Neamat Elgayar

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Neamat Elgayar

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1467-1115

  • EH14 4AS

    United Kingdom

Accepting PhD Students

20062024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Profile Summary

I am a researcher and educator in the field of Artificial Intelligence. At Heriot-Watt University, am the senior course leader of the courses Data Mining and Machine Learning, Applied Text Analytics and Professional Development.  I supervise a wide range of AI and data science projects and I am passionate about finding solutions for real world problems and industry-based use cases using AI. I am also the Global program director of MSc Artificial Intelligence.

Biography

I graduated with honors in Computer Science from the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt in 1989. I studied for my Ph.D. at the Institute for Neural Information Processing, Ulm University, Germany, supported by a prestigious DAAD scholarship.

Since then, I have had a long-standing academic and research career, marked by over 60 refereed publications and the supervision of more than 40 MSc and Ph.D. students. I have edited two notable books: Off the Mainstream: Advances in Neural Networks and Machine Learning for Pattern Recognition (Springer) and Special Issue on Computational Linguistics, Speech & Image Processing for Arabic Language (World Scientific).

I served as the chair of the Technical Committee TC3 on Neural Networks and Computational Intelligence of the International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR). I have also acted as a reviewer for several specialist journals and conferences, and for major funding bodies, including the NSERC Discovery Grant proposals for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

My early research focused on developing semi-supervised learning methods for neural networks and classifier ensembles. I have worked on research projects with significant impact in areas such as emotion recognition, natural language processing, biometric identification, forecasting, and healthcare informatics.

Before joining Heriot-Watt University, I worked at Cairo University and led the Data Mining and Machine Learning Group at the Centre of Informatics Sciences, Nile University, Egypt. I also held positions at Concordia University, Montreal, and the Centre of Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (CENPARMI), Canada. 

I joined Heriot-Watt University in 2019, serving as the Associate Director of Research at the School of Mathematics and Computer Science. I was a founding member of the Research Coordination Committee and the Sustainability and Social Impact Committee in the Dubai Campus. Currently, I am the Global Program Director for MSc Artificial Intelligence and a member of the Dubai Campus Academics External Relations Group and the University Disciplinary Committee.

I am actively involved in organizing workshops and events, including the Women in Data Science (WiDS) UAE, promoting women in Tech and Engineering. I provide mentorship and support for women in Tech, particularly in the fields of AI and Data Science.

Research interests

My main expertise  is in Machine Learning, Data analytics and Computational intelligence. My work has focused on finding practical solutions using AI for problems related to Customer Analytics, Tourism and Retail, Healthcare, Transportation and Sustainability.

I work  in areas related to Sentiment Analysis, Activity Recognition, Natural Language Processing, Large Language Models , Medical Imaging and Explainable AI. My research has spanned machine learning models that combine data from different modalities (text, audio, images or videos) and leverage the information from different sources to improve model learning.

Together with my students, I have explored deep learning methods for time series prediction and have used latest models like LSTMs and Transformers in transportation problems (predicting taxi/metro/bus demand) and in healthcare ( Intelligent Prosthetic Control).

I am  also interested in general areas underpinning the future of AI like AI democratization, deploying AI responsibly and AI ethics and regulations.

I welcome collaboration with industry to provide innovative solutions using AI. I have recently  completed several projects with RTA, Dubai on Train delay forecast and Taxi demand prediction.

I have been recently selected to join  the Academic Board of the Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies. This is a role that fosters  links with academics and partners in the UAE to advance  initiatives in health and care in the GCC region and to help guide research initiatives. 

 

Roles & Responsibilities

  • Global Program Director of MSc Artificial Intelligence 
  • Chair of Industry Advisory Board – School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
  • Academic Board member -Global Research Institute in Health & Care Technologies
  • Senate Representative - University Research Degree Committee (UKRI)
  • Member of the Research Management Committee (RMC) Dubai
  • Member of the University Disciplinary Committee
     

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

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