Biography

I have been leading and conducting transdisciplinary research for 20 years in collaboration with industry and government including defence. My multidisciplinary education in areas of science, engineering, and mathematics has allowed me to work across sectors such as manufacturing, transportation, marine technology, aerospace, energy and resources, defence, econometrics, operations research, robotics and automation, business, education, and agriculture.

I currently work at Boeing Research & Technology - Australia, where I lead the Autonomous Systems Team. Our team is working on exciting problems and technology to enable the reliable use of systems with varying levels of autonomy in aerospace.

Previously, I was a Professor of Autonomous Systems, Decisions, and Control at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) where I was also a member of research leadership team at QUT's Institute for Future Environments (IFE). Within IFE, I led the IntelliSensing Enabling Platform, where I conducted transdisciplinary research and combine knowledge of digital technologies, analysis, decision making, optimisation, and human factors to help our partners and clients to understand their problems and develop solutions that can transform their practices.

I am originally from Argentina and immigrated to Australia in 1999 after I completed my Electronics Engineering degree (a six-year program). I completed my PhD in the area of Mathematical Control Theory at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2003. I then spent four years in The United Kingdom and Norway working on aspects of fault-detection, mathematical modelling and control in marine technology applications. In 2007, I moved back to Australia to the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Complex Dynamic Systems and Control (CDSC) at the University of Newcastle. At CDSC, I was the Industry Liaison Officer and developed a research program on dynamics and motion control of marine and aerospace vehicles. Within this program, I led 11 projects with five industry partners from Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and Norway. In 2010, I was appointed Assoc. Prof. of Mechatronics at the University of Newcastle, where I undertook the re-development of the Batchelor of Engineering Mechatronics program and developed the laboratory for autonomous systems and robotics with support from Boeing and the Australian Department of Defence. In April 2014, I was appointed Professor at the School of Electrical Eng. & Computer Science at QUT and in 2015 became the leader of the IntelliSensing Enabling Platform at IFE.