Bio:

Dr. Jito Vanualailai attended the University of the South Pacific, graduating in 1987 with the Bachelor of Science degree (Mathematics and Physics majors). In 1988, he was awarded a Japanese Government scholarship to undertake postgraduate studies in Japan.  In 1990 he graduated with the Master of Engineering specializing in Control and Systems Engineering from the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa. In 1991 he was accepted by Kobe University, Kobe, Japan, to undertake the PhD program in Mathematical Control Theory.  He successfully completed the program in 1993 with the publication of his PhD thesis Applications of the Direct Method of Lyapunov to Nonlinear Systems and returned to Fiji where he joined the University of the South Pacific (USP) in 1994 as Lecturer in Mathematics.  He has been with USP since then. In 2017, he was made Professor of Applied Mathematics. From 2011 – 2019, he was the substantial Director of Research at USP.  He is currently the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Education. Dr. Jito Vanualailai has published extensively in his field over the last 27 years as an academic and researcher.  

His current research interests in the application of the Direct Method of Lyapunov include (i) analyzing the behavior of solutions of nonlinear systems including Volterra integro-differential systems, artificial neural networks and autonomous robotic systems, (ii) controlling the physical movements of autonomous robotic agents in two- and three-dimensional spaces, and (iii) using Swarm Intelligence to coordinate multiple autonomous robotic agents. A list of publications in these areas can be found at Google Scholar.  As of late,  Dr. Jito Vanualailai has begun exploring the intriguing world of the Bible and developing a framework to apply Mathematics to the Bible, as a means of biblical interpretation.