Bastian Pfleging is Full Professor for Ubiquitous Computing and Smart Systems at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. With a background in computer science, his expertise is in the fields of human-computer interaction, ubiquitous systems, multimodal interaction, natural user interfaces, and specifically automotive user interfaces. The goal of his research is to understand how ubiquitous computing systems can be used to support users with their tasks and activities while keeping the user in the loop and in control. Due to the rise of automation and autonomous systems, this poses an increasing challenge and the question is how to best design systems where user and computer collaborate.

One focus area is related to intelligent and connected mobility as a specific application context of digital assistance and automation. In this field, his group works on topics related to different modes of transportation. In the subfield of automated driving, the team investigates how users will interact as passengers of automated vehicles and how novel concepts for the interior can support non-driving-related activities. In addition, the interaction between automated vehicles and other road users, e.g. through external human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) is another core research field. Moreover, in their SteigtUM! project the team investigates how to design and deploy a rental system for cargo bikes. 

Prior to his current appointment at TUBAF, Bastian was Assistant Professor for Interactive Future Mobility at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, Netherlands), deputy professor for Human-Computer Interaction and Cognitive Systems at the University of Stuttgart (Germany), and Research Associate at LMU Munich (Germany). He holds a diploma in Applied Computer Science from TU Dortmund (Germany) and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Stuttgart (Germany). Besides his academic career, Bastian worked at the BMW Technology Office (California, USA) and at DB Autozug GmbH (Dortmund, Germany).

Bastian Pfleging is steering committee member of the AutomotiveUI conference series and serves and served the scientific community in different chair roles at various conferences such as General Co-Chair for AutomotiveUI 2023, Courses Chair for CHI '23 and '24, as well as different roles for the following conferences: CHI ‘19-24 (associate chair, subcommittee on user experience and usability), Mensch und Computer ’22 (technical program chair) /  ’21 (program chair) / ’19 (demo chair), PerDis’19 (demo chair), UIST ’18 (treasurer), AutomotiveUI ’17 (program chair), AutomotiveUI ’15 and 16’ (work-in-progress and interactive demo chair). He is also member in program committees of HCI-related scientific conferences and serves as a reviewer and guest editor for various conferences, journals, and magazines.