PhD candidate
Modelling and Simulation Research Group
Centre for Complex Systems
The University of Sydney
As a PhD researcher, I explore the interplay between individual agency and collective dynamics, focusing on how incentives shape this relationship. My work leverages agent-based modelling in computational economics and draws from game theory, evolutionary theory, information theory, and social psychology.
Passionate about empowering individuals equitably and sustainably, I believe that democratizing information and technology, along with fostering local communities, will have the greatest impact toward this goal.
With studies in robotics and mechatronics engineering, I have experience in machine learning and computer vision research. I’m a certified AWS Solutions Architect Associate with three years of professional experience in cloud infrastructure for the financial sector and over eight years of Python expertise in automation, data engineering, and machine learning.
Selected Publications
Ruiz-Serra J, White J, Petrie S, Kameneva T, and McCarthy C. Learning scene representations for human-assistive displays using self-attention networks. ACM Trans. Multimedia Comput. Commun. Appl., 2024. DOI:10.1145/3650111
Ruiz-Serra J, Harré MS. Inverse Reinforcement Learning as the Algorithmic Basis for Theory of Mind: Current Methods and Open Problems. Algorithms, 2023, 16, 68. DOI:10.3390/a16020068
Ruiz-Serra J, White J, Petrie S, Kameneva T, McCarthy C. Towards self-attention based visual navigation in the real world. In Proceedings of the 2022 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (ACRA 2022). Brisbane, Australia, December 2022. arXiv:2209.07043
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Education
The University of Sydney (Sydney, AU)
PhD, Complex Systems (Computer Science)
Oct 2022 – Present
MITx on edX (Online)
MicroMasters, Statistics and Data Science
Mar 2021 – Nov 2022
Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, AU)
BEng (Hons), Robotics and Mechatronics
Feb 2016 – Dec 2020
CATC Design School (Melborune, AU)
DipDes, Graphic Design
Jun 2013 – May 2014
Experience
The University of Sydney (Sydney, AU)
Teaching Assistant, Machine Learning, Complex Systems
Feb 2023 – Nov 2024
Swinburne University of Technology (Remote/Melbourne, AU)
Research Assistant, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Computer Vision
Sep 2020 – Jan 2024
National Australia Bank (Remote/Melbourne, AU)
Analyst, Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure (AWS)
Jan 2018 – Sep 2020
Youth Without Borders (Melbourne, AU)
Victoria Staffing Manager, Spark Engineering Camp
Nov 2016 – Sep 2017
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