Staff Profile
Career Summary
Biography
Stephan K. Chalup is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science (Machine Learning) from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. He spent his undergraduate years in Germany at the University of Konstanz and later completed a Diploma in Mathematics with Biology (~Masters by Research) at the University of Heidelberg.
He is the leader of the Newcastle Robotics Laboratory and of the Interdisciplinary Machine Learning Research Group (IMLRG). His research interests include autonomous agents, computer vision, dimensionality reduction, human centered computing, machine learning, and neural information processing systems. He has published over 70 articles and received research grants with a total value of over a million dollars. He is a member of the ACM, the ACS and a senior member of the IEEE.
Qualifications
- PhD, Queensland University of Technology, 26/10/2001
- Diplom in Mathematiker (equiv Degree), University of Heidelberg
Research
Research keywords
- Autonomous Robots
- Computational Intelligence
- Data Mining
- Dimensionality Reduction and Kernel Methods
- Machine Learning
- Medical Image Analysis
- Neural Information Processing
- Vision and Image Processing
Research expertise
The Interdisciplinary Machine Learning Research Group (IMLRG) and the Newcastle Robotics Laboratory have the common objective to advance research in the area of Anthropocentric Biocybernetic Computing. It investigates the complex interactions between humans and their environment on all levels including the cell-, circuit-, and body-levels and the ecosystem. When applied to real-world computing and autonomous agents the aim is to develop systems that approximate human-like skills on tasks such as vision processing, facial expression analysis, space representation, and human-robot interaction. Machine learning techniques are employed for fine tuning the parameters of general models until they perform at extraordinary levels of skill on selected tasks. Biologically motivated models are complemented by alternative designs. The strategy is to approximate human-level skills in artificial systems from several different directions, that is, through interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with experts from relevant disciplines (e.g. electrical engineering, architecture, neuroscience, and applied mathematics). Associated projects involve computer vision, data mining, machine learning, pattern recognition, time series analysis, and intelligent system design. Our special interest is on applications of kernel machines and more specifically on methods for non-linear dimensionality reduction or manifold learning.
Languages
- English
- German
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 080100 | Artificial Intelligence And Image Processing | 60 |
| 010200 | Applied Mathematics | 20 |
| 120100 | Architecture | 20 |
Memberships
Body relevant to professional practice.
- Member - Senior Member of the IEEE
- Member - Australian Computer Society (ACS)
Editorial Board.
- Editor - Central European Journal of Computer Science
- Member - International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
Awards
International Competition
| 2008 | RoboCup World Champion RoboCup Federation (China) First place for the NUManoid robot soccer team in the Standard Platform League |
|---|---|
| 2006 | RoboCup World Champion RoboCup Federation (Germany) First place for the NUbot robot soccer team in the Four Legged League. |
Collaboration
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, Institute AIFB.
Administrative
Administrative expertise
Held various administrative responsibilities including: Robotics lab coordinator, leader of the IMLRG research group, seminar coordinator, marketing coordinator, examinations officer, Computer Science Honours coordinator 2/2006, 2011, 2013, BE(software) programme convenor 2007, and Student Academic Conduct Officer (SACO) 2010-2012.
Teaching
Teaching keywords
- Computer Graphics
- Computer Vision
- Machine Intelligence
- Machine Learning
Teaching expertise
Full-time lecturer since 2001. Taught courses in machine intelligence, computer graphics, computer linguistics, computer vision, internet communications, biocomputation and advanced machine learning.
Grants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 17 |
|---|---|
| Total funding | $1,590,931 |
For project grants received where the lead institution is other than the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics.
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
2013 (1 grants)
City Evolutions Project - Watt Street$262,430
Funding Body: Newcastle City Council
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mr Chris Tucker, Professor Mark Balnaves, Doctor Ning Gu, Professor Mario Minichiello, Associate Professor Stephan Chalup, Doctor Keith Nesbitt | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Research Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $262,430 | 2013 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1201004 | ||
2012 (1 grants)
Project EVA: an environmentally responsible facility for interdisciplinary supercomputing applications$263,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Pablo Moscato, Laureate Professor Jon Borwein, Conjoint Professor Keith Jones, Conjoint Professor Chris Levi, Professor Mark Parsons, Professor Michael Ostwald, Professor Hugh Craig, Conjoint Professor Peter Greer, Associate Professor Stephan Chalup, Associate Professor Regina Berretta | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Equipment Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $263,000 | 2012 | 2012 |
| GNo:G1100627 | ||
2010 (2 grants)
Modelling and predicting patterns of pedestrian movement: using robotics and machine learning to improve the design of urban space.$486,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Michael Ostwald, Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $486,000 | 2010 | 2012 |
| GNo:G0190061 | ||
Neurodynamic programming for sound generation through human-computer interaction$21,032
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Pilot Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $21,032 | 2010 | 2011 |
| GNo:G0900038 | ||
2008 (1 grants)
Novel liver parenchyma segmentation for liver disease diagnosis using texture analysis and deformable surface models$11,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Doctor Suhuai Luo, Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Pilot Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $11,000 | 2008 | 2008 |
| GNo:G0189077 | ||
2007 (2 grants)
Shaping social and cultural spaces: the application of computer visualisation and machine learning techniques to the design of architectural and urban spaces$275,829
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Michael Ostwald, Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $275,829 | 2007 | 2009 |
| GNo:G0186245 | ||
2007 IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life, Honolulu Hawaii, 31/3/2007 - 6/4/2007$2,500
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,500 | 2007 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0187611 | ||
2006 (4 grants)
Developing computational and algorithmic analytical techniques for investigating urban space$100,000
Funding Body: Newcastle Innovation
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Michael Ostwald, Associate Professor Stephan Chalup, Mr Chris Tucker | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Administered Research | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $100,000 | 2006 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0188830 | ||
Developing Computational Analytical Techniques for Investigating Urban, Neighbourhood and Regional Character$95,000
Funding Body: TUNRA--McClcoys Industry grant
| Scheme | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Investigator | ||
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $95,000 | 2006 | 2006 |
| GNo:18066543 | ||
Rapid Convergence for Reinforcement Learning with Legged Robots$10,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup, Dr Michael Quinlan, Doctor Robert King, Professor Rick Middleton | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Near Miss Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $10,000 | 2006 | 2006 |
| GNo:G0186068 | ||
Workshop on New Applications of Dimensionality Reduction at Neural Information Processing Systems NIPS 2006, Vancouver/Whistler Canada, 4/12/2006 - 9/12/2006$1,500
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,500 | 2006 | 2006 |
| GNo:G0187215 | ||
2004 (1 grants)
Application of spiking neural networks to robot locomotion control$39,319
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup, Professor Rick Middleton | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Multi-Year Project Grant Scholarship | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $39,319 | 2004 | 2006 |
| GNo:G0183487 | ||
2003 (2 grants)
Evaluating the generalisation ability of machine learning classifiers on extreme tasks$8,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Early Career Researcher Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $8,000 | 2003 | 2003 |
| GNo:G0183668 | ||
17th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems 8 to 13 December 2003$1,730
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,730 | 2003 | 2003 |
| GNo:G0183664 | ||
2002 (1 grants)
International Conference on Grammatical Inference, Amsterdam 23-25 September 2002$2,260
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,260 | 2002 | 2002 |
| GNo:G0182305 | ||
2001 (2 grants)
Machines Learn via Biologically Motivated Incremental Algorithms$10,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Early Career Researcher Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $10,000 | 2001 | 2001 |
| GNo:G0181591 | ||
ANNES 2001 New Zealand 22-24 November, 2001$1,331
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Stephan Chalup | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,331 | 2001 | 2001 |
| GNo:G0181564 | ||
Research Supervision
| Number of current supervisions | 11 |
|---|---|
| Total current UoN PhD EFTSL | 4 |
For supervisions undertaken at an institution other that the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics, and the institution name is listed below the program name.
Current Supervision
| Commenced | Proposed Completion | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2017 | PhD (Fine Art) | Co-Supervisor | ORI* on Aesthetics and Language of Folding and Technology |
| 2013 | 2016 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Reinforcement Learning and Robotics |
| 2012 | 2016 | PhD (Information Technology) | Co-Supervisor | Sequence Images Processing Technology Used in Badminton Wind Tunnel Detection |
| 2011 | 2013 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Machine Learning for Signal Processing |
| 2011 | 2013 | PhD (Information Technology) | Principal Supervisor | Feature Selection for Intelligent Transportation Systems |
| 2010 | 2014 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Reinforcement Learning in Hierarchical Multi-Agent Systems |
| 2009 | 2011 | PhD (Computer Engineering) | Principal Supervisor | Scene Perception Using Machine Pareidolia of Facial Expressions |
| 2008 | 2010 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Implementing Sensory Perception and Affect on Humanoid Robots Using Applications of Manifold Learning |
| 2007 | 2007 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Nursebots |
| 2007 | 2010 | PHD Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor | Non-linear Dimensionality Reduction with Neural Networks |
| 2005 | 2007 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Spiking Neural Networks for Robot Locomotion Control |
Past Supervision
| Year | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | PhD (Electrical Engineering) | Co-Supervisor | Multi-Link Mechanical Locomotors in Natural Gaits - Controller Design and Experiments |
| 2012 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Time Series Classification for Analysing the Impact of Architectural Design on Pedestrian Spatial Behaviour |
| 2012 | PhD (Electrical Engineering) | Co-Supervisor | Estimation of Sparse Distributions |
| 2008 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | A Learning Classifier System Approach to Relational Reinforcement Learning |
| 2006 | Honours Computer Engineering University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Research and Assistance Into Rescue Robot |
| 2006 | Honours Computer Engineering University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Autonomous Aircraft in a Simulation |
| 2006 | Honours Computer Engineering University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Machine Learning Autonomous Aircraft Agnet in a Simulation |
| 2006 | PhD (Software Engineering) | Principal Supervisor | Machine Learning on AIBO Robots |
| 2005 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | A Simulator for Learning to Play Robot Soccer |
| 2004 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Dimensionality Reduction on AIBO Robots |
| 2004 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Consciousness in neural networks |
Associate Professor Stephan Chalup
| Work Phone | (02) 492 16080 |
|---|---|
| Fax | (02) 492 16929 |
| Stephan.Chalup@newcastle.edu.au | |
| Position | Associate Professor Newcastle Robotics Laboratory School of Elect Engineering and Computer Science Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment |
| Focus Area | Computer Science and Software Engineering |
| Office | ES227, Engineering Science, Callaghan University Drive Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia |
| URL: | www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/stephan-chalup |
Research Networks
- Hunter Medical Research Institute
- PRC - Priority Research Centre for Bioinformatics, Biomarker Discovery and Information-Based Medicine
- Applied Informatics Research Group (AIR)
- Hunter Medical Research Institute - Information Based Medicine Program
- Interdisciplinary Machine Learning Research Group
- Newcastle Robotics Lab
