Ricardo Rodrigues holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto (FEUP) in Portugal. He is currently a Principal Investigator and Group Coordinator at a Portuguese Collaborative Laboratory (CoLAB), where he leads the Data & Application Engineering (DAE) group. He also has significant experience in higher education. He was a visiting professor at the Portuguese Catholic University, where he taught courses and modules in the areas of Machine Learning, Intelligent Systems, and Data Analytics, including the application of data analysis and machine learning techniques to the Social Sciences.
He has also taught at the University of Maia, covering topics related to Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Multi-Agent Systems. In 2019, he received a national innovation award in the field of Industry 4.0, sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, for the development of an innovative concept for IoT sensors applied to agriculture.
Throughout his career, he has participated in more than 30 national and international Research, Development, and Innovation (R&D&I) projects, including major European initiatives under the FP7 and Horizon 2020 programs between 2011 and 2019, in the areas of smart factories, cyber-physical systems, and advanced manufacturing systems. He began his research career in 2012, working on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Distributed Artificial Intelligence, and Multi-Agent Systems, with a particular focus on the development of dynamic, adaptive, distributed, and evolutionary production systems.
Currently, as Principal Investigator and Group Coordinator, he leads a multidisciplinary team of over 40 highly specialized researchers and software engineers, covering areas such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), AI agents and multi-agent systems, quantum computing, optimization, applied software engineering, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), industrial data platforms, and logistics. He is responsible for the scientific, technical, and operational coordination of a portfolio of R&D and innovation projects with a total investment exceeding 4 million euros, serving as Principal Investigator on several projects, particularly in the areas of advanced energy systems, smart manufacturing, optimization, autonomous systems, and industrial applications based on Artificial Intelligence.
His research focuses on Intelligent and Reconfigurable Production Control Systems, exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence, Multi-Agent Systems, and distributed decision-making mechanisms to create self-adaptive, efficient, resilient, flexible, and customizable industrial environments. Since 2019, he has been particularly involved in advanced R&D initiatives spanning different Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), ranging from research and experimental development to the validation and implementation of solutions in industrial environments.
Throughout his career, he has co-advised several master’s theses and is currently advising three doctoral students. He has also been active in the international scientific community, serving as Chair and as a member of Scientific and Organizing Committees for various international conferences and workshops.
Ricardo Rodrigues is an active member of international technical committees in the fields of industrial automation and intelligent systems, including the IFAC Technical Committee and the IEEE Technical Committee on Industrial Agents. He is the author of more than 40 scientific publications, including articles in international journals, conference papers, and book chapters, developed in collaboration with researchers from various institutions and countries.
