Let's Talk Robotics

Joining me today is Dr Lihong Zheng. Lihong is an Associate Professor and researcher in Computer Science at Charles Sturt University who is enthusiastic about the power of data in shaping the world.

She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in electrical engineering in China before moving to Sydney and then Wagga Wagga. Her diverse range of projects includes developing number plate recognition technology for highway monitoring systems; building IoT-based solutions to support agriculture; making farms more cyber secure, etc.

As an educator, Lihong is committed to promoting lifelong learning and preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs to navigate the ever-changing world of technology.

Reach out to Lihong at email, [email protected], or connect with her on LinkedIn

Joining me today is Dr Christina Kleinau. Christina is experienced in data driven transformation and digitalisation including strategy, requirements definition, and delivery. She is passionate about ESG and financial services, in particular, but with cross-industry and government experience.

Christina has successfully founded a SaaS company for bike couriers in Germany to automate their dispatching and invoicing processes and enable receiving customer orders via online channels.

Christina has a Ph.D. qualification with a thesis applying ethical analysis to identify and manage conduct risk and emerging financial risk issues.

Joining me today is Dr Gunel Gulmammadova is an accomplished data scientist with a diverse background in academia and industry. She was born in Ukraine and has lived in various countries including Cuba, Azerbaijan and currently Australia. Gunel speaks 7 languages, including English, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian, Turkish, Russian, Spanish and beginner in German.

Gunel received her Bachelor's degree in Economic Cybernetics and Master's degree in Mathematics with distinction from Baku State University. She went on to complete her PhD in Mathematical Economics and another Master's degree in Applied Econometrics with distinction from Monash University.

With over 8 years of experience in academia and around 5 years in consulting across different industries such as telco, mining, financial services, retail, and more, Gunel has developed a profound understanding of the business and how data analytics can be applied. She currently works as a Senior Data Scientist with Transurban for the last 2 years, where she works on developing and implementing data-driven solutions that have a measurable impact on the company.

While studying at school, she received a scholarship from the FLEX program funded by the U.S. Department of State. She was awarded The Dean's Award for Excellence in Education and was the youngest PhD candidate. She then also received a full scholarship to study at Monash University. Gunel has over 10 published papers in various academic journals.

Outside of work, Gunel is a proud mother of two children and enjoys spending time with her family. She takes an active interest in helping her children develop and grow.

Gunel's goal is to not only stay up to date with the latest developments in data science, develop and implement data-driven solutions but also help organisations achieve their strategic goals by harnessing the power of data analytics to make informed decisions and foster growth. She is focused on enhancing her leadership and people management skills, as a successful data scientist must be proficient in both technical and soft skills to lead and motivate a team.

Joining me today is Dr Diana Benavides-Prado! Diana currently holds the position of Senior Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research focuses on continual machine learning, with a particular interest in exploring knowledge transfer for increasingly knowledgeable continual learning systems. In 2020, she proposed a method that enables 'backward transfer', a mechanism that refines existing knowledge in continual systems. Furthermore, she is interested in the application of cutting-edge AI technologies in high-impact domains, such as life sciences and social welfare.

Diana completed her PhD in Computer Science in 2019 at The University of Auckland. Prior to pursuing her doctoral studies, she gained extensive professional and research experience in her home country, Colombia. She worked on data analysis projects for scientific research, operations, and decision-making for various public organizations. After moving to New Zealand, she worked as a data scientist specializing in machine learning for social welfare. She has collaborated with public and private sectors across multiple countries, including Colombia, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

Throughout her career, Diana has mentored several junior data scientists and post-graduate computer science students, including females. She takes pride in being one of the few female 'Latinas' in the AI field.

Joining me today is Gek Huey Chua. Gek Huey is a data scientist who has made significant contributions in the fields of life science, healthcare, finance, and business. She obtained a Bachelor's degree and a Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and from Nanyang Technological.

 After completing her MSc, Gek Huey developed an interest in bioinformatics and went on to pursue a second Master's degree in this field from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. She began her career in the life science and healthcare industry, working at the Bioinformatics Institute, AStar from 2003 to 2004 and the Research Lab at NUS Yong Lu Lin School of Medicine from 2005 to 2007. She then moved on to work at Eli Lily Drug Discovery Center from 2008 to 2010 and the Research Lab at China Academy of Science (CAS) from 2011 to 2016. During this time, she authored 18 publications and was awarded a patent.

 In 2011, Gek Huey pivoted to the finance industry, working as an insurance and equities trader at Phillip Securities from 2011 to 2014 while she further pursue a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering at National University of Singapore. She then joined LedCap, a commodity futures trading firm, where she specialized in commodities trading and market making from 2015 to 2016.

 She then moved on to work at the Government Technology Agency from 2016 to 2017, contributing her skills in Data Science to the public sector. In 2017, Gek Huey made a move to the business and marketing field and began working at Roche Diagnostics. She spent two years at Roche Diagnostics before moving on to Dell Technologies in 2019, where she currently works.

 Throughout her career, Gek Huey has been recognized for her contributions in various fields. She received a Global Award for Data and Analytics category in the 2022 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards and a Best of Asia-Pacific Award.

 Gek Huey's diverse educational and professional background has equipped her with a broad range of skills and expertise, making her a valuable asset in any field she chooses to work in. She continues to be a role model and an inspiration to many aspiring professionals in various industries.

Aim Sinpeng is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney. An award-winning author and educator, her research focuses on the intersection of tech and politics with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. Her current projects include 'AI and Gender Bias in STEM education in Asia,' a collaboration with Google and 'Cyber repression in Thailand,' a 3-year project funded by the Australian Research Council that looks at how state agencies employ AI and surveillance software to repress and manage dissent.

W: sydney.edu.au/arts/government_international_relations/staff/profiles/aim.sinpeng.php 

Latest books: Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age: The Yellow Shirts in Thailand (open access), University of Michigan Press// "From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation: Social Media in Southeast Asia, ISEAS

Latest articles: "Crowdsourcing Dictatorship in Thailand" (2022) Asian Journal of Comparative Politics//"Journalism in the Age of Digital Autocracy: A Comparative ASEAN Perspective" (2022) Journal of ASEAN Studies//"Digital Activism as a Pathway to Trade Union Revitalization" (2022) International Journal of Labour Research

Latest reports: Disinformation on Democracy in Asia, Brookings (2022)//Women's Political Leadership in ASEAN, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (2022).

Dr Wenjuan Chen is a data scientist and a data science people leader at Capgemini. In her role as a consultant, she is assisting a client in optimizing their marketing campaign through the application of data science. As a people leader, she is dedicated to building an inclusive, supportive, innovative, and high-performing data science team at Capgemini.

Dr Chen began her career as an intern reporter, but soon transitioned to sustainable development. She has a PhD in Ecosystem Science and Management. Her dissertation explored the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on agricultural outputs and rural livelihood. She is both passionate about sustainability and AI.

Her experiences across diverse countries and cultures have broadened her perspectives and made her a strong advocate for diversity - the four members of her small family each have unique nationalities: Chinese (Wenjuan), Indian (her husband), American (her son) and Australian (her daughter).

Joining me today is Ragja Palakkadavath. Ragja is a second-year PhD student at Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (A2I2) where she is working on creating AI systems that can perform out-of-distribution generalization.

Undertaking fundamental research in AI, Ragja is investigating how to create more efficient and practical artificial intelligence systems. As she explains, AI systems don’t do well when they encounter data they weren’t trained to recognise; for example an autonomous car crashing because it failed to recognize a kangaroo on an Australian road, having been trained to recognize deer, or being able to recognise and read road signs in the USA but not in New Zealand. In another example, AI is increasingly being used to scan and detect disease in medical imaging, however the huge variation in data provided by patients and even how difference hospitals carry out imaging makes these systems less effective. Imagine if there was a single model that could work for all patients, and all doctors in all hospitals. Developing more robust AI models holds to promise of solving these all too real challenges.

 Ragja says none of this feels like work and she is never bored. When she can turn her mind away from the world of AI, she enjoys reading, cooking and travelling.

 It has been quite a journey so far. At age 10, Ragja left behind village life in Kerala, India, when her family moved to Muscat in Oman. The international multicultural community of the Middle East nation was a big change but one that ultimately gave her the confidence and independence to move to Australia in 2022.

 Discovering a love of coding at high school, Ragja had made up her mind at age 12 that she would have a career as a computer science engineer. Returning to Kerala, Ragja studied at the National Institute of Technology Calicut, and began working for one of the leading travel technology companies, Amadeus. Using machine learning to track passenger movements through airports she became fascinated with why some models were more effective than others and undertook her Masters, producing the thesisBayesian Generative Adversarial Nets with Dropout Inference in 2020.

 She says the beautiful beaches, scenery and welcoming people of Australia remind her of Oman.

Reach out to Ragja at [email protected] or connect with her on LinkedIn!

Joining me today is Dr Elahe Abdi. Elahe is a Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University. She is the Director of Robotics in Medicine and Interaction Laboratory and the Robotics Education Liaison Representative at the Australian Robotics and Automation Association.

Dr Abdi received her PhD in Robotics in 2017, from EPFL, Switzerland. She then moved to Australia to establish her research team active in human-robot interaction, shared autonomy and haptic, with application in medicine, construction and service robotics. Elahe has received numerous recognitions for her leadership and efforts for encouraging diversity in Engineering including being selected as a Finalist for the Women’s Agenda Award “Emerging Leader in STEM” in 2021. Most recently, she was named as one of Science and Technology Australia's Superstars of STEM 2023.

Joining me today is Dr Kulari Lokuge. She is the Director Knox Innovation Opportunity and Sustainability Centre (KIOSC) at Swinburne University of Technology based at Wantirna.

As a leader in the education sector, she inspires, enables and empowers educators to be innovative and help them to motivate the world to learn!

As a lecturer and an e-learning expert, she has worked in both Higher Education and VET sectors using a variety of educational technologies and learning designs. With a strong background in educational design, she has undertaken a variety of responsibilities advising academic staff on pedagogical and theoretical methodologies, designing and implementing teaching and learning programs. With her information technology background, she has used technology in innovative ways to enhance students’ learning experiences. She has an excellent track record of working with academic staff developing learning programs using numerous educational technologies.