Alvaro Fuentes Ph.D.

About me

Welcome to my personal site! 

My name is Alvaro Fuentes. I currently hold the position of Research Professor at the Core Research Institute of Intelligent Robots (CRIIR-JBNU) and the Department of Electronics Engineering at Jeonbuk National University in South Korea. In my role, I serve as the research group leader of the Multimedia Laboratory. Additionally, I am honored to be a fellow at the recently established "Trustworthy AI Lab" at Seoul National University (SNU).

My academic journey began with an Engineering degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Tecnica del Norte University (UTN), Ecuador in 2012. Subsequently, I pursued and successfully earned my M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics Engineering, specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision, both from Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), South Korea in 2016 and 2019, respectively. After completing my Ph.D., I conducted postdoctoral research at the CRIIR-JBNU from 2019 to 2022, where I made notable contributions to the field of Artificial Intelligence for Smart Farming, which resulted in the publication of several influential papers. Throughout my career, I have also participated in several studies and research stays in Germany with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).  

My primary research and teaching interests encompass a wide range of domains, including Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, and Robotics. I am fueled by a genuine passion for developing algorithms that can extract valuable insights from data, enabling practical real-world applications such as AI in robotics, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, medicine, etc. 

In between my studies in Ecuador-Germany, and the beginning of my graduate program in South Korea, I spent about a year living in the Amazon Rainforest (2012-2013) as a research fellow on sustainable development and understanding well-being in local indigenous communities. Therefore, that encouraged me to hold a deep commitment to the principles of Sustainable Development. I am genuinely dedicated to exploring the ethical and responsible application of technology and AI to contribute to a more sustainable future.

I am currently teaching "Advanced Intelligent Programming" (Fall Semester 2023) in the Department of Electronics Engineering (Graduate school) at Jeonbuk National University.

In my spare time, I enjoy cycling, swimming, and running. I also like photography and learning languages. I speak English, Spanish, German, Korean, and French.  

Recent news 

2024

We will be attending the CGIAR Conference 2024 in Jeju, South Korea on May 19-23, 2024. 

We are organizing a Workshop on AI in Agriculture at Jeonbuk National University, on May 30-31, 2024.

I completed 10 years living in South Korea (March 2014 ~)

I am serving as a Publisher Chair and Committee Member of the upcoming International Conference on Sustainable and Intelligent Photoprotection, China, December 2024.

I am a Program Committee Member of the upcoming 19th International Conference on Computer Science and Intelligence Systems FedCSIS 2024 (Thematic Track on AI for Agriculture), Belgrade, Serbia, September 2024.

I gave an invited keynote presentation on Artificial Intelligence in Controlled-Environment Agriculture: Application, Challenges, and Opportunities at Universidad Autonoma Chapingo, Mexico on March 19, 2024.

I gave an interview to Monica, a Spanish Professor in Asia through her podcast channel "Una Profesora en Corea" about my experience living in South Korea. To listen to the interview in Spanish you can follow this link. 

I gave an invited lecture on Deep Learning for Smart Agriculture: Application, Challenges, and Technical Opportunities at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India on Jan 18, 2024.

2023

Our paper "Improving Known–Unknown Cattle’s Face Recognition for Smart Livestock Farm Management" has been published in Animals (Nov 2023).

I am participating in the Pilot Study "Pilot Project: Assessing Trustworthiness of the use of Generative AI for higher Education. – Z-Inspection", as part of my rol at SNU. For this pilot project, we will assess the ethical, technical, domain-specific (i.e. education) and legal implications of the use of Generative AI-product/service within the university context.

I was invited to give a lecture on Deep Learning and its Applications, for undergraduate students of the School of International Engineering and Science, Jeonbuk National University, on November 27, 2023.

Our paper "Spatio-temporal characterization of crop growth with multi-category data based on deep learning" has been published in Acta Horticulture, as part of the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Innovative Technologies and Production Strategies for Sustainable Controlled Environment Horticulture (Oct 2023).

I was invited to give a Seminar on "Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development" at the Institute Tecnologico Superior Ibarra, in Ibarra Ecuador on November 1, 2023. 

I gave an Invited  Seminar on "Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development with an emphasis on Environmental Education" at the Graduate School of the Technica del Norte University, in Ibarra Ecuador on October 28, 2023. 

I was honored to have been invited by the prestigious KBS World Radio in South Korea to participate in an interview about my experience in artificial intelligence. Here is the link to the interview conducted in Spanish language. (July 2023)

I gave a Workshop on "Machine Learning and IoT for Smart Greenhouses" at the International Symposium on New Technologies for Sustainable Greenhouse Systems -GreenSys 2023  in Cancun, Mexico on October 24, 2023. 

Our paper "An Iterative Noisy Annotation Correction Model for Robust Plant Disease Detection" has been published in Frontiers in Plant Science. (Oct. 2023).

Our paper "A New Deep Learning-based Dynamic Paradigm Towards Open-World Plant Disease Detection" has been published in Frontiers in Plant Science. (Oct 10 2023).

Our paper "Embracing Limited and Imperfect Datasets: Opportunities and Challenges in Plant Stress Recognition Using Deep Learning" has been published in Frontiers in Plant Science. (Sept 2023).

Our paper "Local refinement mechanism for improved plant leaf segmentation in cluttered backgrounds" has been published in Frontiers in Plant Science (Aug 2023). 

Our paper "Deep Learning-based Multi-Cattle Tracking in Crowded Livestock Farming using Video" has been published in Computer and Electronics in Agriculture (July 2023). 

I was invited to give a presentation at the "International Congress of Design (Design UCE)" at the Central University of Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador. I will talk on Current Trends in Vision and Artificial Intelligence: Applications to Industrial Design", on June 28, 2023.

Our paper "Multiview Monitoring of Individual Cattle Behavior based on Action Recognition in Closed-Barns using Deep Learning" has been published in Animals (June 2023). 

Our paper "Embrace Limited and Imperfect Training Datasets: Opportunities and Challenges in Plant Disease Recognition Using Deep Learning" has been released as a pre-print publication (May 2023). 

I was invited to give a keynote presentation at the "2nd IEEE International Conference on Vision Towards Emerging Trends in Communication and Networking Technologies (ViTECoN)" at the Vellore Institute of Technology, India on May 5th - 6th, 2023. 

I gave a webinar on "Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture: Challenges and Practical Implementations" at the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, sponsored by IEEE-R9 Panama, on April 31, 2023.

I gave a talk on "Technological development and its contribution to education: current trends and future prospects" at the International Seminar on Quality of Education within the framework of the SDGs at the Tecnica del Norte University, Ecuador, on March 31, 2023.

I am serving as a guest editor for the special issue on "Advanced AI Methods for Plant Disease and Pest Recognition" in the Frontiers in Plant Science Journal.  Deadline for manuscript submissions:  15 October 2023. 

I am serving as a guest editor for the special issue on "Tools and Techniques for Monitoring Pests and Diseases in Agro-Ecosystem" in the Agronomy MDPI Journal. Deadline for manuscript submissions:  10 October 2023. 

I participated in the 29th International Workshop on Frontiers of Computer Vision in Yeosu, South Korea on Feb 20-21, 2023. We presented a poster on "Cattle Action Recognition with Multi-Viewpoint Cameras based on Deep Learning".

I became a fellow of the Trustworthy AI Lab at Seoul National University. 

Our paper "A Comprehensive Survey of Image Augmentation Techniques for Deep Learning" has been published in Pattern Recognition (Jan. 2023). 

2022

Our paper on "Data-centric annotation analysis for plant disease detection: Strategy, consistency, and performance" has been published in Frontiers in Plant Science. (Dec. 2022). 

I gave an online talk on "Deep Learning-based Plant Disease Recognition" at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The Netherlands, Oct 27, 2022.

Our paper on "Multi-Cattle tracking with appearance and motion models in closed barns using deep learning" has been published in the Smartmedia Journal (Sept 2022). 

I started a new position as a Research Professor at the Core Research Institute of Intelligent Robots, Jeonbuk National University, in September 2022.

Our paper "Towards Improved Performance on Plant Disease Recognition with Symptoms Specific Annotation" has been published in the Smartmedia Journal (May 2022). 

I participated in the International Symposium on Innovative Technologies and Production Strategies for Sustainable Controlled Environment Horticulture, and III International Symposium on Mechanization, Precision Horticulture, and Robotics: Precision and Digital Horticulture in Field Environments, in Angers - France, in August 2022 (link).

Our paper on "Style-Consistent Image Translation: A Novel Data Augmentation Paradigm to Improve Plant Disease Recognition" has been published in Frontiers in Plant Science (Feb 2022).

Our paper on "Open Set Self and Across Domain Adaptation for Tomato Disease Recognition with Deep Learning Techniques" has been published in the Frontiers in Plant Science Journal (Dec 2021).

Our paper on "Improving Accuracy of Tomato Plant Disease Diagnosis based on Deep Learning with Explicit Control of Hidden Classes" has been accepted for publication in the Frontiers in Plant Science Journal (Dec 2021). A compiled version of the book can be found here. 

I gave a talk on "Deep Learning and IoT for Smart Agriculture" in the FDP on Recent Advances in Optical Communication and Wireless Networks at SRM University, India, in May 2022. 

I gave a talk on "El Enfoque Educativo en Corea del Sur: Estrategias de enseñanza e investigación" (Spanish) at I Jornadas de Capacitación y Fortalecimiento de la Gestión Docente Yachay Tech 2022. Yachay Tech University - Ecuador, February 23, 2022. 

I gave a lecture on "Deep Learning and Computer Vision" to students of the Master's program in Mechatronics at the Technical University of the North, Ecuador, on January 5, 2022.

I gave a talk on "New Paradigm for Sustainable Development: Artificial Intelligence and its Applications" at the Graduate School of the Technical University of the North, Ecuador, on January 7, 2022.

2021

I gave a talk on "Innovation in Smart Farming: Deep Learning-based Techniques for Plant Diseases Recognition" at the Workshop on "New Paradigm for Sustainable Development in Agriculture: Mathematics and AI Get into the Field"- Dec 3, 2021 - University of Milan, Italy. 

I participated as a committee member and speaker at the First International Workshop on Deep Learning and Intelligent Robots in Agriculture, organized by JBNU (South Korea) and Tianjin University (China). October 29, 2021. 

I gave a talk at the International Seminar on Competencies for Sustainable Development at the Technical University of the North, Ecuador.  October 22, 2021. 

Our publication on  Instance-Level Image Translation with a Local Discriminator has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Access Journal. Aug 2021.

I obtained a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) 2021-2024 for my research on deep learning-based characterization of multi-category data for crop growth. 

We obtained a patent for our work on Cattle behavior automatic recognition and monitoring based on Deep Learning / 딥러닝을 이용한 가축행동 자동인식 및 모니터링 시스템 및 그 방법. Issued on Jan 01, 2021. Patent issuer: Korea, Number: 10-2021-0007173 

Research

Selected works 

See the "Publications" section for a complete list of publications.

AI-based Techniques for Plant Disease and Stress Recognition 

AI-based Techniques for Animal Activities and Behaviour Understanding

General Computer Vision Tasks