Philip Farrugia recently presented his Ph.D. research work in international journals and conference papers in Europe, US and Australia.
Dr Farrugia defended his Ph.D. for research carried out at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (DIME) at the University of Malta, under the supervision of Dr Jonathan Borg and Dr Kenneth Camilleri.
His thesis included a novel sketching language enabling designers and other users to automatically translate their form concepts sketched on paper into three-dimensional virtual models. The language developed has an impact on human-computer interaction, design practice, customer-driven design, development of Computer-Aided Design systems, sketching research and drawing standards.
In May 2006, Dr Farrugia and a research team working on this project were awarded the National Information Communication Achievements Awards from the Computer Society of Malta for the best R&D project. Dr Farrugia obtained a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta in 2001. In February 2003, he was appointed assistant lecturer at the DIME.