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Curriculum vitae

Contact Information

Name Islam Mansour
Email islam@imansour.net
Location Munich, Germany
Website https://imansour.net

Professional Summary

Postdoctoral researcher specialising in SAR/InSAR forest height and biomass retrieval via hybrid AI-physical modelling, with a peer-reviewed publication record spanning TanDEM-X, GEDI synergy, and InSAR bias correction. ESA MAAP and ESA POLinSAR Workshop experience.

Education

  • 2021 – 2025

    Zurich, Switzerland

    PhD in Chair of Earth Observation and Remote Sensing

    ETH Zurich

    • Thesis: "Hybrid AI–Physical Modeling in Interferometric SAR: Bridging Data-Driven and Physics-Based Approaches for Enhanced Parameter Retrieval"
    • Main supervisor: Prof. Dr. Irena Hajnsek
    • Co-advisors: Dr. Kostas Papathanassiou (PolInSAR / tomographic SAR), Dr. Ronny Hänsch (Machine Learning), Dr. Georg Fischer (Cryosphere application)
  • 2018 – 2021

    Munich, Germany

    MSc in ESPACE — Earth Oriented Space Science and Technology

    Technical University of Munich

    • Thesis: "Analysis of Multi-Frequency Polarimetric SAR Data over Permafrost Regions"
    • Specialization: Earth System Science from Space
    • Advisors: Dr. Giuseppe Parrella, Prof. Irena Hajnsek, Prof. Michael Eineder
  • 2014 – 2017

    Istanbul, Turkey

    BSc in Aerospace Engineering

    Istanbul Technical University

    • GPA: 3.38/4.0 — among the top 5% of the class

Experience

  • Apr 2025 – Present

    Munich, Germany

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    Universität der Bundeswehr München (UniBw)

    • Developing AI-based EO exploitation methods for SAR and optical data, adapting large-scale vision foundation models via transfer learning for operational geoinformation products
    • Built a hybrid ship detection and segmentation system combining YOLO11 and SAM2 for vessel monitoring in Sentinel-1 SAR imagery
    • Developing a pipeline to generate OpenStreetMap-style vector maps from very-high-resolution optical imagery
  • Mar 2021 – Mar 2025

    Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

    PhD Researcher

    Microwaves and Radar Institute, German Aerospace Center (DLR)

    • Developed hybrid AI-physical models combining data-driven learning with electromagnetic scattering models for forest height retrieval from TanDEM-X InSAR, validated over tropical biomes (Gabon, Amazon) and noted as relevant to ESA's Biomass mission
    • Developed a hybrid AI-physical method to correct penetration bias in X-band InSAR DEMs over the Greenland Ice Sheet
    • Combined TanDEM-X interferometric coherence with GEDI lidar waveforms to map forest height and structure dynamics across the Brazilian Amazon (12,000+ TanDEM-X scenes, 250M+ GEDI measurements)
    • Co-developed and delivered the DLR/ESA PolInSAR Training Course, designing and deploying its backend infrastructure on ESA's MAAP platform (Docker, Kubernetes)
    • Set up end-to-end processing of 40,000+ TanDEM-X scenes for global forest height mapping with the University of Maryland and NASA's Carbon Monitoring System
    • Elected representative, DLR PhD Students' Council (2021–2022); represented DLR in the Helmholtz Juniors network
  • Jan 2020 – Jul 2020

    Munich, Germany

    Research Assistant

    Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy (IAPG), TUM

    • Developed a Simulink-based satellite drag model for orbital lifetime and decay estimation
  • Jun 2019 – Aug 2019

    Munich, Germany

    Machine Learning Engineer

    TUM & Airbus Defence and Space GmbH

    • Developed machine learning algorithms for 3D matching of TerraSAR-X SAR imagery with mobile LiDAR point clouds, for ground-control-point georeferencing of pole-like structures
  • May 2019 – Aug 2019

    Munich, Germany

    EO Applications Intern

    Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH

    • Built operational algorithms for multi-spectral image segmentation and land-cover classification, integrating optical imagery with field reference data
  • Jul 2017 – Jan 2019

    Budapest, Hungary

    System & Software Engineer

    Bosch

    • Developed software for automated driving functions and system modelling
    • Led model testing automation in Simulink, interfacing with validation and safety teams

Selected Publications

Honors & Awards

  • 2021

    DLR-DAAD Research Fellowship

    DLR / DAAD

  • 2017

    Honor List

    Istanbul Technical University

    • Among the top 5% in the class
  • 2016

    1st place, Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW)

    Institute of Space Systems (IRS), University of Stuttgart

  • 2015

    Erasmus+ Scholarship

    Istanbul Technical University

  • 2012

    Certificate of Appreciation

    Third Annual Cairo Science Festival, American University in Cairo

Memberships

Peer Review

IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR)IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (GRSL)IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (TGRS)NeurocomputingIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (JSTARS)

Skills

SAR, InSAR & Forest/Biomass Retrieval: Forest height and structure retrieval from TanDEM-X X-band InSAR; model-based inversion spanning X- to P-band frequencies; PolInSAR/tomographic SAR; multi-frequency polarimetric SAR. Tools — SNAP, ASF MapReady, GDAL, rasterio.
Multi-Mission Data Synergy: TanDEM-X + GEDI lidar synergy for forest structure/height mapping at continental scale; forest structure change characterisation across TanDEM-X's two global coverage epochs.
Machine Learning for EO: Physics-informed ML — neural networks fused with electromagnetic scattering models for geophysical parameter retrieval (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras). Foundation models — transfer learning and adaptation of large-scale vision foundation models (SAM2, YOLO11) to SAR and optical remote sensing.
ESA Platform & Research Community: Designed and deployed backend infrastructure (Docker, Kubernetes) for the DLR/ESA PolInSAR Training Course on ESA's MAAP platform through its 8th (now 10th) edition. Presented at the ESA POLinSAR Workshop (2023).
Infrastructure & Engineering: HPC (SLURM), scalable storage (HDF5, Zarr, NetCDF), containerised deployment (Docker, Kubernetes). Programming — Python (NumPy, Pandas, scikit-learn, SciPy, GeoPandas, rasterio), C++, MATLAB/Simulink, Bash, SQL/PostgreSQL.
Languages: English (fluent, working language throughout PhD and international collaborations), German (working proficiency), Arabic (native).

Interests

Amateur Astronomer Volunteer: TUM, Munich (2019-2022) — Upgraded observatory equipment and performed astrophotography of deep-sky objects.
Rocket Team Member: ITU Rocket Team, Istanbul Technical University (2015-2016) — Designed a solid rocket as part of the team for the Intercollegiate Engineering Competition.
Science Communication Volunteer: American University in Cairo (2011-2012) — Organised science outreach events such as Family Science Days, stargazing nights, and the Cairo Science Festival.
Academic Division Head: K-Vector Foundation, Cairo University (2011-2012) — Led workshops and training for engineering students.