Student Bio

Robiah Al Wardah is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in geophysics at Queen’s University in the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Braun. Her Ph.D. research focuses on developing a workflow for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) designed to deploy geophysical sensors for monitoring natural hazards, risks, and disasters. This workflow is integrated into a web application tentatively called the Natural Disaster Information System. The project combines geographic information systems (GIS) with RPAS sensing technology.

As part of her field campaign approach, she is developing a seismo-delivery system aimed at enhancing geohazard site monitoring. The system’s general goal is to efficiently deliver and retrieve geophysical sensors for data collection. It features a robotic claw equipped with an electromagnet for precise handling and retrieval of the sensors. She is also designing a payload frame specifically engineered to work with the claw and electromagnet for effective operation. This project utilizes seismic nodes from STRYDE Ltd. to acquire data for monitoring tasks.

Robiah earned her master’s degree in geophysics from Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA). Her master’s thesis focused on the automatic analysis of acoustic signals, employing supervised learning tools with the Random Forest algorithm for passive acoustic monitoring. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in geophysics from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), where her thesis involved Wavelet denoising of volcanic phreatic eruption data.

She has a strong professional focus on geophysics, geospatial technologies, data science, and mechatronics, particularly in the context of RPAS applications. She is skilled in geospatial technologies, having taught herself the necessary tools and techniques for spatial analysis and mapping. Her self-driven approach has allowed her to effectively apply these skills in her work and share her knowledge through workshops, tutorials and as a Teacher’s Assistant, demonstrating her capability in the field. Through the UTILI program, she gained knowledge in designing RPAS, which she has applied to her current project. In addition, she has an executive education in Invention to Innovation (i2I) from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, manifesting her interest in entrepreneurship. Her work reflects a practical approach to integrating her skills across these fields.

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