Celebrating our Women in [Computer] Science
In celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we asked some of our women in computer science here at Deakin’s Applied AI Institute to share some insights into their journey to and work at the institute.
Dr Rena Logothetis
Senior Research Fellow
Q: What has been your career path?
I have been privileged to have experienced various career paths including business management before discovering my destiny in translational research.
Q: What is the main question or problem you are trying to solve?
How can we use AI to optimize healthcare operations to provide better patient care?
Q: Who is another woman in science that inspires you?
Alfred Deakin Prof Svetha Venkatesh. Her story is my driving power, as are her outstanding achievements.
Q: What makes you excited about the future of AI and machine learning?
Its application in the real world is making a better tomorrow!
Dr Haripriya Harikumar
Associate Research Fellow
Q: What has been your career path?
I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science in India. I had always wanted to do a PhD as I was fascinated by the transformative power of machine learning algorithms in discerning the patterns from the data.
While I was working as a research assistant at a university in India, I learned about the opportunity to pursue a PhD in Pattern Recognition and Data Analytics (now A2I2) lab at Deakin University, Australia. Following a successful interview, I was awarded a scholarship to pursue a PhD under the supervision of some of the brilliant minds of AI in Australia.
I finished my PhD under the supervision of Associate Professor Santu Rana, Professor Sunil Gupta, Senior Research Lecturer Thin Nguyen, and Alfred Deakin Professor Svetha Venkatesh. Later, I got the opportunity to continue my research as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute at Deakin University.
Q: What is the main question or problem you are trying to solve?
My primary focus is building robust frameworks to safeguard machine learning models against threats such as adversarial attacks, ensuring their trustworthiness and safety in practical applications. My research is directed toward fostering AI’s responsible and ethical utilization.
Q: Who is another woman in science that inspires you?
Alfred Deakin Professor Svetha Venkatesh. She has been a role model ever since I joined her research lab.
Q: What makes you excited about the future of AI and machine learning?
With the appropriate utilization of AI, the potential to revolutionise diverse fields such as healthcare, science, entertainment, and beyond is truly remarkable. I am deeply fascinated by the positive changes or advancements it can bring or deliver to the communities we live.
Our Co-Director of Deakin’s Applied AI Institute, Alfred Deakin Professor Svetha Venkatesh, is ranked in the Top 15 women in AI in the world.
Video courtesy: Australian Academy of Science
Dr Shangeetha Sivasothy
Associate Research Fellow
Q: What has been your career path?
An electronics and telecommunication engineering degree led to a career as a software engineer, developing advanced, low-latency, scalable, and reliable software systems in the finance industry. After completing my PhD in software engineering at A2I2 I joined the institute as an associate research fellow.
Q: What is the main question or problem you are trying to solve?
My PhD research was focused on providing efficient information search tools and techniques for developers who implement data science tasks, supporting their experimentation and exploratory programming. Now, my focus is on software engineering for AI, building AI systems in different domains such as healthcare and education.
Q: Who is another woman in science who inspires you?
Q: What gets excited about the future of AI and machine learning?
Innovations like ChatGPT highlight the rapid progress in AI and its transformative potential to society more broadly. There’s a growing recognition that AI can revolutionize human interactions and decision-making processes. The enthusiasm for such innovations reflects a collective acknowledgment of AI’s role in shaping a more intelligent digital future.
It’s fascinating to observe individuals from non-AI backgrounds discussing AI revolutions in everyday settings.
Hala Abdelkader
PhD Candidate
Q: What has been your career path?
I worked as a teaching and research assistant at Cairo University for three years before starting my PhD journey at A2I2 here at Deakin University.
Q: What is the main question or problem you are trying to solve?
My research primarily aims to enhance the reliability and trustworthiness of machine learning in real-world applications, and improve its acceptability, safety, and security within our broader community.
Q: Who is another woman in science that inspires you?
Fei-Fei Li, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University.
Q: What makes you excited about the future of AI and machine learning?
I am excited about the future of AI and machine learning because of the contributions of brilliant researchers, engineers, and scientists, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the field. Also, the progress we have witnessed lately, for instance, generative AI, is beyond what anyone could have imagined.