Ying Wu College of Computing Matches Record Enrollment with 17 New Instructors for Fall 2022
Six new assistant professors have been appointed to the faculty of Ying Wu College of Computing (YWCC) for the 2022-2023 academic year. They are joined by 11 professors of practice, university lecturers and senior university lecturers who will support the College’s ever-growing enrollment numbers.
The new instructors will play a pivotal role in delivering a robust education based on real-world experience and research immediately transferrable to industry. They collectively bring a breadth of expertise in the fields of cybersecurity, neural networks, virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), mobile device applications, data analytics and, of course, computer programming.
Craig Gotsman, Dean of YWCC, said: “I am thrilled to welcome such a large number of talented new faculty and instructors to the college. Our growth in enrollment and research activity reflects the popularity of the computing disciplines in the region and the country, and we will continue to grow in all possible dimensions to match this demand.”
Learn more about the newest members of the YWCC community:
Computer Science
William DeMeo – Senior University Lecturer (Ph.D., University of Hawaii)
Research Interests: Machine learning, logic, universal algebra, complexity theory, functional programming for Big Data in Scala/Spark.
Industry Experience: Senior research assistant, Textron Systems Corp.
Personal Statement: “My passion for math and computer science can be contagious.”
Martin Kellogg – Assistant Professor (Ph.D., University of Washington)
Research Interests: Making software verification practical.
Why NJIT is the right “fit”: “The proximity to the tech hub of NYC is important given my applied interests in making verification practical for software engineers in the region.”
Larry Lay – Professor of Practice (M.S., Seton Hall University)
Teaching Experience: Teaching computing courses at NJIT since 2007.
Professional Experience: VP, Technical Lead, Data Analytics – Prudential Financial
Personal Statement: “NJIT is where the story of my professional life started.”
Yajuan (Jennifer) Li – University Lecturer (Ph.D., NJIT)
Research Interests: Convergence of computer science and operations research using theoretical models, simulation methods, data sciences, algorithms, and machine learning frameworks.
Personal Statement: “Having completed my Ph.D. degree [at NJIT], I am the happiest person in the world to work here as well!”
Asad Raza – Senior University Lecturer (M.S., Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
Teaching Experience: Developed and taught specialized security courses and conducted trainings for UAE military and industry. Taught courses in ethical hacking and pen testing, network security, wireless security, cryptography, digital forensics, information security management, operating system security.
Why NJIT is the right “fit”: “NJIT is one of the few universities offering a post graduate program in cybersecurity. In my 12 years teaching in different countries, I have noticed a gap between academia and industry. NJIT is bridging this gap.”
Cong Shi – Assistant Professor (Ph.D., Rutgers University)
Research Interests: Cybersecurity and privacy, smart healthcare, AI.
Why NJIT the right “fit”: “NJIT is a Carnegie R1 university with top cybersecurity research groups and educational programs. As cybersecurity is my core research area, I am keen to work with the faculty and students at NJIT to explore new security problems and solutions. In addition, I have been living in New Jersey for over five years, and I absolutely love it.”
What are some hobbies and pursuits away from your profession? “I learned violin during my undergraduate years, and still practice it now and then. Playing the violin is a good way to relax.”
Ayelet Zaidenberg – University Lecturer (B.S., Tel Aviv Yaffo Academic College, Israel)
Professional Experience: Backend & frontend engineer and DBA – Israel Defense Forces.
Data Science
Mengnan Du – Assistant Professor (Ph.D., Texas A&M)
Research Interests: The intersection of trustworthy machine learning and natural language understanding; additional interest in explainable, fair, and robust neural networks.
Research Experience: Research intern – Microsoft Research, Adobe Research; Software engineering intern – Intel.
Why NJIT the right “fit”: “NJIT is an institute with an excellent research reputation. My research interests align very well with the strategic plan of the Data Science Department and College of Computing to develop machine learning and big data technologies.”
What do you hope to accomplish in your first year at NJIT? “I expect to develop an externally funded research team of national prominence.”
Akm Islam – University Lecturer (B.S., NJIT)
Experience: Research assistant – NJIT Intelligible information visualization lab.
Michael Renda – Professor of Practice (M.S., NJIT)
Professional Experience: Manager of software engineering; Tech lead, mobile applications – Everyday Health, Inc.; Software contractor for iPhone apps: Crohn’s Diary, BlackBag, and Pneumonia Management Tool – Johnson & Johnson.
Why NJIT is the right “fit”: “I very much appreciate the diversity of both the student body and the faculty, the collaborative environment and the excellence at NJIT. Being part of the NJIT faculty has been my goal from the time I started graduate school and I’m very excited to be here.”
What are some hobbies and pursuits away from your profession? “Travel and photography, especially in Southeast Asia. The people I meet, the adventure of traveling and the foods I’ve enjoyed form lifelong memories.”
Lijing Wang – Assistant Professor (Ph.D., University of Virginia)
Professional Experience: Research Fellow – Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School.
Research Projects: Forecasting COVID-19 dynamics; Health disparity analysis in infectious diseases.
Research Interests: machine learning, deep learning, AI, time series analysis, network science. Research is focused on combining theory-based mechanistic models and deep neural networks for epidemic forecasting and using AI to address societal challenges.
Mengjia Xu – Assistant Professor (Ph.D., Northeastern University)
Research Experience: Postdoc – MIT & Brown University.
Research Interests: Neural networks, machine learning. Developing effective data-driven machine learning algorithms and frameworks for diverse applications with an emphasis on biomedicine.
Why NJIT is the right “fit”: NJIT offers a competitive working environment and the opportunity to collaborate with groups inside and outside of NJIT. It also encourages innovation in diverse fields such as biology, finance and transportation. There are multiple emerging research institutes at NJIT, so it is undoubtedly the right choice for me.”
Fatima Yusuf – University Lecturer (M.S., NJIT)
Database Expertise: SQL, PL/SQL, ETL, Oracle SQL, NoSQL, XML, JSON
What is the one thing that you are most looking forward to during fall 2022? “I am particularly looking forward to empowering female students in computing and providing them the support they need to succeed.”
Informatics
Jennifer Farley – University Lecturer (M.S., American Military University)
Experience: Associate Faculty/Adjunct Professor of IT security – MiraCosta College, Adjunct Instructor: ICOHS College, California Institute of Arts and Technology, NJIT.
What do you hope to accomplish in your first year at NJIT? “I hope to perform some necessary updates to the curriculum, as the world of IT is always changing. I also look forward to joining the high school outreach program to assist with student recruiting and NJIT awareness.”
What are some hobbies and pursuits away from your profession? “I love outdoor activities, traveling with my husband, arts and crafts, and frolicking with my Maine Coon cats.”
Sooyeon Lee – Assistant Professor (Ph.D., Penn State University)
Research Experience: Postdoc – Rochester Institute of Technology
Research Interests: Computing accessibility and intelligent systems for people with hearing and visual impairments.
Why NJIT is the right “fit”: “I am excited to work with faculty and industry to achieve diverse and inclusive excellence in education and research. This is a shared goal of NJIT in making a transformative societal impact, shaping the future, and improving the world through creativity and innovation.”
What do you hope to accomplish in your first year at NJIT? “In teaching, I aim to develop and establish pedagogies and teaching strategies for the user experience (UX) design course to make sure that diversity and inclusivity of users are considered. In research, I want to build an innovative lab with an outstanding research group that leads accessible computing and accessibility research in the area of human-computer interaction and human-AI interaction.”
Adam Spryszynski – University Lecturer (M.S. – NJIT)
Expertise & Research Interests: Human-computer interaction (design thinking, ethnographic analysis, persona development, qualitative data analysis), software development (Unity, Unreal, CSS, HTML, C++, Python for Machine Learning, JavaScript, Java, SQL), Design (game design, educational software design, interactive design, UX, UI)
Research Experience: Educational game researcher.
Why NJIT is the right “fit”: “As a recent graduate of both the graduate and undergraduate programs, the NJIT community always felt like home. I understand the needs of the students, having experienced some of their struggles firsthand.”
What do you hope to accomplish in your first year at NJIT? “I have diverse interests ranging from design and prototyping all the way to the implementation and testing of new products and applications. I hope I can foster a collaborative community where students with different skill sets can work together in a synergistic environment, seamlessly integrating design, technology, and art.”
Rosemina Vohra – Senior University Lecturer (M.S., Stevens Institute of Technology)
Professional Experience: Full-stack developer – SAIC; Software engineer – Modus Operandi; Senior software engineer – BAE Systems.
What is the one thing that you are most looking forward during fall 2022? I'm very excited to be teaching IT-202 Internet Applications. Working in industry as a full-stack developer for many years, I gained extensive knowledge in creating web applications and I'm excited to share that knowledge with the students.
What do you hope to accomplish in your first year at NJIT? I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues to resurrect the IT-302 Advanced Internet Applications course to further expand what students learn in IT-202 Internet Applications. This will allow me to teach students the latest technology to create faster and more efficient web applications.