TEAM
Get to Know Us
ALEXANDRA BONNICI
Head of Department
Alexandra Bonnici received her B.Eng (Hons) in 2004, an MPhil (Melit.) in Engineering in 2008 and PhD (Melit.) in 2015 on work related to the vectorisation and interpretation of sketches with artistic cues. Alexandra is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta and is currently serving as Head of Department of the Department of Systems and Control Engineering and coordinator of the Faculty’s Certificate in Engineering Sciences. Alexandra is an active member of the research community, serving as a steering committee member of the ACM Symposium on Document Engineering. She is also active in promoting Engineering knowledge to students, having set up the Engineering Technology Clubs at the Faculty of Engineering.
Alexandra has interests in music, particularly in piano music, and started learning the piano at the age of 5. She now holds a Licentiate with London College of Music and teaches piano to young children as a hobby. Moreover, she is interested in using computer vision and artificial intelligence to develop tools that aid pianists in music learning and playing.
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Alexandra is a "fur parent" to two cats, Kitty and Tigger, and a dog, Jade.
SIMON FABRI
Professor
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Pro-Rector for Research & Knowledge Transfer
Prof. Ing. Simon G. Fabri received the Bachelors in Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Malta in 1989, and the MSc and PhD degrees in Control Systems Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 1995 and 2000 respectively. He was employed as a Test and Product Engineer with STMicroelectronics Ltd from 1989 to 1992. He then joined the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Malta where he currently holds the positions of Professor with the Department of Systems and Control Engineering and University Pro-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer.
Simon's previous administrative experience at the University of Malta includes past headship of the Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering, the Department of Systems and Control Engineering, as well as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and membership of several University boards and committees.
Simon's current research interests include adaptive and intelligent control, neural networks, nonlinear and stochastic control, systems theory, bioengineering and robotics. He is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Systems Science, co-author of the Springer book "Functional Adaptive Control: An intelligent systems approach", and author of numerous papers published in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings.
Simon is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). From 2014 to 2021 he was a member of the Government Engineering Profession Board. From 2010 to 2017 he was representative for Malta on the Administrative Council of the European Control Association (EUCA). He has been a member on the Executive Board of the Mediterranean Control Association since 2017.
KENNETH CAMILLERI
Professor
Kenneth Camilleri graduated with a B.Elec.Eng.(Hons) degree in electrical engineering from the University of Malta in 1991, and with an M.Sc. in Signal Processing and Machine Intelligence degree and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Surrey, UK in 1994 and 1999, respectively. Kenneth is a Professor at the University of Malta and he is currently the Director of the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics. Kenneth's research revolves around the fields of signal processing, computer vision and machine learning, with specific research interests in automatic drawing interpretation, eye gaze tracking, human computer interfacing based on electrophysiological signals - such as the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the electrooculogram (EOG) -, brain computer interfacing and biomedical signal and image analysis for physiological measurement and the extraction of disease biomarkers. He has over 160 international peer-reviewed publications contributing to these areas. Kenneth also has an interest in the nature of intelligence and consciousness.
Kenneth enjoys watching action, fantasy and science fiction movies, and especially enjoys movies with a philosophical twist, such as The Matrix movies, and movies which bring out courage and valour both in real life, such as Hacksaw Ridge, and in fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is also a firm believer in the wisdom that can be found in books; he has recently finished reading 'Conversations on Consciousness' by Susan Blackmore and 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman.
KENNETH SCERRI
Senior Lecturer
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MARVIN BUGEJA
Senior Lecturer
Dr. Ing. Marvin K. Bugeja received the B.Eng.(Hons.) with first-class honours (summa cum laude) and the Ph.D. degrees from the University of Malta in 2002 and 2011 respectively. He pursued his doctoral research at the Department of Systems & Control Engineering of the University of Malta. His doctoral work, entitled "Computational Intelligence Methods for Dynamic Control of Mobile Robots", contributes to the fields of Intelligent Control and Mobile Robotics. It proposes novel control techniques for stochastic neuro-adaptive control of nonlinear multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and introduces the use of dual adaptive control for mobile robots.
Dr. Bugeja has worked in industry as well as in academia. He is currently a resident academic with the Department of Systems and Control Engineering at the University of Malta, a member of the University Senate, and of several other University boards and committees. He has published several articles in peer-reviewed books, journals and international conference proceedings, and regularly acts as a reviewer for technical articles. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), chaired the IEEE Student Branch of Malta for the period 2006-2007, and holds the Maltese Warrant to practise the profession of engineer.
His research interests include: robotics, intelligent control, stochastic adaptive and nonlinear control.
TRACEY CAMILLERI
Senior Lecturer
Tracey Camilleri received her B.Eng (Hons) in 2004 and PhD in 2012, both from the University of Malta. She is currently a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Systems and Control Engineering at the same university and her research interests include processing of biomedical data, such as brain signals and eye movements. These are then used to develop human machine interfaces through which a user can control computer applications using biosignals instead of standard interfaces such as touch screens or keyboards.
Tracey also forms part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), serving as the student branch advisor for over 10 years. Locally, this organisation helps to organise events for students to help promote engineering, recognise the students' achievements and guide them as young professionals.
STEFANIA CRISTINA
Lecturer
Stefania Cristina graduated with the B.Eng.(Hons) degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Malta in 2008, and received her M.Sc. by Research and Ph.D. degrees in 2010 and 2016 respectively, from the same University. Her research work and interests revolve around the application of computer vision and machine learning to the fields of eye-gaze tracking and human body pose estimation, with a particular interest in developing assistive technologies that can help persons with physical limitations control electronic devices in their environment. Stefania has also been involved in the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions (MGPEI) for over 8 years, previously as Hon. Secretary, and presently as Chair. She is also an Executive Team member of the Vision & Imaging Technical Network of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
Stefania has an interest in fine art, having herself started to attend drawing and painting lessons from the age of 7, and later continuing her studies at the Malta School of Art in Valletta for several years. She also trains long-distance running with a local athletics club.
LUANA ROMANO
Lecturer
Luana Chetcuti Zammit received the B.Eng. (Hons.) degree in Electrical Engineering in 2010, her Master’s degree in 2013 and her PhD in 2020 from the University of Malta. She is a Lecturer of Control Engineering at the University of Malta. She is also the coordinator of the MSc in Signals, Systems and Control offered by the same University. Her research interests include modelling and analysis of intelligent systems, with interest in transport systems, and also adaptive and intelligent control. Luana has published numerous papers in the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conferences and also in the European Control Conferences.
Jean Gauci
Systems Engineer
Jean Gauci received his B.Sc. (Hons)(Melit.) in Computer Engineering in 2015 and his M.Sc. in Biomedical Cybernetics in 2017, from the University of Malta. Jean is a systems engineer with the Department for Systems and Control Engineering and is currently reading for a Ph.D. in Image and Signal Analysis Applied to Biomedical and Health Applications with work related to the processing of thermal data for the detection of diabetes and its complications. He has published his work in multiple journals and conference proceedings. In 2021, Jean received the warrant for the practice of the profession of engineer in Malta.
RACHAEL DUCA
Systems Engineer
Rachael Duca received her B.Eng (Hons)(Melit.) in 2014 and her M.Sc. in Engineering (Melit.) in 2015. Her undergraduate project was a collaboration with an industrial partner who manufactured pH sensors. Rachael's work involved the development of a testing and certification station for these sensors in the industrial environment of ProMinent Fluids Control Ltd. Furthermore, Rachael's M.Sc focussed on autonomous exploration of unknown environments by using ground mobile robots. These mobile robots could then build a map of the area as they explored it.
Currently, Rachael is reading for a Ph.D in Engineering which focuses on the multi-robot coordination in coverage control of some known area, in the presence of known system constraints. Rachael Duca is also currently a full time systems engineer with the Department.
NOEL AGIUS
Assistant Laboratory Manager
Noel Agius was awarded a Licentiateship (LCGI) in Electrical Engineering and a Full Technological Diploma (FTD) by the City & Guilds of London Institute in 2003 and 2004, respectively. He earned a Higher National Diploma, awarded by BTEC UK, in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2013, as part of an approved programme at the Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology (MCAST).
Noel is a member of the department's technical staff and oversees the control engineering, research, and teaching laboratories. He also provides technical assistance to engineering students' final year projects as well as with laboratory practical sessions. Noel also delivers practical sessions in control engineering as part of the summer training programme for second-year engineering students.
SANCHIA CILIA LENTINI
Administrator
Sanchia Cilia Lentini joined the Department of Systems and Control Engineering in 2013. Her main focus as an administrator is to manage the office business, ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the Department. This includes minute taking, procurement matters, and the organisation of Departmental events.
Since most of her days at work are in front of a computer, in her free time she takes the opportunity to spend time in nature. She enjoys creating new memories with her family and friends.