Tomas Trescak

The #1 when it comes to learning!

📰 Latest News

• March 1, 2024 - Launched The Creators Club, for the best and brightest creators from WSU. Expect great things:

  

  
   

• February 22, 2024 - Umbrella Ethics submitted for JobIQ

• November 4, 2022, We are launching a redesigned marketing experience for JobTune, including the use of a brand-new ASC framework. See the experience at:
   

  

  
   

• May 11, 2022 I am presenting our paper on Agent Assisted Life-Long Education at in the Blue Sky Ideas Track

🧑🏼‍🔬 Research

Tomas’s research flows through several realities, virtual, augmented and the real, seeking new ways with Artificial Intelligence to facilitate complex cognitive tasks in simulation, education, health care, cyber security and social sciences. Dr Tomas Trescak holds a PhD title in Computer Science with a specialisation in artificial intelligence from the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain (IIIA) of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). Since May 2013, he works at Western Sydney University, wherein 2016 he was incorporated as Lecturer.

My ORCID profile page can be found at: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2540-6002

The topics of my research concern:

• mixed reality (VR/AR/XR)
• artificial intelligence
• cyber security
• healthcare technologies
• machine learning
• intelligent virtual agents
• crowd simulations and
• computational creativity techniques, such as shape grammars.

Dr Trescak’s main contribution is in the facilitation of the creation and execution of self-adaptable, interactive normative 3D environments and their subsequent application to the fields of agent-based simulation. During his research, he has developed several techniques and methods and implemented them in the set of open-source tools, used worldwide. These works were published in acclaimed international conferences and journals. Tomas is also a multi-awarded researcher and academic, among others receiving in 2015 a Digital Disruptor Award, a gold medal for the best higher education educator by the Australian Computer Society, and the Best Innovator award by Unearthed association.

In the open source I am a big fan and contributor to several open-source initiatives in:

• React

• GraphQL

• Typescript

Motivation

The raise of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning launched a new industrial revolution, changing the ways we perform our routine tasks on daily basis. This revolution is attributed to the immense computational power we control and the vast amount of data that we generate, allowing AI to learn from it and apply it to its own goals. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) became the major players in this revolution, estimating $100 billion in revenue on VR/AR products by 2021.

Surprisingly, the crucial connection between AR/VR and AI is currently very weak. Both technologies being very demanding on resources renders most AI applications impossible to use in AR/VR. Therefore, we need to seek new ways, to empower our tasks with the visual power of mixed realities with help from Artificial Intelligence to reduce our cognitive overload and help with decision making in high-stress situations such as cyber security, space exploration, data analytics, healthcare, simulations and much more.

Projects

I am involved in many multi-disciplinary research projects and I am also an avid open-source developer. Programming is my life! Please check out the project list on the left. If I would highlight a few, I am particularly proud of

SkillPies (https://www.skillpies.com)

I am the main developer and creator of SkillPies, an online content presentation system aimed at course delivery, project communication and blogging

Virtual Heritage

I have researched and developed several medium scale virtual simulations of life in historic settings for purposes of development of believable virual agents and preservation of historic, cultural and linguistic heritage.

In academia, I am also involved in Holoprojection, system for projection of real-time stereoscopic video for remote communication and collaboratiion, Recomendare, explainable AI prototype for manipualtion and understanding of recomendation systems, Generations of Knowledge, historic simulation of Australian life pre settlers time portraying life of Aboriginal clan of Darug nation in Virtual Reality, or Uruk 3000 B.C., historic simulation of the first city on earth, located in ancient Mesopotamia.

🏆 Achievements

• Gold medal for the Australia's best ICT higher education educator of the year, awarded by Australian Computer Society, during Global Disruptor Awards 2015

• Leader of the team winning the Best young innovator award, during the Unearthed challenge, the data science competition organised by leaders of Australia's natural resource management

• Acting Director of Academic Programme in Entrepreneurship and Game Design

• Organising of ERA A and B ranked AI and Virtual Reality conferences, i.e. VRST and IVA

• One of the leaders of Cyber Security initiative in Western Sydney University, representing NSW Cyber Security Network

• Participated in several national and international research projects concerning various aspects of artificial intelligence and machine learning research. The output of these projects has been published and referenced in highly ranked international journals and conferences.

• Investigated and developed several research prototypes in the area of computational design, intelligent virtual agents and virtual reality. These prototypes have been further developed and are being used by various teams around the world for further research

• Won prestigious awards, e.g. Disruptor Award, Gold Medal for Best Higher Education Teacher in ICT, Endeavour Research Fellowship and the Outstanding PhD

• Developed academic application for teaching of programming, increasing students’ interest in the subject and improving the average success result.

• Delivered a virtual reality application, simulating aboriginal life in the Parramatta basin in year 1770, which was presented with great success during Yarramundi lecture in December, 2014

• As software architect, delivered medium scale e-business portals for Spanish consultancy company that generated strong revenue for clients.

• Collaborator in several open-source initiatives, including React, GraphQL, Meteor.js and active maintainer of several open source packages used by tens of thousands of users

• With outstanding results, taught hundreds of students in the academic and professional environment.

• As unit coordinator increased the student enrolment and overall subject GPA. Supervised programs of study for honours and higher degree.

• Highly ranked and praised in academic assessments and evaluations.

• Language enthusiast, programming in more than 15 languages and speaking 5 more.

• Participated in organisation of international congresses and conferences.

• Reviewer for highly ranked journals (e.g. MIT, Leonardo publisher) and conferences (e.g. AAMAS, IJCAI, AAAI).

🥇 Awards

• 2015 – ICT Higher Education Educator of the Year, Gold Award Winner. Issued by Australian Computer Society
• 2015 - Unearthed Challenge – Best young innovator award
• 2014 - Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Doctoral Studies during academic year 2013-2014
• 2013 - "Outstanding PhD Award" from the Computer Science Department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
• 2011 - Endeavour Research Fellowship, sponsored six month scientific visit to University of Western Sydney, Australia
• 2012 - COST sponsored, three month scientific visit in University of Verona, Italy (COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, is one of the longest-running European frameworks supporting cooperation among scientists and researchers across Europe).
• 2007 - Consolider, CSD 2007-0022, Spain (Spanish National Government Program of Spanish National Research Council), 4 year contract