I am interested in how networks and control theory can be used to understand and shape our interconnected world. My research addresses both theoretical questions and real-world problems related to complex networks and their dynamics, with main applications to social networks and systems, epidemic spreading on networks, and control of multi-agent systems. I employ both deterministic and stochastic models, using analytical, computational and data-driven methods from a range of mathematical fields including systems and control theory, game theory, dynamical systems, and network science.
For social networks and systems, I use network and agent-based models to study how person-to-person interactions shape population-level phenomena including opinion formation and consensus, collective decision-making, protest movements, social diffusion, evolution of social norms and conventions, cultural dynamics, and information spreading. I am interested in identifying conditions for when different phenomena occur (e.g. when people's opinions reach a consensus or become locked in disagreement), and influencing and shaping the phenomena (e.g. how to better promote the diffusion and adoption of pro-environmental behaviour).
For epidemics, I use mathematical models to study how infectious diseases spread through contact and travel networks. I am interested in identifying conditions for when outbreaks are going to occur, and establishing the role of the network structure in determining these conditions. More recently, I have been exploring different dynamic and time-varying methods, developed using feedback principles from control theory, to suppress and eliminate spreading in the network.
Brief bio: I received the B.E. degree (with First Class Honours) in mechanical engineering from the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand in 2013. My Ph.D. degree in engineering at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia was completed in 2018 under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Brian D. O. Anderson, AC. From August 2018 - February 2020, I was a postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Netherlands, with Professor Ming Cao (Networks and Robotics). I joined Curtin University, Australia, in March 2020, as a Senior Research Fellow. I was appointed as a Western Australian Premier's Early to Mid-Career (EMC) Fellow from 2021 - 2025, with the Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science. In April 2025, I joined the University of Adelaide as a Senior Lecturer.