{"id":93,"date":"2023-02-03T00:16:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T00:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/?page_id=93"},"modified":"2025-12-28T06:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:54:16","slug":"bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/bio\/","title":{"rendered":"BIO"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"93\" class=\"elementor elementor-93\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-73a4f29 elementor-section-height-min-height elementor-section-content-top elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-items-stretch elementor-section-height-default jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"73a4f29\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-500aea1 jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"500aea1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;slideshow&quot;,&quot;background_slideshow_gallery&quot;:[],&quot;background_slideshow_loop&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;background_slideshow_slide_duration&quot;:5000,&quot;background_slideshow_slide_transition&quot;:&quot;fade&quot;,&quot;background_slideshow_transition_duration&quot;:500}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d03677e eael_simple_menu_hamburger_disable_selected_menu_no eael-simple-menu-hamburger-align-right eael-hamburger--tablet jltma-glass-effect-no elementor-widget elementor-widget-eael-simple-menu\" data-id=\"d03677e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"eael-simple-menu.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<style>\n                        @media screen and (max-width: 1024px) {\n                            .eael-hamburger--tablet {\n                                .eael-simple-menu-horizontal,\n                                .eael-simple-menu-vertical {\n                                    display: none;\n                                }\n                            }\n                            .eael-hamburger--tablet {\n                                .eael-simple-menu-container .eael-simple-menu-toggle {\n                                    display: block;\n                                }\n                            }\n                        }\n                        .eael-simple-menu-container.eael-simple-menu--loading > ul {\n                            display: -webkit-box !important;\n                            display: -ms-flexbox !important;\n                            display: flex !important;\n                            list-style: none !important;\n                        }\n                        .eael-simple-menu-container.eael-simple-menu--loading li ul {\n                            visibility: hidden !important;\n                            opacity: 0 !important;\n                        }\n                    <\/style>            <div data-hamburger-icon=\"&lt;i aria-hidden=&quot;true&quot; class=&quot;fas fa-bars&quot;&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;\" data-indicator-icon=\"&lt;i aria-hidden=&quot;true&quot; class=&quot;fas fa-angle-down&quot;&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;\" data-dropdown-indicator-icon=\"&lt;i class=&quot;fas fa-angle-down&quot;&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;\" class=\"eael-simple-menu-container eael-simple-menu--loading eael-simple-menu-align-left eael-simple-menu-dropdown-align-left preset-1\" data-hamburger-breakpoints=\"{&quot;mobile&quot;:&quot;Mobile Portrait (&gt; 767px)&quot;,&quot;tablet&quot;:&quot;Tablet Portrait (&gt; 1024px)&quot;,&quot;desktop&quot;:&quot;Desktop (&gt; 2400px)&quot;,&quot;none&quot;:&quot;None&quot;}\" data-hamburger-device=\"tablet\">\n                <ul id=\"menu-main-menu\" class=\"eael-simple-menu eael-simple-menu-dropdown-animate-to-top eael-simple-menu-indicator eael-simple-menu-horizontal\"><li id=\"menu-item-114\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-114\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/\">HOME<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-115\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-115\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/bio\/\">BIO<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-1281\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-1281\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/portfolio\/\">CREATIVE PORTFOLIO<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-1557\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-1557\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/engineering\/\">ENGINEERING PORTFOLIO<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-1750\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-1750\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/teaching\/\">TEACHING<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-118\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-118\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/social-work\/\">SOCIAL WORK<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-119\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-119\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/publications\/\">PUBLICATIONS<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>                <button class=\"eael-simple-menu-toggle\">\n                    <span class=\"sr-only \">Hamburger Toggle Menu<\/span>\n                    <i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-bars\"><\/i>                <\/button>\n            <\/div>\n            \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-0a46daa elementor-section-content-top elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"0a46daa\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;slideshow&quot;,&quot;background_slideshow_gallery&quot;:[],&quot;background_slideshow_loop&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;background_slideshow_slide_duration&quot;:5000,&quot;background_slideshow_slide_transition&quot;:&quot;fade&quot;,&quot;background_slideshow_transition_duration&quot;:500}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-5ecc985 jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"5ecc985\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7f34d04 animated-slow eael_liquid_glass-effect2 eael_liquid_glass_shadow-effect4 jltma-glass-effect-no elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7f34d04\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeInLeft&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">I am a roboticist with a Ph.D. from the University of Technology Sydney, specializing in robot perception, localisation, and deep learning. I&#8217;m currently a Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Canberra, where I lead the Robot Intelligence research stream at the Collaborative Robotics Lab.\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">My current research sits at the intersection of robotics, psychology, and the arts\u2014applying explainable AI to make embodied systems more transparent, investigating social presence in human-robot interaction, and exploring whether robots can do physical theatre. Spoiler: they can, and it&#8217;s wonderfully weird.<\/p><p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Beyond academia, I work as an artist in theatre, filmmaking, animation, and game design. I also founded the Digital Well-being Initiative (because irony is me advocating for less screen time) and serve as lead engineer for the Arka Initiative, a Sri Lankan non-profit focused on sexual and reproductive health.<\/p><p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">I am passionate about teaching, science communication, and advocating for an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge creation. I believe the most meaningful work happens at the edges where different fields collide\u2014where robots meet art, where psychology meets engineering, and where technology serves human well-being.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-f734464 jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"f734464\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a6b070 animated-slow elementor-shape-circle elementor-grid-1 elementor-grid-mobile-0 e-grid-align-mobile-center elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-mobile__width-initial e-grid-align-center jltma-glass-effect-no elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-social-icons\" data-id=\"9a6b070\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeInDown&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"social-icons.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-social-icons-wrapper elementor-grid\" role=\"list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-linkedin elementor-repeater-item-9aa51f2\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/maleennj\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Linkedin<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-youtube elementor-repeater-item-1e3d022\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC1_AUwseP4KDs7_sDez_eRw\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Youtube<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-youtube\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-instagram elementor-repeater-item-00d3fa5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/_malen_j\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Instagram<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-instagram\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-flickr elementor-repeater-item-205fd88\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/197977260@N08\/albums\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Flickr<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-flickr\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-e813b8f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"e813b8f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-c9bf22d jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"c9bf22d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-7a73b0b jltma-glass-effect-no\" data-id=\"7a73b0b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HOME BIO CREATIVE PORTFOLIO ENGINEERING PORTFOLIO TEACHING SOCIAL WORK PUBLICATIONS Hamburger Toggle Menu I am a roboticist with a Ph.D. from the University of Technology Sydney, specializing in robot perception, localisation, and deep learning. I&#8217;m currently a Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Canberra, where I lead the Robot Intelligence research stream at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_canvas","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-93","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":568,"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1930,"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93\/revisions\/1930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maleenj.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}