About

Juan holding an M300-RTK with a hyperspectral camera for drone surveys in Antarctica

Juan is a research fellow at the QUT Centre for Robotics (QCR), Australia, and member of Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), an Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative. He holds a BEng (Mechatronics) and a PhD in robotics and autonomous systems at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia.

Juan has a passion for developing drone-based remote sensing solutions to address some of the biggest Australia’s environmental and surveillance needs, especially in precision agriculture, biosecurity, Australia’s and Antarctica’s environmental monitoring, and automated systems for search and rescue.

His primary interests comprise autonomous small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) decision-making, machine learning, and real-time onboard computer vision for UAV remote sensing, with a focus on hyperspectral, multispectral, and high-resolution image processing. Juan has worked for research projects in biosecurity, environmental monitoring, and time-critical applications such as land search and rescue to find lost people in collapsed buildings and bushlands.

  • A comprehensive list of publications can be found here.
  • A collection of media releases on projects I have been involved in can be found here.
  • Contact me if you are interested in discussing potential opportunities and collaborations (profit and not-for-profit).

Interests

  • Machine learning
  • Decision-making under uncertainty
  • Environmental monitoring and biosecurity
  • Drone-based search and rescue
  • Hyperspectral/multispectral image processing
  • Real-time onboard computer vision

Key Skills

  • Robotics software (ROS, PX4, QGC, Gazebo, C++, Python)
  • Robotics hardware (Quad-rotors, SLAM-based, Multi- and Hyper-spectral, RGB and Thermal sensors)
  • Digital image processing (C++, C#, Python)
  • Machine learning (Python, C++, C#)
  • Hyperspectral image processing (Python, ENVI, Hyperspec III)
  • Mechatronic design (SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, LabVIEW, MATLAB, ANSYS)
  • Microcontrollers programming (C, MPLABX, Arduino)
  • Design of control-based systems (MATLAB Simulink, C#, VHDL)
  • CAD/CAM/CAE design (SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, MasterCAM)
  • Sensors instrumentation (MATLAB Simulink)
  • Project management (MS-Office Suite, MS-Project, LaTeX)
  • Electronic circuits design and PCB (Altium, Proteus)
  • FPGA programming (VHDL)
  • Industrial automation (Siemens Tia Portal, Festo)

Experience

  • [2022 – Present] Queensland University of Technology (QUT) | Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) – Brisbane, Australia
    • Research Fellow (Mar 2022 – Present). UAV Remote Sensing for detection and mapping of vegetation in fragile Antarctica’s ecosystems and in polar regions.
  • [2022] Charles Sturt University (CSU) – Wagga Wagga, Australia
    • Research Engineer (Jan 2022 – Present). UAVs and machine learning for detection of hawkweed using multispectral imagery.
  • [2017 – 2021] Queensland University of Technology (QUT) – Brisbane, Australia
    • Sessional Academic (Jul 2018 – Jan 2020). Tutoring on EGH455: Advanced Systems Design
    • Research Assistant (Mar 2017 – Jun 2018). Evaluation, design and optimisation of approaches to identify and map weeds, pathogens and vegetation of national interest using UAVs, image sensors and artificial intelligence.
  • [2013 – 2015] Universidad Militar Nueva Granada (UMNG) – Bogota, Colombia
    • Research Assistant (Jan 2015 – Dec 2015). Analysis of pesticide residues in fruits for the prediction of harmful effects on human health.
    • Mechatronic Engineer (Jan 2013 – Dec 2014). Design and optimisation of robotics and autonomous systems to automatise monitoring efforts in strawberry crops.

Education

  • [2018 – 2022]Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
    • Research topic: Autonomous Decision-making for UAVs Operating under Environmental and Object Detection Uncertainty
    • School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) – Brisbane, Australia
  • [2017 – 2018] Diploma of Project Management
    • Australian Pacific College – Brisbane, Australia

Awards

  • [2021] – Best Team Award – QUT Centre for Robotics, Australia
  • [2021] – Phase 1 Finalist – OpenCV AI Competition, Global
  • [2018 – 2021] Data61 PhD Scholarship – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
  • [2018 – 2021] Data61 Top up Scholarship – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
  • [2018 – 2021] HDR Tuition Fee Sponsorship – Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia