• A Charles Sturt University expert has met counterparts at three leading UK universities to foster institutional collaborations in artificial intelligence
• The Charles Sturt Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Futures Institutes (AICFI) academic will facilitate knowledge exchange with top UK AI academics and researchers
• The collaborations will enable access to cutting-edge facilities, interactions with experts, and open doors to future collaborations and research opportunities

A Charles Sturt University Senior Research Fellow has returned with collaborative research proposals after visiting experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics at leading universities in the United Kingdom.

Dr Fendy Santoso (pictured, top), Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Charles Sturt Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Futures Institute (AICFI), is also the Program Lead of Defence and Cybersecurity at the Charles Sturt AICFI.

The six-week consultation was with peers at Cranfield University, University of Cambridge and Nottingham University (online).

The objective of the research tour was to foster institutional collaborations between the Charles Sturt AICF Institute and leading universities in the UK to facilitate knowledge exchange with top academics and researchers in the field.

The specific aims were:

• To engage in discussions and knowledge-sharing with experts in the research area of learning algorithms (AI) for future aviation, and in robotics generally.
• To access specialised resources, laboratories, and research infrastructure.
• To establish research collaborations and partnerships for joint future projects, publications, and funding.

Dr Santoso spent four weeks at the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTEC) in the School of Aerospace Transport and Manufacturing at Cranfield University. There he collaborated with Professor Weisi Guo, a Professor of Human-Machine Intelligence at the Centre for Autonomous and Cyber-physical Systems, and his research group.

“My collaboration with Professor Guo and his research team, Dr Miguel Catania and Dr Adolfo Perrusquia, (pictured left) led to the formulation of potential joint research projects and built professional relationships with some fellow researchers,” Dr Santoso said.

Dr Santoso also met Professor Pietro Lio in the Department of Computer Science and Technology and member of the Artificial Intelligence group during his visit to the University of Cambridge.

“Professor Lio’s research interest focuses on developing artificial intelligence and computational biology models to understand disease complexity and address personalised and precision medicine,” Dr Santoso said.

“His current focus is on Graph Neural Network modelling, and we discussed some potential collaborative projects and explored multiple avenues for joint research initiatives in the applications of AI in intelligent robotics.

“We also aim to apply for the next round of BBSRC Australia-partnering award research grants from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding agency.”

Dr Santoso also had the opportunity to collaborate with Professor Phillip Stanley-Marbell, a Professor of Physical Computation in the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University.

Professor Stanley-Marbell’s research exploits information about the physical world to make more efficient computing systems that interact with nature, requiring a combination of theory (applied mathematics) and hardware (circuits and computer architecture).

Professor Stanley-Marbell and his team introduced a new microarchitecture known as the Laplace system that has the capabilities for tracking data uncertainty.

“These capabilities are beneficial for demanding applications such as robotics which require an ability to deal with imprecision, unpredictability and ambiguity. In our meeting, we also discussed some potential avenues of joint research collaboration,” Dr Santoso said.

Dr Santoso said he was also fortunate to have a chance to talk to Professor Jon Garibaldi, Head of the School of Computer Science, Faculty of Science at Nottingham University.

“Jon is the Founding Director of the Advanced Data Analysis Centre (ADAC) at Nottingham University and was the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, the leading international journal in ‘fuzzy logic’,” Dr Santoso said.

“We discussed some potential collaborative projects and explored avenues for joint research programs in robot learning by means of fuzzy logic systems with the University of Adelaide.”

Dr Santoso said the research discussions with experts and proposed research collaborations with Cranfield, Cambridge and Nottingham universities broadened his perspective and enriched his knowledge in his field.

“The collaborative efforts, access to cutting-edge facilities, and interactions with experts have not only advanced my current project but have also opened doors to future collaborations and research opportunities,” he said.

“I look forward to the prospect of future collaborations and continued engagement with these esteemed institutions.”