Dr Hammad Afzal (Scientific Director)

Detailed Resume  |  Education |  Supervision |  Editorial | 

Dr. Hammad Afzal is an accomplished academician, currently working as a Professor and Scientific Director of “AI Research Lab – A Collaborative Organization for Data-driven AI Technologies and Emerging Engineering Methods (CODTEEM)” at the National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan (ranked #334 in the QS World University Rankings 2023 and #1 in Pakistan). He is recognized for his contributions in the fields of machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and applied ML in cutting-edge domains, including smart healthcare, multi-lingual NLP, and information security. In Multi-lingual NLP, he is positioned among the top 10% of most cited researchers on Google Scholar.

Dr. Hammad completed PhD in Computer Science from the School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, UK (ranked #26 in the QS World University Rankings 2023) and worked as a Research Intern at Insight Center for Data Analytics, University of Ireland, Galway. He did an MSc in Advanced Computing Sciences from the University of Manchester, UK where he was awarded the Program Prize of the Year from the Department of Computation for acquiring the highest grades in MS courses. He has also garnered professional training and certifications from prestigious institutes such as IBM, DeepLearning.AI, Microsoft, and Google.

He has over 15 years of teaching and research experience at various educational and research institutions. He has 93 publications (with a Cumulative Impact Factor of 224) in highly prestigious refereed international journals and conferences. He has supervised 10 PhD and 80 MS students. He is currently engaged in various funded projects, supported by a substantial funding amount of more than 20 Million PKR from various resources including Research and Academic Collaboration, Govt of Pakistan, National Grassroots ICT Research Initiative, and BBSRC-funded project (UK).

Dr. Hammad is a professional member of various national and international bodies such as IEEE (Senior Member) ACM, and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). He has served as the Head of UG Curriculum Committee, PEC, and HEC, for Sub-Group Software Engineering. He has also served as an evaluator for several National R&D programs including ICT R&D, NGIRI, NTS etc. He has also attained several awards such as Best Researcher MCS NUST of the year 2019, and Peter Jones Prize of the year 2005, to attain highest grades in all MSc courses in the Department of Informatics, University of Manchester, UK (Equivalent to Gold Medal).

He has contributed extensively to the academic community by serving as Chair, Co-Chair and a member of the Technical Program Committee for several conferences, e.g. WETICE, ICMMI, ICOSST, MedPRAI etc. He has served as a reviewer of over 20 reputed international journals including IEEE Communications Magazines, the Journal of Natural Language Engineering, Neural Computing and Applications, Cluster Computing, etc. Apart from that, currently, he holds the position of Associate Editor for Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences, (a journal ranked in Q1 and in the top 10% according to Scopus and WoS) as well as for Mobile Information Systems. Additionally, he has had the honor of serving as a Guest Editor for two special issues in Security and Communication Networks (ranked in Q2 according to Scopus).

Roles

  • Professor (NUST)
  • Head of Research (MCS-NUST)
  • PG Program Coordinator (Dept of Computer Software Engg, NUST)
  • Lead Sub-Group Software Engineering ECRDC, Pakistan Engineering Council (Curriculum 2020)
  • Member ACM | Senior Member IEEE | PEC Recognized Engr | HEC Approved Supervisor;

Education

  • PhD Computer Science, University of Manchester, UK (2009)
    Thesis: A Literature-Based Framework for Semantic Descriptions of e-Science Resources
  • MSc Computer Science, University of Manchester, UK [Distinction] (2005)
    Thesis: Topic Focused Web Crawler
    Honour: Peter Jones Prize for the highest score among all MSc students in the Department of Informatics
  • BE Software Engg, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan (2003)
    CGPA: 3.53/4.0 (Honours)
  • Google Cloud – Coursera
    Google Cloud Big Data and Machine Learning Fundamentals
    Google Cloud Fundamentals: Core Infrastructure
  • DeepLearning.AI – Coursera
    Improving Deep Neural Networks: Hyperparameter Tuning, Regularization and Optimization
    Neural Networks and Deep Learning – DeepLearning.AI – Coursera
    Effective Problem-Solving and Decision-Making -University of California, Irvine – Coursera

Supervision

PhD Students Graduated

1.    Sabeen Javaid: A Web of Things Architecture Focusing on Trust

2.    Zeeshan Anwar: Mining Crowdsourcing Repositories for Open Innovation in Software Engineering

3.    Naureen Zainab Temporal Detection and Classification of Citrus Canker Growth Rate

    1.  

PhD Students Current

1.    Muhammad Waheed Khan: Multiclass Vulnerabilities Discovery and Severity Analysis in Mobile Platforms
2.    Sumair Shaukat: Text-to-Image Synthesis of Medical Images using Diffusion Modeling
3.    Quratulain: Classification of Severity Level of Dysarthria Disease and Voice Reconstruction using Deep Learning
4.    Mobina Zafar: Exploring Large Language Models for Story generation for low resource languages.

MSc Students Graduated

S. No Student Topic Published In
  2024
1 Muhammad Abdullah Unveiling the Dynamics of Crowdfunding Success: A Network Analysis and Machine Learning Approach to Kickstarter Technology Projects  
2 Maryam Saleem Mental Health Analysis through social media using Large Language Models  
3 Bismah Mumtaz Climatic-Driven Dengue Outbreak Forecasting through Hybrid Approach of Deep Learning Techniques  
4 Maria Abubakr Enhancing Dysarthria Diagnosis: Leveraging Deep Learning Techniques with the TORGO Dataset  
  2023
5 Mehram Nawaz Multimodal Islamophobic Content Detection on Social Media using Deep Learning  
6 Syeda Hafsa Ali Generation of Textual Art using Hybrid Learning Techniques  
7 Joveria Rubaab Mapping Network Features to attack profiles to enhance the Real time Intrusion Detection Published: Intelligent Information and Database Systems. ACIIDS 2022
8 Rahat Afza Improving Text-to-Image Generatin with Multimodal Semantic Coherence in Adversarial Training  
9 Haider Kamal Replication of Learned Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Strategies for the “Hide and Seek” Problem  
10 Muneeba Daud Using Vision Transfers for Image Enhancement Published: Multimedia Tools and Applications
  2022
11 Anum Fatima An Automated Teeth Lesion Diagnosis based on deep learning Published: Healthcare
Published: Healthcare
Published: Diagnostics
12 Sarah Ali Personality Detection Using Deep Learning Techniques  
13 Laraib Zainab A Deep Learning based Framework for low-light image enhancement Under Revision Neurocomputing
14 Rabia Qayyum Detection and Analysis of Mental Health Illness using social media Published: IEEE Xplore
15 Iqra Javed Disaster Events Identification from Social Media Data Using Deep Machine Learning Technique  
16 Aiman Muzaffar Recommending of experts to questions on Stack Overflow Under Review
17 Raja Mubashir Munaf Urdu Summarization using Pretrained Language Models
18 Maira Ali Towards creation of adversarial attacks for textual data from diverse domains  
19 Muhammad Mubashir Detection of Fake Apps Through Hybrid Machine Learning and NLP techniques  
  2021
20 Aleena Nadeem Depression Detection using Machine Learning Technique Published: Sensors
21 Faiza Murtaza Optimal Controller’s Placement inside SDN environment via Machine Learning Technique  
  2020
22 Sajid Hussain Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) extraction using Transfer Of Learning Published: Compurational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
23 Muhammad Hamza Qamar A Multilingual Framework for Identification and Categorization of Hate Speech and Abusive Language  
24 Jawad Ahmed Fake News Detection using Machine Learning
25 Faraz Mahmood Khakwani Multi-class Prediction of Dengue using Early Clinical, Demographic and Laboratory Data  
26 Moniba Iqbal Automated User Requirements Extraction from Reddit Using Machine Learning  
27 Marvi Waheed Missing Values Imputation & Classification Using Stream Mining Algorithms in Internet of Things (IoT) Published: Sensors
  2019
28 Sumaiya Arshad Talking Hand: Two Way Communicator for Deaf People  
29 Khawir Mahmood A framework for predicting optimal tuning parameters for GPU compute kernels using machine learning Published: Arxiv
30 Sartaj Aziz A Model for Entity and Relation Extraction from Biomedical Text  
31 Tayyeba Jehangir Deep Fusion Approach Towards Kinship Verification  
32 Aziya Mehboob Supervised Topic Modeling in Urdu Language for Domain Lexicon Generation  
33 Madiha Yousaf Detecting Semantically Similar Sentences Using Deep Learning Techniques  
34 Badr un Nisa Improving the Concept Search of Quran Using Linguistic Semantic Resources and Deep Learning  
35 Rumesa Farooq Embedding Part of Speech (POS) Information in Word2vec for Text Classification  
36 Ramsha Saeed Detection of Hate Speech Against Different Groups on Social Media
37 Farah Saleem Predicting Trust Using Reputation Features Published: WETICE 2019
  2018
38 Zafran Khan Imrprovised Hybrid Collaborative Filtering Recommender System Published: Computer Communications (Elsevier)
Published: Neurocomputing (Elsevier)
39 Mehreen Astafnas Design and implementation of a framework to aggregate feedbacks about consumer products from social media  
  2017
40 Zafar Iqbal Improved Predictive Models for Thoracic Surgery using Datamining Techniques  
41 Kanwal Ahmed Analyzing the bias in public opinion and media reports for events in different geographical regions  
42 Subhan Khan A-Semi Automatic Decision Support System for Predicting Heart Failure Using Advanced Classification Techniques  
43 Nabeel Ahmed https://codteem.com/crowd-funding-success-prediction/  
44 Talha Arshad Malik Identifying source printers of documents using Image Processing & Machine Learning  
  2016
45 Asma Ghulam Rasool Handwriting analysis of offline data for gender prediction Published: Expert Systems with Applications
46 Hassan Latif Prediction of Movies popularity using machine learning techniques
47 Yaser Waseem    
48 Maham Jehangir Enhanced Expert Systems for Medical Diagnostic using Data Mining Published: Neural Computing and Applications
Published: 2017 IntelliSys
49 Komal Khalid Extension Of Semantic Based Urdu Linguistic Resources Using Natural Language Processing Techniques Published: 15th DASC/PiCom/DataCom/CyberSciTech
50 Mahreen Ahmed Churn prediction in the telecommunication industry using machine learning Published: Neural Computing and Applications
Published: Intelligent Systems Conference 2017
Published: Advances in Data Science and Adaptive Analysis
51 Faiza Moqaddas Sentiment Analysis On Complex Sentences Of Urdu With Negations Using Deep Learning  
  Pre-2015
52 Muhammad Jamal Ashraf A semantics based bi-lingual information retrieval system to improve results of search engines  
53 Kashif Mehmood Automatic Filtration of Spams in Multi-lingual Short Messages on Mobile and Social Media Published: 18th ICACT
Published: 2015 NSEC
54 Sunia Malik Crime Forecasting Using Data Mining Techniques Published: MedPRAI 2016
55 Amna Khalid Framework to cluster structured data and a recovery mechanism  
56 Sheikh Zeeshan Javed Text Processing And Analyzing Traditional Medicine Literature Published: 2014 ICOSST
57 Iqra Javed Spatial-Temporal Political Event Analysis Based On Social Web Published: NLDB 2014
58 Mansoor Ahmed Khan Efficient Algorithms for Collective Communication Operation for MPI in Java using MPG Express  
59 Shoohira Aftab A framework at DAAS layer for handling interoperabilty and security in data integration Published: International Journal of Information and Education Technology
60 Veena Safdar A gradient routing protocol for wireless sensor networks with mobile sinks using zone based approach Published: ISWPC 2012
61 Asma Sajid Linked Data Portal for e-Government Resources of Pakistan  
62 Tayyaba Mukhtar Creating an infrastructure for semantic search of The Holy Quran using English Wordnet Published: Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering

Teaching

I have been regularly teaching one/two courses each semester. My Teaching schedule has been like below:

Spring, 2024Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Fall, 2023Machine LearningUndergraduate
Summer, 2023Data Structures and AlgorithmsUndergraduate
Spring, 2023Machine LearningPostgraduate
Fall, 2022Machine LearningUndergraduate
Spring, 2022Deep LearningPostgraduate
Spring, 2022Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Fall, 2021Machine LearningUndergraduate
Fall, 2021Machine LearningUndergraduate
Spring, 2021Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Spring, 2021Machine LearningPostgraduate
Fall, 2020Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Fall, 2020Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Spring, 2020Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Spring, 2020Machine LearningPostgraduate
Fall, 2019Computer Organization and ArchitectureUndergraduate
Fall, 2019Machine LearningPostgraduate
Spring, 2019Data Warehousing and Data MiningUndergraduate
Spring, 2019Machine LearningUndergraduate
Summer, 2018Object Oriented ProgrammingUndergraduate
Spring, 2018Machine LearningPostgraduate
Spring, 2018Object Oriented ProgrammingUndergraduate
Fall, 2017Data Mining and WarehousingUndergraduate
Spring, 2017Object Oriented ProgrammingUndergraduate
Spring, 2017Machine LearningPostgraduate
Fall, 2016Data Mining and WarehousingUndergraduate
Spring, 2016Computer Organization and ArchitectureUndergraduate
Spring, 2016Machine LearningPostgraduate
Fall, 2015Data Mining and WarehousingUndergraduate
Summer, 2015Machine LearningPostgraduate
Spring, 2015Software Quality EngineeringPostgraduate
Fall, 2014Data Mining and WarehousingUndergraduate
Summer, 2014Object Oriented ProgrammingUndergraduate
Spring, 2014Distributed ComputingUndergraduate
Spring, 2014Advanced DatabasesPostgraduate
Fall, 2013Object Oriented ProgrammingUndergraduate
Spring, 2013Data MiningUndergraduate
Spring, 2013Computer Org and ArchUndergraduate
Fall 2012Operating SystemsUndergraduate