Tim French

Tim French is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Western Australia's School of Physics, Maths and Computing. He is affiliated with the UWA Oceans Institute and serves as Regional Contest Director for the South Pacific Programming Contest and Programme Chair for the Australasian Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2022. His research focuses on logic, artificial intelligence, knowledge representation, and reasoning about uncertainty in multi-agent systems, probabilistic reasoning in games, and industrial applications like automated planning and machine learning for complex processes.

French holds a PhD in Computer Science (2007) and BSc in Computer and Mathematical Sciences (1999), both from UWA. His expertise spans algorithms, automated reasoning, formal methods in software, and temporal logic verification systems. He has led or contributed to 6 major research projects including the ARC Research Hub for Transforming Energy Infrastructure and the ARC Training Centre for Transforming Maintenance through Data Science.

His research outputs include 118 publications covering topics like aleatoric logic for probabilistic reasoning, semantic knowledge extraction from industrial maintenance systems, and deep learning applications in wastewater treatment. He has developed novel methods for knowledge graph construction, state estimation in complex systems, and user interface design informed by work characteristics models.

• Key grants: 6 active/finished projects totaling $M+ funding
• Leadership roles: Programming contest director, conference chair
• Interdisciplinary focus: Combines formal logic with industrial automation challenges

French's work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through education and innovation in sustainable industrial processes and environmental systems modeling. His team has developed practical solutions for maintenance procedure digitization, wastewater plant optimization, and robust agent-based systems for uncertain environments.