News
Meet our New Faculty Members
September 03, 2024
With the start of the new school year well underway, the College of Computing welcomes six new faculty members to Grand Valley! Each of them possess a wide range of skills, experience, and creativity that we are excited to share with our students and our community. Take a second and read a little bit about each one of them.
Haoyu Li, Ph.D.
Fun Fact: I am into the hobby of plastic model kit building and painting, especially armored vehicles from WWII.
Areas of Research: My research area is data visualization for scientific simulations and machine learning models. Visualization helps us understand the world better. I am a visual thinker, and it is amazing how complex concepts can be clearly presented and understood with good visualizations.
Classes this Semester: I am teaching CIS 671 information visualization and CIS 343 structure of programming languages.
Most Excited about this Semester: Meet my students and learn how I can become a better teacher.
Romena Yasmin, Ph.D.
Fun Fact: Given my appearance, people often don’t realize that I am quite handy with house maintenance and DIY projects—especially people at Home Depot!
Areas of Research: My research focuses on Computational Social Choice, Group Decision Making, and Simulation Techniques. I'm fascinated by how groups come to agreements on both subjective and objective matters, and how we can use data to uncover different perspectives within those collective decisions. By combining machine learning, human intelligence, and optimization models, I aim to improve decision-making processes in areas like object screening, surveys, and operational workflows. The intersection of social behavior and computational models drives my passion for creating solutions that are both data-driven and human-centered.
Classes this Semester: I will be teaching Object Oriented Programming for Engineers, Computer Science I, and Problem Solving Using Spreadsheets this semester.
Most Excited about this Semester: As a new faculty member, I’m most excited to see my students’ “lightbulb moments” when tricky concepts finally click. I can’t wait to dive into coding adventures and spreadsheet sorcery together!
Arya Jadhav, M.S.
Fun Fact: When I’m not diving into data and machine learning, you can find me painting watercolor landscapes—because sometimes it's nice to work with something that doesn’t require debugging.
Areas of Research: My areas of research lie at the intersection of machine learning, healthcare diagnostics, and chronic disease management. I am particularly focused on applying machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques to improve the predictive and diagnostic capabilities of healthcare systems. In addition to diagnostics, I am deeply interested in the broader context of chronic disease management, where effective data analysis can lead to better outcomes for patients.
Classes this Semester: I am teaching CIS 150 and CIS 231 this fall.
Most Excited about this Semester: This semester, I’m most excited about meeting new students and inspiring them to discover the fascinating world of computing. I’m eager to nurture their curiosity, help them build a strong foundation, and guide them as they explore the endless possibilities this field offers.
Austin Ferguson, Ph.D.
Fun Fact: I have no mental imagery -- I couldn't picture an apple if you asked me to. I find it fascinating that our brains can do the same tasks (e.g., adding some numbers in your head, reading), though we may do them very differently!
Areas of Research: In undergrad I did a lot of game development, and I was frustrated that my non-playable characters were boring -- they didn't interact with their virtual worlds in interesting or unique ways. This dilemma pointed me toward evolutionary computation: Using evolution as an optimization algorithm to solve computational problems. Some of my research still uses these ideas today, but now the majority of my research has flipped this idea on its head: I use computational models to study evolution.
Classes this Semester: CIS 241, or System-level Programming and Utilities CIS 35, or Computer Organization.
Most Excited about this Semester: I am lucky to still have an outsider's perspective on GVSU. I can see just how special the people at this school are. The faculty are so committed to their teaching and to student success, and the students are ready to learn and to pursue opportunities like internships and undergraduate research. The scholarly energy at GV is palpable, and I am so excited to be part of it all! I look forward to learning from all the faculty around me, and I look forward to not just teaching these motivated students, but to learn from them, too.
Jiaxin Du, Ph.D.
Fun Fact: I really enjoy reading, hiking, and traveling.
Areas of Research: I am very interested in information security, decision making support systems, and artificial intelligence.
Classes this Semester: This semester I am teaching Principles of Information Systems and Learn to Code in Python.
Most Excited about this Semester: I am most excited to be connected with the fantastic GVSU community.
Ali Raza, Ph.D.
Fun Fact: I enjoy spending outdoor time with my two little daughters and hiking.
Areas of Research: My research crosses Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Learning Analytics, Visualization, AI in Education, STEM Education, and Learning Sciences. I co-design, develop, and study educational technologies and learning environments in formal and informal learning settings, adopting a Design-Based Research approach to support meaningful learning experiences for all learners. If you are interested in any of the above areas, I am always happy to chat!
Classes this Semester: I am teaching Usability Design and Evaluation, CIS-368, and Software Engineering, CIS-350.
Most Excited about this Semester: I am excited about partnering with new students through teaching and starting a research lab focused on educational technology at GVSU.
We are thankful to have so many new faces within the College of Computing and encourage all of our students, faculty and staff to introduce yourselves and get to know the new members of our community!