Contact:

Bio:
I received my Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Florida International University in 2018, and my Master’s degree in Systems Engineering and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Federal University of Lavras, Brazil, in 2014 and 2012, respectively. I was a Science without Borders fellow, sponsored by federal agencies NSF, ONR, CAPES and LASPAU (Harvard University) during my Ph.D. program. I am the co-founder of Dez Imobiliaria, Ltda, a real state company in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

With more than sixteen years of experience in teaching, I have taught Mathematics and Computer Science courses for several undergraduate programs and schools. Also, I have experience with early, elderly and special education. So far, I have mentored over thirty students, including high school teachers and undergraduates and master’s students in several programs, such as Science without Borders’s Summer Research Program, NSF’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and NSF’s Research Experience for Teachers (RET).

At FIU, I have also served as the Robotics Coach for the Ultimate Software Academy for Computer Science Education for over two years, teaching professional development courses in robotics and programming for K-12 teachers in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) and as a Researcher at the NSF Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST). Currently, I have been working on curriculum development and robots design for K-12 education.

Research Interests:
My research interests are centered on the challenges of marine robotics and STEM Education. Key problems I have addressed so far include: localization and navigation of aquatic robots in GPS-denied environments, analysis of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the ocean, persistent monitoring of the ocean and artificial intelligence applied to precision agriculture and welfare of poultry.