Amel is a PhD student in the computer science. His poster, A Hierarchical Approach with Crisis Mitigation for Multi-Robot Spatio-Temporal Restoration, recently won an award at the Guarini Poster Session.
Where did you grow up, and where did you study as an undergraduate? Was there a class, a mentor, or a moment there that first sparked your scientific curiosity?
I grew up in the Philippines. I took my bachelor’s in business economics from the University of the Philippines–Diliman. My professor in game theory inspired me how intellectually stimulating and rewarding scientific research can be.
Sometime later, a computer science professor showed his work on computer vision in identifying fish species in an underwater video. I was stunned: I told myself this is the future, and I wanted to take part in it. And so, I have pursued graduate studies in data science and computer science.
What graduate program are you in at Dartmouth, and what’s a question your field is working to answer right now?
I am a PhD candidate in computer science, with specialization in AI and Robotics. My research focuses on the spatio-temporal environmental property restoration (STAR) problem enabling autonomous robots to persistently restore environmental properties—such as air quality or cleanliness—that degrade over time.
What is your area of research? What inspired you to pursue this area?
This problem lies at the intersection of long-horizon planning, learning under uncertainty, and multi-robot coordination, with applications in persistent environmental preservation, precision agriculture, and smart buildings. Unlike the existing monitoring works in literature, this is not a passive monitoring problem but one of active intervention under resource constraints.
I was curious about robotics and so I inquired from Dr. Alberto Quattrini Li, a co-director of the Dartmouth Reality and Robotics Lab, discussing a potential robotics project. I have then worked on the STAR problem, which was still open in literature and motivated by significant real-world applications.
Your poster won recognition at the Guarini School Poster Session. What was the hardest thing to communicate, visually or conceptually, and how did you solve it?
My background in economics has instilled in me to take advantage of the Pareto principle: identify the 20 percent of work that will yield 80 percent of the results. When conceiving the poster, I spent some time on visualizing the problem and how to communicate the idea crisply within 10 seconds of presentation. The rest, (the methods and results section) would just follow through.
Imagine your research findings reached a non-specialist audience, such as a city council, a patient community, or the general public. What would you most want them to understand?
As societies are embracing automation and increased efficiency in persistent monitoring and preservation tasks, especially in countries where population is aging, my research contribution provides robust frameworks that can enable robots to support human and environmental well-being by persistent monitoring and preservation.
Which resources, career support programs, or professional development opportunities at Dartmouth have been most valuable to you, and how have they impacted your experience?
When I was still in the early years of my PhD, the seminar series where speakers from academia and industry were invited to share their current work and trends, inspired me to envision myself having a successful career and network.
What brought you to Dartmouth specifically? Has anything about the experience surprised you?
It was the height of the pandemic when I earned my masters that my thesis adviser suggested to me to consider pursuing a PhD. Among the Ivy League schools, it was Dartmouth College I chose and applied to. The academic excellence, their support and funding for start-ups, the tight-knit community, and the nature around the area captivated me. I have met genuine friends, most of them have graduated from Dartmouth already, who I treasure.
Which Guarini resource or program made a real difference in your development, and what would you tell a first-year student who hasn’t discovered it yet?
The graduate social mixers, activities, events; the seminar series; and the Guarini Mentorship Program, in which I have been a mentor for two batches of mentees already, I would always encourage first-year students I come across with to take part of. They can make a difference in academic, career, socials, and finding good friendships while in grad school.
