Several UALR students recently traveled with their faculty mentor, Dr. Nitin Agarwal, to present research at the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Spring 2015 Symposia Series.

The symposia was held March 23 to 25 at Stanford University in California.

Agarwal said the students’ various research is part of a larger program, Social Computing and Behavioral Modeling, funded in part by grants from the National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Research Lab.

AAAI is a nonprofit devoted to advancing the scientific understanding of mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behavior and its embodiment in machines.

The students and their research include:

Amit Saha, who presented on providing social support for the autism community via a microblogging platform. He is a doctoral candidate employed as a senior data analyst at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He is analyzing the interaction of autism community members in various social media platforms to determine whether the community provides online social support.

Samer Al-khateeb, a master’s degree student who will start his Ph.D. at UALR’s George W. Donaghey Engineering and Information Technology in fall 2015. His research analyzes flash mobs in cybernetic space and imminent threats to security. Al-khateeb also completed his B.S. degree in computer science at UALR in May 2013.

Fatih Sen, who graduated with a doctoral degree in May 2014 and is a biomedical informatics research specialist for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Sen continues to work with UALR conducting research of online platforms to analyze focal structures using a web tool.