Rini Akmeliawati

• Biography/ Background

  Rini joined the School of Mechanical Engineering, the University of Adelaide in Sept 2018. She was a full Professor in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering at the International Islamic University Malaysia in 2012-2018 and Associate Professor in 2008-2012 in the same department. She was a lecturer at School of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University (2004-2008) and School of Mathematics and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University (2001-2004).

  She is a Fellow in Engineers Australia (FIEAust), Chartered Professional Engineer (Electrical Engineering and Mechatronics), APEC Engineer and International Professional Engineer. She is a member of Technical Committees of International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC T.C 2.1 Control Design and T.C 7.3 Aerospace Engineering), and Senior Member of IEEE. She is the Vice President of the Malaysian Society of Automatic Control Engineers (MACE) 2016-2018. She was the Chair of IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society – Malaysia Chapter 2007-2009, the treasurer of the same society in 2010, and the educational executive committee in 2016 and secretary of IEEE Control Systems Society – Malaysia Chapter in 2010. She was the chair of Intelligent Mechatronics System Research Unit at the International Islamic University Malaysia in 2010-2018. She has been invited to be Keynote speaker and invited speaker on her research outcomes in International and National Conferences/Symposiums/Colloqiums/Seminars.

  She has successfully supervised 13 PhD students and 20 MSc students in Malaysia. She has evaluated more than 50 PhD theses and more than 30 MSc dissertations from Malaysian and Australian Universities. She is currently supervising 7 PhD students in the field of robotics and control for Precision Agriculture and Space applications.

• Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia (2002)
    • Thesis: Nonlinear Control for Automatic Flight Control Systems
  • Graduate Certificate for Higher Education (GCHE), Monash University, Australia (2006)

  • Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons1), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia (1997).

    • Thesis: Anti-aliasing Digital Filter for Aircraft Fatigue Tests

• Awards & Achievements

  PATENTS

  • Malaysia Patent: "Portable Electronic Nose for Alcohol and Lard Detector in Food and Beverages," MY-156385-A, granted on 15 February 2016.
  • Malaysia Patent: "Sensor Controlled Motorised Wheelchair," MY-161341-A, granted on 14 April 2017.
  • Malaysia Patent (filled): "Vision-based hand detecting and tracking for automatic sign language translator," 08 June 2010, PI2010002628

     SCHOLARSHIPS

  • The International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, in pursuing Ph.D study at the Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, 1997-2001.
  • Dept. Electrical and Electronic Engineering studentship, University of Melbourne, 2000-2001.
  • The Melbourne Research Scholarship, in pursuing Ph.D study at the Dept. Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, 1997-2000.
  • The Melbourne Traveling Scholarship, University of Melbourne, 1999.
  • The Science and Technology for Industrial Development Scholarship, Indonesian Research and Technology Ministerial Scholarship to pursue undergraduate study in Australia, 1993-1996.

   SELECTED AWARDS

  Best Paper Award, 6th International Conference on Mechatronics (ICOM'17), Kuala Lumpur, 8-9 August 2017.
  Best Paper Award, 2016 IEEE 4th International Symposium on Robotics and Intelligent Sensors (IEEE-IRIS 2016), Tokyo, Japan, 17-19 December 2016.
  University Outstanding Researcher - International Islamic University Malaysia, 2 September 2016.
  Outstanding Contributor Journal Articles Indexed- International Islamic University Malaysia, 2 September 2016.
  Halal Hi-Tech Challenge 2015 Winner - for the project: LADPEN: Lard and Alcohol Detector - Portable Electronics Nose, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, RM 680,000 commercialization fund from Platcom and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (main researcher).
  Best Article in Non-Indexed Journal - Mechatronics Engineering, 2015, International Islamic University Malaysia.
  Platinum Award, in Design category for the project: "Two-Wheeled Wheelchair for Disabled,", World Invention Awards, British Invention Show 2014, 22-25 October 2014, London, UK (co-researcher).
  Gold Medal, in Leisure category for the project: "Two-Wheeled Wheelchair for Disabled,", World Invention Awards, British Invention Show 2014, 22-25 October 2014, London, UK (co-researcher).
  Bronze Medal, in Industry category for the project: "LADPEN: Lard and Alcohol Detector-Portable Electronic Nose," British Invention Show 2014, 22-25 October 2014, London, UK (main researcher).
  Bronze Medal, in Consumer category for the project: "vASL-Trans: Automatic Sign Language Translator," British Invention Show 2014, 22-25 October 2014, London, UK (main researcher).
  2014 Outstanding Reviewer for International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems (IJIUS), Emerald Group Publishing Limited (UK ), 15 May 2014.
  Finalist, UAV Siswa Challenge, UAV competition organized by Dassault Aviation, Rafale International, 2013-2014.
  Silver Medal, for the project: "Hybrid Technique using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) Approach for Earthquake Prediction," International Research, Invention and Innovation Exhibition (IRIIE 2014), Kuala Lumpur, 11-13 June 2014.
  Bronze Medal, for the project: "Rapid Detection of Lard and Ethanol using Lard/Alcohol Detector - Portable Electronic Nose (LAD-PEN)," PECIPTA 2013, Kuala Lumpur, 7-9 November 2013 (main researcher).
  Runner-up of Best Application Paper Award, "Optimized State Feedback Regulation of 3DOF Helicopter System via Extremum Seeking," Asian Control Conference (ASCC 2013), Istanbul, 23-26 June 2013.
  Silver medal, for the project: "Cardiac Arrhythmias Classification Using Regularized Least Squares Classifier," IIUM Research, Invention, and Innovation Exhibition 2013 (IRIIE 2013), 19-20 February 2013.
  Bronze medal, for project: "Portable Dual Alcohol and Lard Detector in Food/Beverages," IIUM Research, Invention, and Innovation Exhibition 2013 (IRIIE 2013), 19-20 February 2013.
  Bronze medal, Malaysia Technology Exhibition February 2012, for project: "A New Method of Earthquake Monitoring and Prediction Using Unusual Animal Behavior."
  3rd Prize Commercial Potential Award: "Markerless Gesture Recognition Using Malaysian Sign Language," IIUM Research, Invention, and Innovation Exhibition 2012 (IRIIE 2012), 21-22 February 2012.
  Bronze medal, for project "Markerless Gesture Recognition Using Malaysian Sign Language," IIUM Research, Invention, and Innovation Exhibition 2012 (IRIIE 2012), 21-22 February 2012.
  Bronze medal, for project: "Novel Matlab-Based Low-Cost Autopilot," IIUM Research, Invention, and Innovation Exhibition 2012 (IRIIE 2012), 21-22 February 2012.
  Bronze medal, for project: "Efficient Prediction Error-Modeling (PEM) Approach to UAV Helicopter System Identification," IIUM Research, Invention, and Innovation Exhibition 2012 (IRIIE 2012), 21-22 February 2012.
  Best Innovation Award. Halal Science and Innovation Excellence 2011 Award, World Halal Research Summit 2011, for project: "Rapid Detection of Ethanol Content in Beverages using IIUM - Fabricated Portable Electronic Nose." Kuala Lumpur, 6-7 April 2011.
  2nd Runner up, World Engineering Students Innovation Challenge (WISH 2011), for the project: "Automatic Wheelchair using Flexsensors", 9-10 February 2011. 

   

   

   

   

• Teaching Interests

  COURSES TAUGHT

  Control System Design, System Dynamics and Control, Control Systems, Advanced Control Systems, Digital Control Systems, Modern Control Systems, Linear Electronics, Analog Electronics, Electronics, Electromagnetics, Calculus Variation, Modelling and Simulations, Electronics Design.

• Research Interests

  Control Systems Design (Theory and Applications), System Modelling and Identification, Bio-inspired Robotics, Intelligent Mechatronics Systems

   

  Some design, build and control-related projects which I have involved/supervised:

  - High dexterity robotic arm manipulator

  - Bio-inspired polination flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (in collaboration with Konkuk University, South Korea)

  - Bio-inspired legged robot for space exploration

  - Bio-inspired shape-shifting robot

   

  I am also involved in control and navigation of complex autonomous systems, such as

  - autonomous tractor

  - unmanned aerial vehicles

  - power systems

   

• Research Funding

  • Development of enabling technology for automatic vaccine manufacturing, MRFF, $5,000,000, 2023-2028.
  • Satellite Proximity Surveillance Systems, SmartSat CRC, $314,180, 2021-2023.
  • An autonomous soil sampling and measurement system for transforming agricultural management and soil carbon stock assessment, Digi+ FAME Strategy Grant, University of Adelaide, $ 95,271, 2021-2022.
  • Autonomous High-Throughput field Phenotyping platform, FAME Strategy Grant, University of Adelaide, $92,106.50, 2021-2022 
  • Bio-inspired swarm robots for off-earth mining and construction, $12,000, ECMS Theme Seed Fund, 2021.

   

  I have received almost RM 3 Million research funding in the fields of Robotics and Control, Bio-signal Processing, Mechatronics System Design and Manufacturing in Malaysia. The research grants were from Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Agency of Inovasi Malaysia, and from the Royal Society of New Zealand.

  I have received grants from industries, such as PROTON Berhad (Malaysia), National Space Agency of Malaysia and IIUM Advanced Technology (IAT) Sdn. Bhd.

  Selected Research Funding:

  1. Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Phase 1 2016, Ministry of Education (MOE), Project: "Investigation of Flight Dynamics, Stability and Control of Beetle-Mimicking Flapping Wings," 2016-2019, RM 131,000, Principal researcher.

  2. Concept to Commercialization Gap Fund, Agensi Inovasi Malaysia - Ministry of Finance, project: "LADPEN: Lard and Alcohol Detector - Portable Electronics Nose", 2016-2018, RM 680,000, main applicant.

  3. Erasmus Mundus, "LEADER: Links in Europe and Asia for engineering, eDucation, Enterprise and Research," EUR 2.5 Million 2014-2017, Coordinator in Malaysia.

  4. Special MOSTI fund,  "Design and Development of Motorised Adjustable Vertical Platform for Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Facility," with Agensi Angkasa Negara, RM354,000, 2015-2017, co-researcher.

  5. Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Phase 1 2014, Ministry of Education (MOE), Project: "Investigations of adaptive input shaping for control of flexible dynamic systems," RM 76,000, July 2014-June 2016, co-researcher.

  6. Universiti Malaya High Impact Research Grant, for project: "Physiological Control of Implantable Rotary Blood Pump," RM 36,000, 1 Jan 2014 - 31 Des 2014, Principal Collaborator.

  7. MyRA Incentive Research Grant Scheme (MIRGS) 2013, Ministry of Education (MOE), Project: "Lard and Alcohol Detection in Food and Beverages Using Newly Developed Portable Near Infrared Microspectrometer," RM 280,000, 1 Nov 2013- 31 October 2015, Principal researcher.

  8. Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Phase 2 2013, Ministry of Education (MOE), Project: "Novel Modelling and Investigation of Rolling Mechanism with Bouncing Capability using Natural Phenomena-based Algorithm," RM65,000, 1 December 2013-30 November 2015, co-researcher.

  9. Research Acculturation Grant Scheme (RAGS) 2013, Ministry of Higher Education, Project: "Robust adaptive control of nonlinear system application to flight control system," RM 50,000, 1 January 2013 - 31 December 2014, co-researcher.

  10. Prototype Research Grant Scheme (PRGS), Ministry of Higher Education, Project: "Portable Electronic Nose for Alcohol Detection in Food and Beverages," RM 70,000, August 2012 - Jan 2014, principal researcher.

  11. Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Ministry of Higher Education, Project: "Mixed Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and Differential Evolution (DE) Method for Modeling of Beetle-Mimicking Ornithopter," RM 65,000, May 2012-2014, co-researcher.

  12. E-ScienceFund, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia, Project: “Smart Material Actuated Autonomous Snake Robot for Executing Flexible Motion,” RM 236,000, March 2012, co-researcher. 03-01-08-SF0140.

  13. E-ScienceFund, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia, Project: “Design and Development of Intelligent Two-Wheeled Wheelchair,” RM 174,000, March 2012, co-researcher. 06-01-08-SF0117.

  14. Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, Project: “A New Orthogonal Projection Based Parametric Modelling Technique for ECG Signal Analysis,” RM 78,000, July 2011, Principal Investigator.

  15. Research Grant Matching Scheme, International Islamic University Malaysia, Project: Intelligent Autonomous Helicopter for Disaster Monitoring, with Konkuk University, South Korea, RM 123,000, January 2009, Project leader.

  16. Research Grant Matching Scheme, International Islamic University Malaysia, Project: Real-Time Sign Language Analysis, Recognition and Synthesis based on Image Processing and Multimedia, with Massey University, New Zealand, RM 112,400, January 2009, Project leader.

  17. International Science & Technology (ISAT) Linkages Fund, Royal Society of New Zealand, together with Prof. S. Demidenko-Massey University, Project: Real-Time Sign Language Analysis, Recognition and Synthesis based on Image Processing and Multimedia, NZD 7,950. June 2008, Overseas Project Leader.

• Publications

  Journal and Conference Articles: 

  https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/rini.akmeliawati#publications

• Professional Associations

  • Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust)
  • Chartered Professional Engineer - Mechatronics Engineering and Electrical Engineering
  • National Engineering Register - Mechatronics Engineering
  • Senior member of IEEE
    • IEEE Control Systems Society
    • IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society
    • Technical Committee member of TC-32 Fault Tolerant Measurement Systems
  • IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Technical Committee member
    • T.C 2.1 Control Design
    • T.C 7.3 Aerospace
  • International Society of Intelligent Unmanned Systems (ISIUS) - Vice President
  • Asian Robotic Competition Committee - Vice President
  • Co-editor-in-chief, International Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, UNSYS Publishing, South Korea
  • Member of editorial advisory board
    • International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems (IJIUS), Emerald Publishing, UK
    • Journal of Unmanned Systems Technology (JUST), UNSYS Publishing, South Korea
  • Visiting Professor, Dept. Mechatronics Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Melaka, Malaysia, 2014-2018.
  • Visiting Professor, Dept. Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Melbourne, 12-22 September 2011 and 4 -25 July 2012.

   

   

• Community Engagement

   

   

  • Judge for the Australian Rover Challenge, 2021-2023. 

  • Guest lecturer for Ahmad Dahlan Halal Centre, Ahmad Dahlan University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia on “Development of Sensor Systems for Rapid Detection of Halal Food,” on 17 September 2022.  

  • Keynote Speaker for ICSET 2022, “Integrated Farming Systems: Their Feasibility, Benefits and Challenges,” 3 October 2022. 

  • Invited Speaker for the first webinar on Inspiring-Muslim Women in Engineering and Sciences at the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN) on 3 September 2022.  

  • Keynote Speaker for ICOM 2022, “Robotics and Automation Applications in Agriculture,” 9 August 2022, title of talk: Study and Working as a Minority in a Male-Dominated Field: Challenges and Achievements. 

  • Keynote Speaker for ICREAST 2020, “Robotics Technology and Automation in Agriculture: Research Activities of Robotics and Automation Group - The University of Adelaide,” 22 December 2020. 

  • Plenary Speaker for 2019 Women’s Research Day, “Electronic Nose: From Research to Commercialization,” The University of Adelaide, 11 May 2019. 

  • Invited to give motivational talks in high schools, such as the International Islamic School in Kuala Lumpur in 2015-2017 (twice a year), on Mechatronics Engineering and Robot Technology and  for visiting students from the Global Islamic Boarding School from Indonesia. I regularly give talks, both technical and motivational talks for research students at various universities in Malaysia under IEEE activities, and also under student societies or clubs.

   

Entry last updated: Saturday, 23 Sep 2023