Phillip Smith graduated from Swinburne University of Technology in 2016 with a Bachelor of Robotic & Mechatronic Engineering and a Bachelor of Computer Science. In this graduating year, he was awarded The Australian Computer Society Student Prize, for highest achieving student in computer science; The ABB Prize, for highest achieving student in Robotics and Mechatronics; and the FW Green Memorial Prize for highest achieving final year student in Engineering faculty.

Phillip is currently underway through his Doctorate in Philosophy at Monash University, Faculty of Information Technology. His research is in Swarm Robotics, focusing on the autonomous development, learning and selection of behaviours.