Dhruv Batra

Dhruv Batra

Dhruv Batra

Associate Professor; School of Interactive Computing

Dhruv Batra is an Associate Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. His research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and AI, with a focus on developing intelligent systems that are able to concisely summarize their beliefs about the world with diverse predictions, integrate information and beliefs across different sub-components or `modules' of AI (vision, language, reasoning, dialog), and interpretable AI systems that provide explanations and justifications for why they believe what they believe. In past, he has also worked on topics such as interactive co-segmentation of large image collections, human body pose estIMaTion, action recognition, depth estIMaTion, and distributed optimization for inference and learning in probabilistic graphical models. He is a recipient of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) award (2016), the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award (2014), Army Research Office (ARO) Young Investigator Program (YIP) award (2014), Virginia Tech College of Engineering Outstanding New Assistant Professor award (2015), two Google Faculty Research Awards (2013, 2015), Amazon Academic Research award (2016), Carnegie Mellon Dean's Fellowship (2007), and several best paper awards (EMNLP 2017, ICML workshop on Visualization for Deep Learning 2016, ICCV workshop Object Understanding for Interaction 2016) and teaching commendations at Virginia Tech. His research is supported by NSF, ARO, ARL, ONR, DARPA, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. Research from his lab has been extensively covered in the media (with varying levels of accuracy) at CNN, BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg Business, The Boston Globe, MIT Technology Review, Newsweek, The Verge, New Scientist, and NPR. From 2013-2016, he was an Assistant Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he led the VT Machine Learning & Perception group and was a member of the Virginia Center for Autonomous Systems (VaCAS) and the VT Discovery Analytics Center (DAC). From 2010-2012, he was a Research Assistant Professor at Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC), a philanthropically endowed academic computer science institute located on the University of Chicago campus. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 and 2010 respectively, advised by Tsuhan Chen. In past, he has held visiting positions at the Machine Learning Department at CMU, CSAIL MIT, Microsoft Research, and Facebook AI Research.

dbatra@gatech.edu

Website

  • Personal Research Website
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Collaborative Robotics
    • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
    Additional Research:

    Machine Learning; Computer Vision; Artificial Intelligence


    IRI Connections:

    Stephen Balakirsky

    Stephen Balakirsky

    Stephen Balakirsky

    Regents' Researcher; Georgia Tech Research Institute
    Director of Technical Initiatives; IBB
    Chief Scientist | Aerospace, Transportation & Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATAS); GTRI

    Stephen Balakirsky is the Chief Scientist for the Aerospace, Transportation & Advanced Systems Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), and the Director of Technical Initiatives at the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB) at Georgia Tech.

    Balakirsky’s research interests include robotic architectures, planning, bio-automation, robotic standards, and autonomous systems testing. His work in knowledge driven robotics couples real-time sensors and knowledge repositories to allow for flexibility and agility in robotic systems ranging from assembly and manufacturing systems to surveillance and logistics systems. The framework promotes software reuse and the ability to detect and correct for execution errors.

    Previously, Balakirsky worked as a project manager at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and was a senior research engineer at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). At ARL, Balakirsky performed mobile robotics research in several areas, including command and control, mapping, human-computer interfaces, target tracking, vision processing and tele-operated control.

    stephen.balakirsky@gtri.gatech.edu

    404.407.8547

    Office Location:
    Food Processing Technology Building, 640 Strong St, Atlanta, GA 30318

    Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Collaborative Robotics
    Additional Research:

    Robotics; Planning; Knowledge Representation; Ontologies


    IRI Connections:

    Rosa Arriaga

    Rosa Arriaga

    Rosa Arriaga

    Associate Professor

    Arriaga is a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher in the School of Interactive Computing. She uses psychological concepts, theories and methods to address fundamental topics of HCI and Social Computing. Her current research interests are in the area of chronic care management and mental health. She designs mHealth systems that address gaps in chronic care and mental health management. The computational systems she designs: foster engagement, facilitate continuity of care, promote patient self-advocacy, and mediate communication between patient and healthcare providers.

    arriaga@cc.gatech.edu

    404-385-4239

    Website

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Lifelong Health and Well-Being
    Additional Research:
    Bioinformatics; Human-Computer Interaction; Developmental Psychology; Chronic Care Management

    IRI Connections:

    Annie Anton

    Annie Anton

    Annie Anton

    Professor

    Annie Anton, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, which she chaired until 2017. Previously, she served as a professor in the Computer Science Department of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, where she was director of the CSC Policy and Compliance Initiative and a member of the NCSU Cyber Defense Lab. In 2010, she chaired the NC State University Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee. In 2008, she chaired the NC State Public Policy Task Force. Anton's research focuses on methods and tools to support the specification of complete, correct behavior of software systems used in environments that pose risks of loss as a consequence of failures and misuse. This includes systems in which the security of personal and private information is particularly vulnerable. Current extensions to this work, include the analysis of federal security and privacy regulations, and compliance practices. Anton is the founder and director of ThePrivacyPlace.org, a research group of students and faculty at Georgia Tech, CMU, NC State and UMBC. This group is interested in technologies that assist practitioners and policy makers in meeting the challenge of eliciting and expressing policies and regulations (a form of requirements). These tools help ensure that software systems are aligned with the privacy polices and regulations that govern these systems. Her professional activities include a notable combination of multi-disciplinary research and education. She is co-founder of the annual Requirements Engineering and the Law Workshop (RELAW). She is a former associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, cognitive issues subject area editor for the Requirements Engineering Journal, and the International Board of Referees for Computers & Security. Antón has served on various boards, ᅠincluding: ᅠPresident Obama's Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, the NIST Information Security & Privacy Advisory Board, the IEEE Computer Society Research Board, an Intel Corporation Advisory Board, the Future of Privacy Forum Advisory Board. ᅠShe is a former member of the U.S. DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, the CRA Board of Directors, the NSF Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate Advisory Council, the Distinguished External Advisory Board for the TRUST Research Center at U.C. Berkeley, the DARPA ISAT Study Group, the USACM Public Policy Council, the Advisory Board for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees, the Microsoft Research University Relations Faculty Advisory Board, the CRA-W, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board (GTAB), and Corporate Secretary for Trekking for Kids, Inc.

    aa16@gatech.edu

    404.894.8591

    Website

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Cybersecurity Public Policy
    Additional Research:
    Data Security & Privacy;

    IRI Connections:

    Ghassan AlRegib

    Ghassan AlRegib

    Ghassan AlRegib

    John and Marilu McCarty Chair Professor
    Center Director

    Prof. AlRegib is currently the John and Marilu McCarty Chair Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His group is the Omni Lab for Intelligent Visual Engineering and Science (OLIVES) at Georgia Tech. In 2012, he was named the Director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Energy and Geo Processing (CeGP). He is the director of the Center for Signal and Information Processing (CSIP). He also served as the Director of Georgia Tech’s Initiatives and Programs in MENA between 2015 and 2018. He has authored and co-authored more than 300 articles in international journals and conference proceedings. He has been issued several U.S. patents and invention disclosures. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

    Prof. AlRegib received the ECE Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 2001 and both the CSIP Research and the CSIP Service Awards in 2003. In 2008, he received the ECE Outstanding Junior Faculty Member Award. In 2017, he received the 2017 Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement. He and his students received the Beat Paper Award in ICIP 2019. He received the 2024 ECE Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award at Georgia Tech. He and his students received the Best Paper Award in ICIP 2019 and the 2023 EURASIP Best Paper Award for Image communication Journal.

    Prof. AlRegib participated in a number of activities. He has served as Technical Program co-Chair for ICIP 2020 and ICIP 2024. He served two terms as a member of the IEEE SPS Technical Committees on Multimedia Signal Processing (MMSP) and Image, Video, and Multidimensional Signal Processing (IVMSP), 2015-2017 and 2018-2020. He was a member of the Editorial Boards of both the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing (TIP), 2009-2022, and the Elsevier Journal Signal Processing: Image Communications, 2014-2022. He was a member of the editorial board of the Wireless Networks Journal (WiNET), 2009-2016 and the IEEE Transaction on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (CSVT), 2014-2016. He was an Area Chair for ICME 2016/17 and the Tutorial Chair for ICIP 2016. He served as the chair of the Special Sessions Program at ICIP’06, the area editor for Columns and Forums in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM), 2009–12, the associate editor for IEEE SPM, 2007-09, the Tutorials co-chair in ICIP’09, a guest editor for IEEE J-STSP, 2012, a track chair in ICME’11, the co-chair of the IEEE MMTC Interest Group on 3D Rendering, Processing, and Communications, 2010-12, the chair of the Speech and Video Processing Track at Asilomar 2012, and the Technical Program co-Chair of IEEE GlobalSIP, 2014. He lead a team that organized the IEEE VIP Cup, 2017 and the 2023 IEEEE VIP Cup. He delivered short courses and several tutorials at international events such as BigData, NeurIPS, ICIP, ICME, CVPR, AAAI, and WACV.

    In the Omni Lab for Intelligent Visual Engineering and Science (OLIVES), he and his group work on robust and interpretable machine learning algorithms, uncertainty and trust, and human in the loop algorithms. The group studies interventions into AI systems to enhance their trustworthiness. The group has demonstrated their work on a wide range of applications such as Autonomous Systems, Medical Imaging, and Subsurface Imaging. The group is interested in advancing the fundamentals as well as the deployment of such systems in real-world scenarios. His research group is working on projects related to machine learning, image and video processing, image and video understanding, subsurface imaging, perception in visual data processing, healthcare intelligence, and video analytics. The primary applications of the research span from Autonomous Vehicles to Portable AI-based Ophthalmology and Eye Exam and from Microscopic Imaging to Seismic Interpretation. The group was the first to introduce modern machine learning to seismic interpretation.

    In 2024, and after more than three years of continuous work, he co-founded Georgia Tech’s AI Makerspace. The AI Makerspace is a resource for the entire campus community to access AI. Its purpose is to democratize access to AI. Together with his team, they are developing tools and services for the AI Makerspace via a VIP Team called AI Makerspace Nexus. In addition, he created two AI classes from scratch with innovative hands-on exercises using the AI Makerspace. One class is the ECE4252/8803 FunML class (Fundamentals of Machine Learning) where students learn the basics of Machine Learning as well as eight weeks of Deep learning both mathematically and using hands-on exercises on real-world data. The second class is a sophomore-level AI Foundations class (AI First) that teaches any student from any college the basics of AI such as data literacy, learning, decision, planning, and ethics using theory and hands-on exercises on the AI Makerspace. Prof. AlRegib wrote two textbooks for both classes.

    Prof. AlRegib has provided services and consultation to several firms, companies, and international educational and R&D organizations. He has been a witness expert in a number of patents infringement cases and Inter Partes Review (IRP) cases.

    alregib@gatech.edu

    404-894-7005

    Office Location:
    Centergy-One Room 5224

    Website

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Bioinformatics
    • Conventional Energy
    • Machine Learning
    Additional Research:

    Machine learning, Trustworthy AI, Explainable AI (XAI), Robust Learning Systems, Multimodal Learning, Annotations Diversity in AI Systems


    IRI Connections:

    Mustaque Ahamad

    Mustaque Ahamad

    Mustaque Ahamad

    Associate Director, Education and Outreach IISP; Professor

    Mustaque Ahamad, Ph.D., is the Associate Director of Education & Outreach for the Institute for Information Security & Privacy (IISP) and professor in the College of Computing at Georiga Tech. Within the IISP, he seeks to proactively address challenges associated with workforce development in cybersecurity. With oversight of formal degree programs and continuing education for working professionals, he is an advocate for greater cybersecurity education and training in order to meet the collective needs of industry and government. Ahamad's research interests are in the areas of converged communications security and security of healthcare systems. As smart-phone-like devices enable ubiquitous access to web and voice channels, the convergence of telephony with the Internet gives rise to new cross-channel threats that can combine online and voice attacks. For example, voice phishing with caller-ID spoofing has been reported for stealing online banking credentials. His data-driven research approach for exploring cross-channel threats has resulted in a better understanding of these threats and more effective ways to combat them. In the healthcare security area, he has worked on monitoring for detection of abuse and fraud. Ahamad co-founded Pindrop Security, which commercialized his group's research in the telephony security area, and he continues to serve as its chief scientist. He also serves as co-chair of the Messaging Malware Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) special interest group on voice and telephony abuse. He also served as an external advisor for the Federal Trade Commission for telephony abuse. For nearly 20 years, he has been a leading figure in information security as an associate of the IISP's predecessor -- the Georgia Tech Information Security Center -- since 1998 and including serving as its director from 2004 to 2012. He earned his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and a B.E. (Hons.) degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India. Mustaque Ahamad, Ph.D., is the Associate Director of Education & Outreach for the Institute for Information Security & Privacy (IISP) and professor in the College of Computing at Georiga Tech. Within the IISP, he seeks to proactively address challenges associated with workforce development in cybersecurity. With oversight of formal degree programs and continuing education for working professionals, he is an advocate for greater cybersecurity education and training in order to meet the collective needs of industry and government. Ahamad's research interests are in the areas of converged communications security and security of healthcare systems. As smart-phone-like devices enable ubiquitous access to web and voice channels, the convergence of telephony with the Internet gives rise to new cross-channel threats that can combine online and voice attacks. For example, voice phishing with caller-ID spoofing has been reported for stealing online banking credentials. His data-driven research approach for exploring cross-channel threats has resulted in a better understanding of these threats and more effective ways to combat them. In the healthcare security area, he has worked on monitoring for detection of abuse and fraud. Ahamad co-founded Pindrop Security, which commercialized his group's research in the telephony security area, and he continues to serve as its chief scientist. He also serves as co-chair of the Messaging Malware Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) special interest group on voice and telephony abuse. He also served as an external advisor for the Federal Trade Commission for telephony abuse. For nearly 20 years, he has been a leading figure in information security as an associate of the IISP's predecessor -- the Georgia Tech Information Security Center -- since 1998 and including serving as its director from 2004 to 2012. He earned his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and a B.E. (Hons.) degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

    mustaq@cc.gatech.edu

    404.894.2593

    Website

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Network and Security Vulnerability Analysis
    Additional Research:
    Healthcare Security; Mobile & Wireless Communications

    IRI Connections:

    Ashok Goel

    Ashok Goel

    Ashok Goel

    Professor; School of Interactive Computing
    Director| Ph.D. program in Human-Centered Computing; College of Computing
    Co-Director; Center for Biologically Inspired Design
    Fellow; Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems

    Ashok Goel is a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. At Georgia Tech, he is also the Director of the Ph.D. Program in Human-Centered Computing, a Co-Director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design, and a Fellow of Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems. For more than thirty years, Ashok has conducted research into artificial intelligence, cognitive science and human-centered computing, with a focus on computational design, modeling and creativity. His recent work has explored design thinking, analogical thinking and systems thinking in biological inspired design (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRDQ4hr9i8), and his research is now developing virtual research assistants for modeling biological systems. Ashok teaches a popular course on knowledge-based AI as part of Georgia Tech's program on Online Masters of Science in Computer Science. He has pioneered the development of virtual teaching assistants, such as Jill Watson, for answering questions in online discussion forums (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbCguICyfTA). Chronicle of Higher Education recently called virtual assistants exemplified by Jill Watson as one of the most transformative educational technologies in the digital era. Ashok is the Editor-in-Chief of AAAI's AI Magazine.

    ashok.goel@cc.gatech.edu

    Office Location:
    GVU/TSRB

    Design & Intelligence Laboratory

    Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Human Augmentation
    • Platforms and Services for Socio-Technical Frontier
    • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
    Additional Research:

    Artificial Intelligence; Cognitive Science; Computational Design; Computational Creativity; Educational Technology; Design Science; Learning Science and Technology; Human-Centered Computing


    IRI Connections:

    Chaitanya Deo

    Chaitanya Deo

    Chaitanya Deo

    Professor

    Dr. Deo came to Georgia Tech in August 2007 as an Assistant Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering. Prior, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the Materials Science and Technology Division of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He studied radiation effects in structural materials (iron and ferritic steels) and nuclear fuels (uranium dioxide). He also obtained research experience at Princeton University (Mechanical Engineering), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.

    chaitanya.deo@nre.gatech.edu

    (404) 385.4928

    Website

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Algorithms & Optimizations
    • Computational Materials Science
    • Conventional Energy
    • Materials for Energy
    Additional Research:

    Nuclear; Thermal Systems; Materials In Extreme Environments; computational mechanics; Materials Failure and Reliability; Ferroelectronic Materials; Materials Data Sciences


    IRI Connections:

    Polo Chau

    Polo Chau

    Polo Chau

    Director of Industry Relations, Institute for Data Engineering and Science
    Professor
    Associate Director, MS in Analytics

    Duen Horng Chau is a Professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. He co-directs Georgia Tech's MS Analytics program. He is the Director of Industry Relations of The Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS), and the Associate Director of Corporate Relations of The Center for Machine Learning. His research group bridges machine learning and visualization to synthesize scalable interactive tools for making sense of massive datasets, interpreting complex AI models, and solving real world problems in cybersecurity, human-centered AI, graph visualization and mining, and social good. His Ph.D. in Machine Learning from Carnegie Mellon University won CMU's Computer Science Dissertation Award, Honorable Mention.

    He received 17 best paper type awards and published 200+ refereed articles across machine learning and visualization venues. He received prestigious faculty awards (Google, Meta, Intel), GT-wide Senior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, and Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Award. His work has been deployed by Google, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, ADP, NortonLifeLock, and Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. His students won PhD fellowships (Google, Apple, IBM, JPMorgan, NASA, NSF). He teaches 1,000+ students each semester.

    polo@gatech.edu

    404.385.7682

    Office Location:
    KACB 1324

    Website

    University, College, and School/Department
    Research Focus Areas:
    • Delivery & Storage
    • Policy & Economics
    • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
    Additional Research:

    Data Mining & Analytics; Machine Learning; Threat Intelligence; Cyber/ Information Technology; Computer Interaction; Cybersecurity; Visualization;


    IRI Connections:

    Robert Butera

    Robert Butera

    Robert Butera

    Chief Research Operations Officer
    Professor

    rbutera@gatech.edu

    404-894-2935

    Office Location:
    UAW 3111

    Website

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Neuroscience
    Additional Research:

    Neuromodulation of peripheral nerve activity real-time control methods applied to electrophysiology measurements Autonomic modulation of visceral organs. Our laboratory combines engineering and neuroscience to tackle real-world problems. We utilize techniques including intracellular and extracellular electrophysiology, computational modeling, and real-time computing.


    IRI Connections: