Lirui Guo

PhD in Human–Computer Interaction for Intelligent Transportation Systems

Monash University

Supervised by Dr. Wynita Griggs and Dr. Michael Burke

Thesis submitted for examination

From perception to interaction: Psychological drivers and adaptive conversational agents for shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs)

• Predict: Developed predictive modelling and visual analytics frameworks to identify drivers of technology acceptance.
• Interact: Designed LLM-based SAV interfaces and studied 2,136 open-domain interactions with 50 participants.
• Measure: Developed and benchmarked automated methods for measuring dialogue attributes associated with perceived service quality.
• Control: Developed a closed-loop framework to steer LLM response behaviour towards more adaptive and stable interaction.
• Research outputs: One published Q1 journal article, one journal article under review, one IEEE ITSC paper, an open dataset, and a manuscript in preparation.
• Thesis examination: Both examiners rated all merit criteria Excellent or Exceptional and assessed the thesis as worthy of nomination for a thesis award.

B.Eng. (Honours) in Civil Engineering

Monash University

B.Com. in Business Analytics

Monash University

Postdoctoral Research Fellow — Human–Robot Interaction

Monash University

Monash Robotics · ARC ITTC in Optimal Ageing · Supervisor Prof. Dana Kulić

• Investigating how older adults' preferences, needs, and lived experiences can inform adaptive home robot behaviour.
• Developing a MuJoCo simulation and evaluation pipeline for Reachy 2, including robot control, safety constraints, and exploration of pre-trained vision-language-action policies.
• Working with robotics, design, and ageing researchers on participatory approaches and planned studies involving older adults.

Research Collaborator — AI in Engineering Education

Monash University

With Assoc. Prof. Nan Zheng, Assoc. Prof. Ye Lu, and Dr. Linxin Hua

• Co-developed and trialled CivASK, a retrieval-augmented learning assistant for engineering students.
• Contributed to a multi-agent evaluation framework that simulated 742 student inquiries and generated 374 test questions.
• Applied prompt optimisation to technical problem-solving and analysed 6,072 student feedback comments to inform curriculum improvement.
• Published a Q1 journal article and an AAEE 2024 conference paper; another journal article is under review.

Research Assistant

Monash University

Autonomous systems risk assessment research

• Reviewed and synthesised research on risk assessment methodologies for autonomous system design.

Assistant Lecturer / Lead Teaching Associate

Civil and Environmental Engineering, Monash University

CIV2282 Transport and Traffic Engineering · CIV3283 Road Engineering · CIV5177 Advanced Road Engineering

• Delivered tutorials, practical sessions, consultations, and assessment support for cohorts of up to 410 students.
• Developed visualisations, learning activities, teaching materials, and assessments to support applied learning.
• Managed digital learning resources and marking workflows; contributed to curriculum improvement and industry engagement.

Teaching Associate

Civil and Environmental Engineering, Monash University

CIV2282 · CIV3283 · ENG1021 · CIV2206

• Facilitated practical sessions and provided rubric-aligned assessment feedback.

Sessional Academic

Information Systems & Business Analytics, Deakin University

MIS362 Social Media Analytics and Data Driven Innovation

• Assessed student work using academic judgement and the unit's assessment criteria.

Tutor

Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne

CMCE10001 Sustainable Commerce

• Supported lectures and led tutorials for a first-year cohort of approximately 1,700 students per semester.
• Guided students through applied sustainability challenges and provided consultation and assessment support.

CivASK: A Retrieval-Augmented AI Assistant for Engineering Education

Transport Professionals Association webinar

Presented with Assoc. Prof. Nan Zheng and Dr. Linxin Hua.

Sentiment matters: An analysis of 200 human-SAV interactions

IEEE ITSC, Gold Coast

Use of Large Language Models in Engineering Education: A Case Study on Infrastructure Design Report Introductions

AAEE Annual Conference, Christchurch

PhD Student Research Symposium

Australasian Transport Research Forum, Melbourne

Exploring User Interaction with Shared Autonomous Vehicles: The Impact of Psychological Ownership and Anthropomorphism on User Experience

Monash 4th Engineering Postgraduate Conference

A Random Forest Approach to Predict and Visualize Public Acceptance of Shared Autonomous Vehicles

ITS Australia Global Summit, Melbourne

Sentiment Analysis of Shared Autonomous Vehicle Voice Assistants: The Role of Psychological Ownership and Anthropomorphism in Chatbot Responses

Monash 3rd Engineering Postgraduate Conference

Mental Health First Aider

Faculty of Engineering, Monash University

First Aider

Monash Robotics

Civil Engineering Specialisation Representative

Monash First-Year Branch Selection Event

Civil Engineering Student Volunteer

Monash University Open Day

Journal Reviewer

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · Acta Psychologica · IEEE Access · IEEE IV

Mentor

Access Monash Mentoring

Supported Year 11–12 students, including students from under-represented communities.

Mentee

MentorLinkPhD · Mentored by Prof. Jeremy Barr

eAssessment IT Support Officer

Monash University

Resolved time-sensitive student technical issues and escalated complex cases during eAssessments.

Façade Cadet

ICON — A KAJIMA COMPANY, Abbotsford

Supported façade engineering coordination, quality assurance, and drawing compliance review.