▸  Dr. Nirmalya Thakur has been recognized by the IEEE Computer Society as one of the Top 30 Early Career Professionals.  ▸  There are multiple open positions in Dr. Thakur's research group. Please visit www.ddihts.com to learn more.  ▸
Nirmalya Thakur

Dr. Nirmalya Thakur

Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Dr. Nirmalya Thakur is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He completed his PhD at the University of Cincinnati, where he received numerous accolades, including the Dean's Fellowship, the Distinguished Thesis Award, the Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship, the Risk Management Awareness Award, and the Engineer of the Month Award. His research interests include Big Data, Data Analysis, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. He has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals and conferences, focusing on addressing critical societal challenges through innovative, data-driven, and impactful solutions.

He has been interviewed by IEEE TV, featured on the cover page of Millennium Magazine, in the American Scientist Magazine, on Yahoo News, on Business Insider, and on multiple other news outlets for his contributions to the field of Computer Science.

Research

Dr. Thakur's research spans the fields of Big Data, Data Analysis, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing, and he has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in leading conferences and journals. His work leverages interaction data from people's everyday activities, both within smart home environments and on digital platforms like social media, to address critical societal challenges. By combining insights from these domains, his research focuses on enhancing individual and community well-being through innovative, data-driven, and impact-oriented approaches.

His research includes the development of assistive technologies to support healthy aging and independent living, such as human activity recognition, user-specific activity recommendation, affect recognition, indoor location detection, fall detection, identification of indoor navigational hazards, and detection of cognitive impairments from user interactions. These advancements aim to equip the future of smart home environments with personalized and adaptive support capabilities, paving the way for improved quality of life and fostering greater independence for individuals as they age.

His work also focuses on analyzing interaction data from digital platforms like social media to uncover patterns and trends that inform broader societal challenges. This includes sentiment analysis, subjectivity analysis, topic modeling, anxiety detection, and toxicity analysis of social media conversations, such as those about COVID-19, Mpox, Disease X, and other matters of global concern.

In summary, by advancing knowledge, innovation, and discovery across multiple fields, Dr. Thakur's research leverages data from everyday interactions—whether in physical or digital environments—to drive solutions that address pressing societal needs.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

(Impact factor from the Journal Citation Reports: https://jcr.clarivate.com/jcr/)

Awards, Honors, and Recognitions

Teaching

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Department of Computer Science, Emory University
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Cincinnati

Advising

Dr. Nirmalya Thakur is the Director of the Research Group on Data-Driven Innovations for Human-Technology Symbiosis (DDIHTS). He has advised and mentored several students who have co-authored papers in different international conferences and professional journals such as the Journal of Future Internet (Impact Factor 2.8), Journal of Computers (Impact Factor 2.6), Journal of Data (Impact Factor 2.2), and Journal of Computation (Impact Factor 1.9). Some of the recent conferences where his students co-authored papers include the 27th HCI International Conference (HCII 2025) in Gothenburg, Sweden, the 15th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference in Nevada, United States, the 26th HCI International Conference (HCII 2024) in Washington, United States, the 12th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2024) in Venice, Italy, the 25th HCI International Conference (HCII 2023) in Copenhagen, Denmark, the 5th International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE 2022) in Guilin, China, and the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022) in Lausanne, Switzerland. To learn more about the success stories of his advisees, please visit www.ddihts.com

Advising Experience
  • Niven Francis Da Guia Fernandes, B.S. in Computer Science, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, November 2024 - Present
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2025

  • Marc Tchona, B.S. in Electrical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, November 2024 - Present
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2025

  • Shuqi Cui, B.A. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2024, Journal of Computation, Journal of Computers, Journal of Data, and HCII 2023

  • Kesha A. Patel, B.A. in Applied Mathematics, Emory University, July 2023 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2024, Journal of Computation, Journal of Future Internet, Journal of Data

  • Victoria Knieling, B.A. in Linguistics, Emory University, August 2023 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2024, IHIET 2024, Journal of Computation, Journal of Computers

  • Nazif Azizi, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computation, Journal of Future Internet, and HCII 2023

  • Audrey Poon, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, July 2023 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computation, Journal of Future Internet, and HCII 2024

  • Katie Shao, B.A. in Computer Science, Emory University, September 2023 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computation, Journal of Computers, and HCII 2024

  • Karam Khanna, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, September 2022 - April 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computation, Journal of Computers, and HCII 2023

  • Rishika Shah, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, August 2023 - April 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computation and Journal of Future Internet

  • Changhee Han, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, August 2023 - April 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computation and Journal of Future Internet

  • Yuvraj Duggal, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, May 2023 - December 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computers and Journal of Data

  • Zihui Liu, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - August 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Computers and HCII 2023

  • Vanessa Su, B.S. in Mathematics, Emory University, January 2024 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2024

  • Andrew Bian, BBA, Emory University, January 2024 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2024

  • Hongseok Jeong, B.A. in Economics & Computer Science, Emory University, January 2024 - August 2024
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2024

  • Haokun Cheng, B.S. in Quantitative Sciences, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2023

  • Hazel Cho, B.A. in Linguistics, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2023

  • Hyunji Lee, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): HCII 2023

  • Isabella Hall, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, June 2021 - December 2023
    Publications (as a co-author): Journal of Data, CSSE 2022, and IHIET-AI 2022

  • Saumick Pradhan, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, August 2021 - April 2022
    Publications (as a co-author): IHIET-AI 2022

  • Cat Luong, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, August 2021 - December 2021
    Publications (as a co-author): IHIET-AI 2022
  • Service

    Editorial Experience
  • Journal of Human Factors in Healthcare, (ISSN 2772-5014), Elsevier Publishing
  • Journal of Technology and Disability, (ISSN 1055-4181), IOS Press
  • Journal of Technology and Healthcare, (ISSN 1878-7401), IOS Press
  • International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining (ISSN 1743-8195), Inderscience Publishers


  • Reviewer Experience
  • IEEE Access (ISSN 2169-3536)
  • IEEE Systems Journal (ISSN 1932-8184)
  • Journal of Internet of Things (ISSN 2542-6605), Elsevier Publishing
  • Journal of Building Engineering (ISSN: 2352-7102), Elsevier Publishing
  • Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies
  • ACM Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • IEEE Symposium on Wireless Technology and Applications
  • IEEE Global Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things
  • IEEE Global Communications Conference
  • IEEE International Conference on Data Science and Systems
  • IEEE World Forum on Internet of Things
  • IEEE Virtual Reality Conference
  • IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics & Applications
  • IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Applications
  • ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
  • IEEE World AI IoT Congress
  • Journal of Big Data and Cognitive Computing, (ISSN 2504-2289), MDPI Publishers
  • Journal of Future Robot Life (ISSN 2589-9953), IOS Publishers
  • Journal of Computer Science (ISSN 1552-6607), Science Publications
  • Journal of Designs (ISSN 2411-9660), MDPI Publishers
  • Technology, Mind, and Behavior - A Journal of the American Psychological Association (ISSN: 2689-0208)
  • Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal (ISSN: 2415-6698)
  • Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology (ISSN: 0975-4172)
  • Journal of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050), MDPI Publishers
  • Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems (ISSN: 1875-8967), IOS Press
  • Journal of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417), MDPI Publishers
  • Journal of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760), MDPI Publishers
  • Journal of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994), MDPI Publishers
  • Annals of Telecommunications Journal (ISSN 1958-9395), Springer Publishing
  • Plos One Journal (ISSN 1932-6203), PLOS Publishing
  • International Conference on Intelligent Informatics and Biomedical Sciences (ICIIBMS)
  • International Conference on Information Science and Communications Technologies
  • International Conference on Electronics, Biomedical Engineering, and Health Informatics
  • International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing and Automation Engineering
  • International Conference on Collaborative Computing: Networking, Applications, and Worksharing
  • International Conference on Electronics, Communications and Information Technology
  • Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference
  • International Conference on Intelligent Human-Computer Interaction (IHCI)
  • International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interactions
  • International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Soft Computing and Applications
  • Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI)
  • International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications
  • EAI International Conference on AI-assisted Solutions for COVID-19 and Biomedical Applications in Smart-Cities
  • EAI International Conference on Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare
  • EAI International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking, and Services
  • EAI International Conference: Arts and Technology-Interactivity & Game Creation


  • Conference Activites
  • Co-Chair, International Scientific Advisory Board, 13th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2025), Universidad de Málaga, Spain, April 22–24, 2025
  • Co-Chair, International Scientific Advisory Board, International Scientific Advisory Board, 14th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Future Systems and Artificial Intelligence Applications (IHIET-FS 2025), University of East London, England, June 10–12, 2025
  • Co-Chair, 11th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, April 12-14, 2024
  • Co-Chair, 10th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France, August 22-24, 2023
  • Co-Chair, 1st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Future Technologies: Engineering Design and Healthcare Applications Nice, France, August 22- 24, 2022
  • Co-Chair, 8th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France, August 22-24, 2022
  • Co-Chair, 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications, Lausanne, Switzerland, April 21-23, 2022
  • Committee Member, the 4th International Conference on Networks, Communications and Information Technology (CNCIT 2025), Wuxi, China, July 4–6, 2025
  • Committee Member, the 4th International Conference on Computer Technologies (ICCTech 2025), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 20–23, 2025
  • Committee Member, the 17th International Conference on Machine Learning and Computing (ICMLC 2025), Guangzhou, China, February 14–17, 2025
  • Committee Member, the IEEE 15th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (IEEE CCWC), Las Vegas, Jan 6-8, 2025
  • Committee Member, 4th International Conference on Electronics, Communications, and Information Technology (CECIT 2023), Sanya, China, December 22-24, 2023
  • Committee Member, 7th International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing and Automation Engineering (ICIMA 2023), Changsha, China, December 8-10, 2023
  • Committee Member, International Conference on Intelligent Informatics and Biomedical Sciences (ICIIBMS 2023), Shanghai, China, November 23 - 25, 2023
  • Committee Member, International Conference on Information Science and Communications Technologies Applications, Trends and Opportunities (ICISCT 2023), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, September 29 - 30, 2023
  • Committee Member, 5th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science (AICS 2023), Wuhan, China, July 26-28, 2023
  • Committee Member, 3rd International Conference on Computer, Remote Sensing and Aerospace (CRSA 2023), Osaka, Japan, July 14-16, 2023
  • Committee Member, 3rd International Conference on Frontiers of Electronics, Information and Computation Technologies (ICFEICT 2023), Yangzhou, China, May 26-29, 2023
  • Committee Member, The 6th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing (ICSP 2021), Xi'an, China, April 09-11, 2021
  • Committee Member, Asia Conference on Information Engineering (ACIE 2021), Sanya, China, January 29-31, 2021
  • Committee Member, The 2021 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics and Computer Engineering (ICCECE 2021), Guangzhou, China, January 15-17, 2021
  • Committee Member, the 2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference (Globecom), Taipei, Taiwan, December 7-11, 2020
  • Committee Member, the International Symposium on Automation, Information and Computing (ISAIC 2020), Beijing, China, December 2-4, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 12th International Conference on Intelligent Human Computer Interaction (IHCI-2020), EXCO Daegu, South Korea, November 24-26, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 2020 International Conference on Computer Engineering and Intelligent Control (ICCEIC 2020), Chongqing, China, November 6-8, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 4th International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing and Automation Engineering (ICIMA 2020), Wuhan, China, October 16-18, 2020
  • Committee Member, 2nd International Conference on Machine Learning & Applications (CMLA 2020), Copenhagen, Denmark, September 26-27, 2020
  • Committee Member, International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence in Medical Sciences (ISAIMS 2020), Beijing, China, September 11-13, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Applications (ICAITA 2020), Dalian, China, August 21-23, 2020
  • Committee Member, the International Conference on Big Data and Social Sciences (ICBDSS 2020), Xi'an, China, August 14-16, 2020
  • Committee Member, the International Conference on Computer Vision and Data Mining, Xi'an, China, August 7-9, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science (AICS 2020), Wuhan, China, July 25-26, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 3rd International Conference on Computer Information Science and Application Technology (CISAT 2020), Dali, China, July 17-19, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 3rd International Symposium on Big Data and Applied Statistics (ISBDAS 2020), Kunming, China, July 10-12, 2020
  • Committee Member, The 2020 International Conference on 5G Mobile Communication and Information Science (MCIS-5G 2020), Guangzhou, China, June 26-28, 2020
  • Committee Member, The 5th International Symposium on Computer and Information Processing Technology (ISCIPT 2020), Tianjin, China, June 26-28, 2020
  • Committee Member, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (ICAIE 2020), Tianjin, China, June 26-28, 2020
  • Committee Member, The 2020 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Electromechanical Automation (AIEA 2020), Tianjin, China, June 26-28, 2020
  • Committee Member, the International Symposium on Electronic Information Technology and Communication Engineering (ISEITCE 2020), Jinan, China, June 19-21, 2020
  • Committee Member, the International Conference on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Engineering (ICBAIE 2020), June 12-14, 2020, Fuzhou, China
  • Committee Member, the International Conference on Signal Processing and Computer Science (SPCS 2020),Xiamen, China, May 22-24, 2020
  • Committee Member, International Conference on Big Data and Informatization Education (ICBDIE2020), Zhangjiajie, China, April 24-26, 2020
  • Committee Member, the 4th International Workshop on Advanced Algorithms and Control Engineering (IWAACE 2020), Shenzhen, China, February 21-23, 2020
  • Committee Member, IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC 2018), Miyazaki, Japan, October 07-10, 2018
  • Contact

    nirmalya.thakur@sdsmt.edu