Martin Tomko

Bio

I am a Spatial Information Scientist and geographic information systems expert. I specialise in computational approaches to spatial communication problems (communication in and about our spatial environment), in particular with a focus on man-made environments, such as cities. I am currently Lecturer at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering and part of its Geomatics Discipline team at The University of Melbourne, Australia. I am an associate and convenor for spatial of the Melbourne Center for Data Science, an associated researcher of the Center for Data Ethics and AI, and an affiliated researcher of PRISM (the Centre for Research Excellence in Policy Relevant Infectious diseases Simulation and Mathematical Modelling).

The bulk of my current research interests fall under:

• spatial data science (trajectory analysis and mobility, urban morphology, spatial networks, spatial complex systems, spatial causal reasoning, machine learning);
• Spatial communication and ergonomic spatial data provisioning (wayfinding, spatial instructions, Geospatial Question Answering, concepts of place)
• Self-Healing Maps, spatial data quality and anomaly detection in spatial databases;
• Robotic autonomous navigation and autonomous mapping (nascent interest, in particular supporting the Melbourne University Autonomous Racing program);
• Geospatial technologies for Cultural Heritage documentaiton (including Indigenous Archaeology).

Previously, I have been Oberassistent (Senior Lecturer) at the GIS Unit (group of Prof. Weibel) of the Department of Geography of the University of Zurich. Until July 2014, I was Lecturer at the Department of Computing and Information Systems of the University of Melbourne, and the AURIN Manager for Technical Architecture Implementation (in charge of the information infrastructure design and core Technical Team management). The Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) is now an award winning online data workbench for urban scientists. I provides urban researchers with access to federated datasets and tools to do their research – all in a browser. Check http://www.aurin.org.au to find out more about the wonderful things you could do with AURIN!

Before AURIN, I was a postdoctoral associate at the GIS Section of the Department of Geography, University of Zurich, as part of the EU project Tripod. In the past, I also held various research and development positions in the geospatial industry. I have also been the Technical Lead of the Volunteer initiative BushfireConnect.org, an Australian crowdsourcing platform for emergency information. BushfireConnect provided a moderated emergency information channel, aggregating authoritative and social media information about bushfires. We were the 2011 Telstra Innovation Awards winners.

Publications

The up-to-date list of my publications is on Google Scholar. A reasonably up to date list is almost identical to the list of the lab shown under the Publications tab.

Contact

Dr. Martin Tomko
Senior Lecturer
Department of Infrastructure Engineering
Melbourne Connect – Office 6313 (when not at home)
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Australia

Mail: martin - AT - tomko.org
Twitter: @dinomirMT