar Noor, In Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering & Technology

15. “Excess noise reduction with ear protector applying mathematical algorithm: A case of medium density fiber industry”: Sohail Khan, Ishrat Noor, Tufail Habib, and Muhammad Waseem In Noise & Vibration Worldwide