I am a Professor at the School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia). I completed my PhD and MSc in the Cognitive Robotics Group at the University of Toronto (Canada) and, before that, a BSc in Computer Science at Universidad Nacional del Sur in Bahia Blanca, Argentina.

My research falls in the intersection between knowledge representation, AI automated planning, and agent-oriented programming. In a nutshell, my research seeks better representation models and algorithms for “programming” intelligent controllers operating in complex and dynamic environments. I teach courses mostly related to the mathematical foundations of Computer Science, such as Theory of Computation, Discrete Mathematics, and Artificial Intelligence.

I am also interested in bringing Computational Thinking to the community, particularly to children and youth. Since 2015, I have carried out outreach activities in schools and community centres, mostly delivering/supporting workshops on coding and algorithmic thinking. I have participated and run workshops for math school educators at recent MAV conferences, guest lectures at VSV and CHES to Algorithmic VCE students. During 2020 & 2021, I was part of VCAA study review panel for the Algorithmics (HESS) VCE program which came into effect in 2023.

Education

• PhD in Artificial Intelligence, 2005. University of Toronto, CANADA.
• Master of Science (Computer Science), 2000. University of Toronto, CANADA.
• BSc in Computer Science, 1997. Universidad Nacional del Sur, ARGENTINA.

Research Interest

• AI Automated Planning
• Agent Programming
• Knowledge Representation
• Goal Recognition
• Reactive Synthesis
• Reasoning about Action and Change
• Sequential Decision Problems
• Autonomous Systems

Awards and Honours

• Best Paper Award @ The 31st International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), 2021.
• Premimum Group of Papers @ The 18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS), 2019.
• KA107EU Staff Mobility Scholarship at Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain @ ERASMUS+ Program, 2019.
• Best Student Paper Award @ The 16th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS), 2017.
• Best Student Paper Poster Award @ The 2017 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), 2017.
• Nomination Ribbon for quality as SPC @ The 25th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI'16), 2016. Selection by peer endorsing (10%).
• Nominee for Jay Modi Best Student Paper @ The 13th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS), 2014.
• Best Sister Conference Papers @ The 25th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI'13), 2013. (paper)
• Best Paper Award @ The 13th European Conference on Logics in Artificial Intelligence (JELIA'12), 2012. (paper)
• Nominee for Best PC Member Award @ The 7th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS'08), 2008.
• Scientific Visit to Europe Award @ Australian Academy of Science
• Postdoctoral Fellowship (PDF), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada. Presented to the most promising Canadian/PR researchers after completion of their doctorate program.