Ph.D (Mechatronic Engineering), B.E. Hons (Mechanical Eng.), M.NTT (Cert. Therapist)
Machine design & product development, Mechatronics, Electronics, Computer control, Robotics, Automation, Manufacturing, Software programming, 2D & 3D graphics simulation, Internet technologies, Psychotherapy, Publishing & Consulting services
Hello and thank you for visiting! Welcome to my personal website...
Feel free to download and view my latest CV ( Check downloads folder ).
Allow me to present a brief summary of my history, past work experience and current skills. My parents were originally from the Philippines and immigrated to Australia when I was a two-year-old toddler. My entire 20 years of formal education was completed in Queensland, Australia... (i.e. Primary school, High School and two University degrees). I studied for 4 years at the University of Queensland doing a Mechanical Engineering Degree, with a final year (major) focus on robotics, electronics and automation courses, and I graduated with Honours. I spent 4 years at USQ (or UniSQ - University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba) completing a Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy research degree) in Mechatronic Engineering (funded by an Australian Government Scholarship), where I designed & built novel force, speed & position controlled air cylinders; microcontroller systems; world-first air valves; and a 4-legged pneumatic walking robot (about the size of a large dining table).
Since earning my doctoral degree in 1998, I have accumulated 22 years of full-time university teaching and research experience in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, and Robotics—specifically in motor and actuator control. My expertise also includes Control Systems (sequential and combinational circuits, microcontroller hardware and programming), Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Sensors, Machine Vision, Software Development (including 2D and 3D graphics simulation), Manufacturing, Automation, Software Programming, and modern internet technologies. I have worked as a full-time academic at three accredited universities—two in Australia and one in Abu Dhabi, near Dubai, UAE. Over the years, I have studied more than 300 technical books, completed numerous practical courses, and reviewed hundreds of research papers and articles on these technologies.
Throughout my career, I have frequently combined knowledge from multiple disciplines to design and develop innovative solutions, including original working hardware, machines, products, and robots. Under my supervision and guidance, thousands of engineering students have learned to design, build, and control a wide range of modern computer-controlled systems—such as robotic manipulators, mobile robots, automation systems, and controllers—all constructed from scratch using raw materials, commercially available components, motors and actuators (electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic), sensors, semiconductor devices, and low-cost microcontroller chips. Several of my former students have also gone on to establish their own engineering and product development companies, applying many of the practical skills I taught them.
Since around 2010, I have studied over 150 modern books and completed several courses on communication skills, psychology, therapy, and conflict resolution. This knowledge has allowed me to provide practical and effective counselling, helping dozens of people improve their relationships, interpersonal skills, mindset, and emotional intelligence. I have also assisted many individuals in overcoming various challenges, including fear, anxiety, low self-confidence, procrastination, severe depression, narcissistic abuse, trauma, prolonged grief, harmful habits and addictions, and a range of mental health issues.
My ongoing mission is to make the world a better place by sharing valuable ideas and practical knowledge. With the right information, skills, and persistent action, any problem can be overcome, transforming ideas into real solutions!
This website highlights my current skills and key areas of interest. I am a highly knowledgeable and effective problem solver across various fields. Additionally, my research experience and ability to learn independently allow me to quickly master new skills with confidence.
I excel at working productively with almost all types of people, including those with challenging or 'difficult' attitudes—though I make an exception for malicious individuals, such as psychopaths, deliberate troublemakers, and narcissists.
For those who value respectful and harmonious workplace relationships, I highly recommend reading the "Psychology & Ethics" page. There, I provide an in-depth analysis of both positive and negative psychological behaviours, detailing common harmful attitudes and actions that should be recognized, addressed, and corrected. These essential interpersonal skills are rarely taught in traditional education but are crucial for fostering good workplace relationships, maintaining peace of mind, and ensuring mental well-being.
Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoy these web pages and videos—have a great day!
Engineering drawing: 2D & 3D AutoCAD, Solidworks, Inventor, etc; Drawing standards & dimensioning
Statics: Load & moment/torque analysis for beams & machine components, 2D/3D trusses, structures
Solid mechanics: Stress & failure analysis, fatigue, column buckling, 3D FEA (ANSYS & Solidworks)
Engineering Materials: Properties, tests, metals/metallurgy, alloys, ceramics, plastics, composites
Manufacturing: Welding, machining, CAM, CNC, forging, sheet-metalwork, casting / foundry practice
Dynamics: Mathematical modeling, 2D & 3D software simulation, SolidWorks simulation, State Space
Component analysis & selection: Fasteners, bearings, beam/column sections, hydraulics, pneumatics
Programming: C/C++, C#.NET, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Pascal, AutoLisp, Fortran, Assembly ASM (HC11)
Development tools: MinGW GCC, Visual Studio, VS-Code, Qt, Xcode, Codesandbox, replit, Codepen, GitHub
Operating systems: Windows (all), Android, Linux (Ubuntu, Debian - BASH), MS-DOS, Unix, macOS, iOS
Software: Office Word, Excel (Spreadsheets, charts), Project, PowerPoint, Outlook, PDF editors, WinZip
Multimedia: Video, Audio & Photo editing (Capcut, Camtasia & OBS screen capture, Audacity, GIMP etc.)
3D / VR (Virtual Reality): Unreal Engine, Unity, three.js, HMDs, Leap Motion, Motion capture equipment
Electronic circuits & devices: AC & DC circuit design, semiconductor devices, power supplies, interface
circuits for reading analog & digital sensors, DAC, ADC, PWM, ISR, Timers, serial RS-232, USB (HID),
LCD screens, keypads, LEDs, 555 Timer chip, Optical encoders, MOSFETs, op-amps, relays, solenoids etc.
Electric motor driver circuits (Stepper motors, Brushed & Brushless DC motors, AC motors), H-bridges,
PCB (Printed Circuit Board) schematics & board design (Protel / Altium, Eagle etc.), PCB manufacturing.
Controller design: Combinational logic, Sequential controllers, Pneumatic/hydraulic circuits, PLCs,
Using & programming Microcontrollers & Single-board computers (HC11, Microchip/Atmel, Arduino, PIC,
Raspberry Pi), Control algorithms - eg. PD, PID feedback control
Mechatronics & Robotics: Control of mobile robots & devices, FK (Forward Kinematics) & IK (Inverse
Kinematics) to control all kinds of robot arms & end-effector tools in 3D space (for accurate position
& orientation); 3D modeling & simulation (animation with SolidWorks, 3DS Max and 3D Game engines),
ROS (Robot Operating System)
Automation hardware: PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers), industrial sensors, machine vision systems,
Pneumatic & hydraulic circuit design (Sequential & Combinational), Brushless & stepper & AC motors, etc.
Network technologies: Internet of Things (IoT); network programming (TCP/IP, UDP), Socket programming,
WinSock, socket.io, Ethernet, Cellular, Bluetooth, Zigbee IEEE 802.15.4 WPANs, WiFi, IEEE 802.11, Web
server & web client programming, sending Emails SMTP, file uploads, DNS, querying, HTTP, HTTPS, OpenSSL,
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) & TLS (Transport Layer Security), Secure Shell (SSH) authentication (libssh),
file transfers FTP, Secure Copy Protocol (SCP), Network monitoring & security, certificates, hardware, etc.
Website & mobile app development: HTML5/CSS3, Full-stack MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node), API
coding, React Native, PWA (Progressive Web Applications), cloud hosting (Heroku, AWS EC2 ECS S3 Fargate),
socket.io apps, Online payment systems (STRIPE, PayPal, etc.), Twilio & SMS messaging, WebRTC video chats,
video streaming, scalable databases (DynamoDB, PostgreSQL), JWT encryption, security & authentication
Teaching work is not only necessary to impart information, but it can inspire people to become creative, inventive and productive. Teaching supports the local economy by preparing people with the knowledge, practical skills and successful attitudes needed to solve real-world problems, create valuable new products and solutions, and provide essential services in a competent manner. Good teachers lead by example... They also inspire and motivate students to become self-motivated enthusiastic 'life-long learners', creative innovators and high achievers who genuinely love what they are doing. Technical knowledge and skills are not enough. In order to work effectively and productively with other people, students also need to learn and master effective communication skills, avoid bad attitudes, and apply good 'people skills' (or success psychology) needed to build and maintain trusting and respectful relationships in the real world.
From 1998-2007, I worked as a full-time Lecturer in Mechatronic & Mechanical Engineering at Curtin University, Perth (Australia), for 9 years... and from 2007-2010, I worked at USQ in Toowoomba (Australia), for 3 years, doing similar work. From 2010-2020, I worked as an Assistant Professor at Khalifa University (in Abu Dhabi, the top University in the UAE - close to Dubai) for 10 years, where I taught product development, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, robotics and electronics. I created new teaching materials and lab activities, and taught thousands of engineering students in 23 different courses. I supervised over 60 capstone student engineering projects, several of which won "Best project" awards in National Technology Exhibitions and Design Competitions.
Every year, I was able to 'meet expectations' in 'Performance evaluation' reviews. Typically, in my Department, I achieved above average scores in 'Teaching quality' evaluation surveys submitted online by students at the end of each semester. I am very good at making complicated topics simple and easy-to-understand, and usually fun to learn - also, I have a very low or zero failure rate in most classes that I teach. A few times in the past, I have been described in student feedback surveys as 'the best teacher' or 'the best professor on campus', because most students enjoy the way that I teach. I genuinely like helping students to learn, and seeing them improve their skills and self-confidence. Learning does not need to be difficult, tedious, boring, frustrating or painful. The more useful, fun and enjoyable the learning experience is perceived to be, the better the topics and skills will be appreciated, remembered and applied by students. Therefore, I teach real-world concepts and demonstrate practical skills that are relevant and beneficial in the careers of practicing engineers and product developers working in industry. I am also aware of almost all the modern technologies and emerging trends in the fields of mechanical engineering, robotics, computer control, internet technologies, and software development.
See 'Reviews' page...
See 'Teaching philosophy' page...
Research and Development (R & D) activities are important for advancing mankind's knowledge and creating better or new solutions to problems. Researchers and inventors are creating new technologies and products every day, and are making people's lives much easier, safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable for everyone. In my opinion, coming up with new ideas and solutions to challenging problems and turning them into reality is one of the most exciting and rewarding activities in life. R & D work can be very unpredictable, messy, often difficult, based on incomplete or nebulous concepts and assumptions, usually replete with disappointments and failures, typically never follows the original plan, and there is no guarantee successful outcomes will be achieved. However, great optimism, careful planning, very hard work, tenacity, and relentless efforts to identify and overcome each problem improves the chances of continual progress being made. Wise decision-making, application of important knowledge and skills, sufficient resources, stoicism, patience, grit, dogged determination (stubborn persistence), commitment, self-discipline, and always taking action might lead to the culmination of each of the desired outcomes and possible completion of the main goals of the research project. See 'Research' page.
Service work is a great way to 'give back' to the community, help other researchers and publishers in your field, and to encourage other people, especially young people, to pursue an exciting and rewarding career in life.
In the past, I served on the organizing committees of the M2VIP (Mechatronics & Machine Vision in Practice) International Conference, and the IEEE RAS (Robotics & Automation Society), UAE chapter. I volunteered as a paper reviewer for several conference organizers, international journals and technical books. Also, I was interviewed in several news stories (on TV news, TV shows, radio interviews and in newspapers), describing new high-tech inventions, technologies, and robotics competitions. I volunteered as an invited 'Judge' at several technology design competitions (in Australia and the UAE). I also promoted the engineering profession and robotics technologies at annual University 'Open Days', at Government funded public science exhibitions and in many High School visits - to encourage young people to become future engineers.
