My interest in both transport and computing started during my undergraduate degree, but combining the two was formalised in my second-last year during a guest lecture from a transport modelling consultant who demonstrated microsimulation in Paramics. My final year project supervisor (who later became my colleague) suggested I look at this new technique he’d come across called agent-based modelling and simulation.
Over the past 20 or so years since then, I have flipped back and forth between transport and software engineering, from consultancy and small business to academia, from modelling logistics to modelling pedestrians, from activity-travel behaviour to public transport operations, from Australia to Europe, with some teaching and university admin experience on the side.
I have specialised in data analysis and agent-based modelling of travel behaviour, looking for patterns in data that can be used to inform and develop models of individual travel behaviour. My recent research experience was in simulating new modes of transport, specifically on-demand transportation, in order to explore their viability in various scenarios, and assisting with future research proposals in connected/smart cities.
My teaching journey also began with a suggestion during my masters degree to take on supervision of a software engineering team, where I was the only supervisor without an SE qualification. This experience led to tutor and head tutor roles, before branching out into guest and sessional lecturing roles.
My teaching experience has traversed the lifecycle from developing new subjects to day-to-day delivery to students. My most recent experience is in group projects, covering Agile processes, cultural competency and effective teamwork and communication.
I am known for an efficient and collaborative approach to subject delivery, where teaching staff and students can contribute ideas and where students take responsibility for their learning as much as possible. I have won awards for introducing students to self-directed learning, designed and delivered subjects based on best practices for teaching mathematics (e.g., explicit instructions, scaffolding of problems, spacing of content and revision), and incorporated technology where needed into the classroom. These practices demonstrate the diversity of experience I bring to teaching roles.