{"id":160,"date":"2025-02-02T19:13:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T19:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coeng.uaa.alaska.edu\/AI\/?page_id=160"},"modified":"2025-06-26T18:19:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:19:24","slug":"meet-the-raise-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/coeng.uaa.alaska.edu\/AI\/meet-the-raise-team\/","title":{"rendered":"RAISE – People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meet the RAISE Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dr. Kenrick<\/span> Mock<\/span><\/div>
PI, Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of Computer Science<\/div>

Biography<\/strong><\/p>

Kenrick Mock is a professor of Computer Science and dean of the College of Engineering. Kenrick has taught over 20 courses and conducts research in artificial intelligence, complex systems, computer security, eye tracking, systems modeling, and computer science education. He has over 20 years of programming experience and has co-authored several books on computer programming. He\u00a0is the past chair of the Task Force for Undergraduate Research, a committee that seeks to promote research experiences for undergraduates through grants, student activities, curriculum, and faculty development<\/p>

Education<\/strong><\/p>

Ph.D.<\/strong>, Computer Science, University of California, Davis. March, 1996. Dissertation: Hybrid Techniques for Intelligent Information Filtering: Genetic Algorithms, Case-Based Reasoning, and Statistical Approaches. Major Area of Study: Artificial Intelligence. Minor Areas of Study: Algorithms and Complexity, Cognitive Psychology.
M.S.<\/strong>, Computer Science, University of California, Davis. March, 1994.
B.S.<\/strong>, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of California, Davis. December,1990.<\/p><\/div>

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<\/div>
Dr. Masoumeh<\/span> Heidari<\/span><\/div>
Co-PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering<\/div>

Biography<\/strong><\/p>

Masoumeh is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering at University of Alaska Anchorage. She joined UAA in Fall 2022. Prior to joining UAA, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University, Laboratory for Computational Audio Perception. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Cognitive Science, and Computational Neuroscience. She received her MS and PhD degrees from the University of Memphis in Computer Engineering, in 2016 and 2019, respectively. During her PhD and Postdoctoral fellowship, she had the opportunity to work on interdisciplinary projects, funded by NSF and NIH.<\/p>

Education<\/strong><\/p>

Ph.D.<\/strong>, Computer Engineering, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN. Dissertation: Active Perception by Interaction with Other Agents in a Predictive Coding Framework: Application to Internet of Things Environment.
M.S.<\/strong>, Computer Engineering, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
B.S.<\/strong>, Computer Engineering (Software), University of Guilan, Guilan, Iran.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span>
<\/div>
Dr. George<\/span> Kamberov<\/span><\/div>
Co-PI, Executive Director, TTO and Compliance, Office of Research<\/div>

Biography<\/strong><\/p>

George Kamberov currently holds the position of Associate Vice Provost for Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Before joining UAA, he was the head of the Visual Computing Laboratory and an Associate Professor and Associate Research Professor in Computer Science at Stevens Institute of Technology. Prior to those positions, he served as William Chauvenet Assistant professor at Washington University at St. Louis and a G. C. Evans Instructor at Rice University. He received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. His research interests and publications are in real-time computer vision and graphics; machine learning; nonlinear analysis; high energy physics; the development and deployment of real-time systems for scene analysis, surveillance and forensics, and for monitoring and control of large sensor networks.\u00a0<\/p>

Dr. Kamberov\u2019s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, Google, and private foundations.<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
Dr. Alpana<\/span> Desai<\/span><\/div>
Co-PI, Professor of Management Information Systems<\/div>

Biography<\/strong><\/p>

Dr. Desai is an accomplished scholar and educator with expertise spanning computational mathematics, engineering, and data analytics. Her doctoral research, funded by an NSF-EPSCoR grant, focused on homogenization analysis and numerical simulations of biofilm processes in heterogeneous porous media as part of a multidisciplinary team. As a dedicated mentor, Dr. Desai has coached student teams for international data analytics competitions, including guiding a finalist team at the 2019 Teradata University Network Data Challenge and earning the Teradata Faculty Sponsor award for her leadership.<\/p>

Committed to student success, Dr. Desai has secured annual funding from a multinational oil company to provide Global Supply Chain and Logistics master\u2019s students with access to advanced, industry-standard software, enriching their experiential learning opportunities. She has also supervised numerous graduate research and management projects, as well as undergraduate and senior capstone projects in data analysis and information systems.<\/p>

A leader in curriculum development, Dr. Desai spearheaded the creation of a new undergraduate business degree in business and data analytics, which was approved by the University of Alaska Board of Regents in November 2023. She has also developed and redesigned several STEM courses for this innovative program. In recognition of her outstanding service, she received the College of Business and Public Policy\u2019s top service award in April 2024.<\/p>

Dr. Desai holds several prestigious certifications, including AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF) certification from Amazon Web Services, certification in the Machine Learning Specialization (awarded by Stanford University and DeepLearning.AI), and certifications in three Machine Learning courses (awarded by Stanford University and DeepLearning.AI).<\/p>

Education<\/strong><\/p>

Ph.D.<\/strong>, University of Wyoming, Laramie, PhD in Mathematics (Computational and Applied)
M.S.<\/strong>, University of Wyoming, Laramie, MS in Computer Science
M.S.<\/strong>, University of Wyoming, Laramie, MS in Mathematics (Computational and Applied)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/span>
<\/div>
Marilyn<\/span> Jeffers<\/span><\/div>
AI Community Partner Coordinator<\/div>

Marilyn is a <\/span><\/span>third-generation Alaskan<\/span> entrepreneur, who has spent the last 18 years successfully managing multiple businesses. She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage, with dual emphases in <\/span><\/span>Biological Sciences<\/span> and <\/span><\/span>Engineering<\/span>, and is currently pursuing a <\/span><\/span>Master's in Project Management<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"FundedFunded by NSF Award #2433241<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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