Dr. Nirmalya Thakur

Big Data

Data Analysis

Artificial Intelligence Researcher

Human-Centered Design Expert

Nirmalya Thakur, Ph.D.


Assistant Teaching Professor
Department of Computer Science
Director: Research Group on Data Driven Innovations for Human-Technology Symbiosis
Emory University

Professional Summary

Dr. Nirmalya Thakur is currently working as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Emory University, USA. He is also the Director of the Research Group on Data Driven Innovations for Human-Technology Symbiosis at Emory University.


Dr. Thakur's research interests include Big Data, Data Analysis, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. He has co-authored 52 peer-reviewed publications (20 journal papers, 30 conference papers, and 2 invited book chapters) in these fields. He has delivered 30 presentations as an invited speaker/presenter at international conferences and universities in 9 countries: the United States, Canada, China, France, Denmark, Nepal, Malaysia, Switzerland, and Indonesia. Dr. Thakur has received funding in the form of multiple fellowships and grants including a grant from the National Academy of Sciences.


Dr. Thakur has the experience of teaching a wide range of courses in Computer Science such as Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Analysis of Algorithms, Foundations of Computer Science, Introduction to Computer Science I, Artificial Intelligence and Computational Decision Making, and Programming for ECE.


Dr. Thakur is a globally celebrated scholar in the field of Computer Science and he has received several awards, honors, and recognitions both at a national and international level. He has been featured on the cover page of Millennium Magazine and interviewed by IEEE TV for his contributions to the field of Computer Science. The groundbreaking findings of his research papers have been featured by Yahoo News, Business Insider, and multiple other news outlets. His long list of awards and accolades is a testament to the global appreciation of his contributions to advancing research, innovation, and discovery in the field of Computer Science. He received the Young Scientist of the Year Award at the 2nd International Business and Academic Excellence Awards, the Excellent Researcher of the Year Award at the 2nd International Academic and Research Excellence Awards, the Young Innovator Award at the 2nd Universal Innovators Leadership Awards, and the Best Presenter Award at the 5th International Conference on Data Science, and Information Technology. He was featured in the American Scientist Magazine after receiving a Grant in Aid of Research from the National Academy of Sciences and he has received certificates of appreciation from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) for his outstanding contributions as a reviewer for their conferences. His biography was also featured by Marquis Who’s Who in 2020 and in 2019 for his contributions to the field of Computer Science.


He has also published 2 co-edited books titled - Human-Computer Interaction and Beyond: Advances Towards Smart and Interconnected Environments (Part I and Part II). In addition to presenting latest research and development in the field of Human-Computer Computer, the books celebrate the diversity in computing in this field as the chapters (both parts combined) are co-authored by experts in this field from 15 countries: Albania, Chile, China, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Spain, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Dr. Thakur has received funding in the form of multiple fellowships and grants.


During his association with the University of Cincinnati, he received the Risk Management Award, Distinguished Thesis Award, Engineer of the Month Award, and the Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship. He was also one of the finalists of the highly competitive U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM)'s Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award Competition.


He is highly active in the scientific community in different roles. He serves as an editorial board member of the journals - Human Factors in Healthcare (Elsevier), Journal of Technology and Disability, (IOS Press), Journal of Technology and Healthcare, (IOS Press), and International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining (Inderscience Publishers). He has served as a Scientific Advisory Board Co-Chair for 3 conferences. He has served as a Technical Committee Member for 28 international conferences that took place in the last 4 years in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Denmark, and Japan. He has also reviewed papers for several journals including - IEEE Access, IEEE Systems Journal, Journal of Internet of Things (Elsevier), Journal of Building Engineering (Elsevier), Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies, and Journal of Future Robot Life (IOS Press). In addition to the above, he serves as a Full Member of SigmaXi (nominated), member of IEEE, member of ACM, member of IEEE Sensors Council, and member of IEEE Systems Council.

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering
University of Cincinnati, USA
Specialization: Human-Computer Interaction
Thesis: A Human-Centered Activity Aware Framework for Adaptive Ambient Assisted Living
Advisor: Dr. Chia Y. Han

M.S. in Computer Science
University of Cincinnati, USA
Specialization: Human-Computer Interaction
Thesis: Framework for a Context Aware Adaptive Intelligent Assistant for Activities of Daily Living
Advisor: Dr. Chia Y. Han

B.Tech in Electrical Engineering
KIIT University, India

Professional Certifications
Oracle Certified Java Professional
Oracle Certified SQL Developer
Oracle Certified PL-SQL Developer

Research and List of Peer-Reviewed Publications

Dr. Thakur's research at the intersections of Big Data, Data Analysis, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing has focused on addressing the needs of the constantly increasing aging population of the world through the development of personalized, intelligent, assistive, adaptive, and pervasive technologies to contribute towards healthy aging, independent living, and improved quality of life of the elderly in the future of Smart Homes. His research has led to the development of various novel technologies related to human activity recognition, user-specific activity recommendation, affect recognition during human behavior, indoor location detection, fall detection, detection of indoor navigational hazards, and detection of cognitive impairment from user interactions.

In addition to the above, he has also worked on mining, analyzing, and interpreting multimodal components of conversations on social media platforms and trends of web behavior related to virus outbreaks such as COVID-19 and MPox. His recent works in these areas have focused on the investigation of the trends in Google Searches about Disease X on a global scale, analysis of Tweets about exoskeletons, the identification and analysis of distinct themes and topics of conversations on Twitter in the context of MPox, performing gender-specific sentiment analysis, subjectivity analysis, and toxicity analysis of Tweets about online learning during COVID-19, and the identification of the sentiments and evolution of the same in Tweets where individuals self-reported Long COVID

Dr. Thakur has co-authored 52 peer-reviewed publications (20 Journal Articles (J), 30 Conference Papers, and 2 Invited Book Chapters) in these fields.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

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

  • Nirmalya Thakur, Shuqi Cui, Karam Khanna, Victoria Knieling, Yuvraj Nihal Duggal, and Mingchen Shao "Investigation of the Gender-Specific Discourse about Online Learning during COVID-19 on Twitter Using Sentiment Analysis, Subjectivity Analysis, and Toxicity Analysis", Journal of Computers, Volume 12, Issue 11, Article 221 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 2.8]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Shuqi Cui, Kesha A. Patel, Nazif Azizi, Victoria Knieling, Changhee Han, Audrey Poon, and Rishika Shah "Marburg Virus Outbreak and a New Conspiracy Theory: Findings from a Comprehensive Analysis and Forecasting of Web Behavior", Journal of Computation, Volume 11, Issue 11, Article 234 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 2.2]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Kesha A. Patel, Audrey Poon, Rishika Shah, Nazif Azizi, and Changhee Han "A Comprehensive Analysis and Investigation of the Public Discourse on Twitter about Exoskeletons from 2017 to 2023", Journal of Future Internet, Volume 15, Issue 10, Article 346 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.4]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Shuqi Cui, Kesha A. Patel, Isabella Hall, and Yuvraj Nihal Duggal "A Large-Scale Dataset of Search Interests related to Disease X originating from different Geographic Regions", Journal of Data, Volume 8, Issue 11, Article 163 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 2.6]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Investigating and Analyzing Self-Reporting of Long COVID on Twitter: Findings from Sentiment Analysis", Journal of Applied System Innovation, Volume 6, Issue 5, Article 92 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.8]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Yuvraj Nihal Duggal, and Zihui Liu "Analyzing Public Reactions, Perceptions, and Attitudes during the MPox Outbreak: Findings from Topic Modeling of Tweets", Journal of Computers, Volume 12, Issue 10, Article 191 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 2.8]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Sentiment Analysis and Text Analysis of the Public Discourse on Twitter about COVID-19 and MPox", Journal of Big Data and Cognitive Computing, Volume 7, Issue 2, 2023, Article 116 link to paper [J, Impact Factor 3.7]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Karam Khanna, Shuqi Cui, Nazif Azizi, and Zihui Liu, "Mining and Analysis of Search Interests related to Online Learning Platforms from Different Countries since the Beginning of COVID-19", Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2023), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23-28, 2023 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Hazel Cho, Haokun Cheng, and Hyunji Lee, "Analysis of User Diversity-based Patterns of Public Discourse on Twitter in the Context of Mental Health during Online Learning Due to COVID-19", Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2023), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23-28, 2023 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Isabella Hall, and Chia Y. Han, "A Comprehensive Study to Analyze Trends in Web Search Interests Related to Fall Detection Before and After COVID-19", Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE 2022), Guilin, China, October 21-23, 2022 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "MonkeyPox2022Tweets: A Large-Scale Twitter Dataset on the 2022 Monkeypox Outbreak, Findings from Analysis of Tweets, and Open Research Questions", Journal of Infectious Disease Reports, Volume 14, Issue 6, 2022, pp. 855-883 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.2]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Twitter Big Data as a Resource for Exoskeleton Research: A Large-Scale Dataset of about 140,000 Tweets from 2017–2022 and 100 Research Questions", Journal of Analytics, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2022, pp. 72-94 link to the paper [J]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Simplistic and Cost-Effective Design for Real-World Development of an Ambient Assisted Living System for Fall Detection and Indoor Localization: Proof-of-Concept", Journal of Information, Volume 13, Issue 8, 2022, Article 363 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.1]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Large-Scale Dataset of Twitter Chatter about Online Learning during the Current COVID-19 Omicron Wave", Journal of Data, Volume 7, Issue 8, 2022, Article 109 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 2.6]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "An Exploratory Study of Tweets about the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant: Insights from Sentiment Analysis, Language Interpretation, Source Tracking, Type Classification, and Embedded URL Detection", Journal of COVID, Volume 2, Issue 8, 2022, pp. 1026-1049 link to the paper [J]
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Isabella Hall, and Chia Y. Han, "Investigating the Emergence of Online Learning in Different Countries using the 5 W’s and 1 H Approach", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022), Lausanne, Switzerland, April 21-23, 2022 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Saumick Pradhan, and Chia Y. Han, "Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on Online Learning-based Web Behavior", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022), Lausanne, Switzerland, April 21-23, 2022 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Cat Luong, and Chia Y. Han, "An Approach to Investigate Public Opinion, Views, and Perspectives Towards Exoskeleton Technology", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022), Lausanne, Switzerland, April 21-23, 2022 link to the paper
  • Isabella Hall, Nirmalya Thakur, and Chia Y. Han, "Trends in Remote Learning-based Google Shopping in the United States due to COVID-19", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022), Lausanne, Switzerland, April 21-23, 2022 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Indoor Localization for Personalized Ambient Assisted Living of Multiple Users in Multi-Floor Smart Environments", Journal of Big Data and Cognitive Computing, Volume 5, Issue 3, 2021, Article 42 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.7]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Pervasive Activity Logging for Indoor Localization in Smart Homes", Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Data Science and Information Technology (DSIT 2021), Shanghai, China, July 23-25, 2021 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Country-Specific Interests towards Fall Detection from 2004–2021: An Open Access Dataset and Research Questions", Journal of Data, Volume 6, Issue 8, 2021, Article 92 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 2.6]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Multimodal Approach for Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment from Tweets", Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2021), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2021 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Google Trends to Investigate the Degree of Global Interest Related to Indoor Location Detection", Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2021), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2021 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Multimodal Approaches for Indoor Localization for Ambient Assisted Living in Smart Homes", Journal of Information, Volume 12, Issue 3, 2021, Article 114 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.1]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Human-Human Interaction-driven Framework to Address Societal Issues", Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2021), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2021 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Study of Fall Detection in Assisted Living: Identifying and Improving the Optimal Machine Learning Method", Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks, Volume 10, Issue 3, 2021, Article 39 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.5]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Towards A Language for Defining Human Behavior for Complex Activities", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Towards a Knowledge Base for Activity Recognition of Diverse Users", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Framework for facilitating Human-Human Interactions to Mitigate Loneliness in Elderly", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "An Ambient Intelligence-Based Human Behavior Monitoring Framework for Ubiquitous Environments", Journal of Information, Volume 12, Issue 2, 2021, Article 81 link to the paper [J, Impact Factor 3.1]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Multilayered Contextually Intelligent Activity Recognition Framework for Smart Home", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "An Intelligent Ubiquitous Activity Aware Framework for Smart Home", Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Context Driven Indoor Localization Framework for Assisted Living in Smart Homes", Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2020), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19-24, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Framework for Monitoring Indoor Navigational Hazards and Safety of Elderly", Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2020), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19-24, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Exoskeleton-Based Multimodal Action and Movement Recognition: Identifying and Developing the Optimal Boosted Learning Approach", Journal of Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2021, Article 4 link to the paper [J]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Framework for Prediction of Cramps during Activities of Daily Living in Elderly", Proceedings of the International Conference on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Engineering (ICBAIE 2020), Fuzhou, China, June 12-14, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "An Approach for Detection of Walking Related Falls during Activities of Daily Living", Proceedings of the International Conference on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Engineering (ICBAIE 2020), Fuzhou, China, June 12-14, 2020 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Framework for an Intelligent Affect Aware Smart Home Environment for Elderly People". International Journal of Recent Trends in Human Computer Interaction (IJHCI),Volume - 9, Issue 1, 2019, pp. 23-43 link to the paper [J]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “Framework for a Personalized Intelligent Assistant to Elderly People for Activities of Daily Living”, International Journal of Recent Trends in Human Computer Interaction (IJHCI), Volume – 9, Issue – 1, 2019, pp. 1-22 link to the paper [J]
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "An Improved Approach for Complex Activity Recognition in Smart Homes". Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Ohio, USA, June 26–28, 2019 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “A Context-Driven Complex Activity Framework for Smart Home”, Proceedings of the 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON) 2018, Vancouver, Canada, Nov. 1-3, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “A Hierarchical Model for Analyzing User Experiences in Affect Aware Systems”, Proceedings of the 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON) 2018, Vancouver, Canada, Nov. 1-3, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “An Approach to Analyze the Social Acceptance of Virtual Assistants by Elderly People”, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Internet of Things (IoT) 2018, Santa Barbara, California, Oct. 15-18, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “Methodology for Forecasting User Experience for Smart and Assisted Living in Affect Aware Systems” Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Internet of Things (IoT) 2018, Santa Barbara, California, Oct. 15-18, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “An Emotion Recognition Algorithm for Implementation of Affect Aware Systems in a Smart Home Context”, Poster Presentation, Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS) Research Symposium, University of Kentucky, June 1, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “An Activity Analysis Model for Enhancing User Experiences in Affect Aware Systems”, Proceedings of the IEEE 5G World Forum Conference (IEEE 5GWF) 2018, Santa Clara, California, July 09-11, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “A Virtual Wisdom Mining ‘Pan’ For Connecting Retired Experts With Currently Active Professionals”, Proceedings of IT Research Symposium, University of Cincinnati, Apr. 10, 2018 link to the paper
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, “A Complex Activity Based Emotion Recognition Algorithm For Affect Aware Systems”, Proceedings of IEEE 8th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (IEEE CCWC) 2018, Las Vegas, Jan. 08-10, 2018 link to the paper
  • S. Mallick, B. Mishra, S. S. Thakur, N. Thakur, “Constant Observation Matrix Based Power Systems State Estimation” IEEE International Conference on Energy, Power & Energy Towards Sustainable Growth ICEPE 2015, June 12-13, 2015 link to the paper

  • Books and Book Chapters

  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Review of Assistive Technologies for Activities of Daily Living of Elderly", Book chapter in: Assisted Living: Current Issues and Challenges, ISBN: 978-1-53618-446-4, 2020 Nova Science Publishers, Pp. 61 - 84 link to the chapter
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "A Framework for Developing a Smart and Adaptive Environment for Aging Population". Book chapter in: Information and Communication Technologies for Humanitarian Services, IET Publishers, ISBN: 978-1-78561-996-0, Pp. 269 - 290 link to the chapter
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Framework for a Context-Aware Adaptive Intelligent Assistant for Activities of Daily Living". ACM Book Publication, ISBN:979-8-6624-9934-8, 2019 link to the book

  • Edited Book Publications

  • Nirmalya Thakur and Parameshachari B.D., "HCI and Beyond: Advances Towards Smart and Interconnected Environments – Part 1", Bentham Science Publishers, ISBN: 978-981- 4998-82-6 (Print) link to the book
  • Nirmalya Thakur and Parameshachari B.D., "HCI and Beyond: Advances Towards Smart and Interconnected Environments – Part 2", Bentham Science Publishers, ISBN: 978-981-5036-40-4 (Print) link to the book

  • Dataset Publications

  • Nirmalya Thakur and Chia Y. Han, "Dataset of Country-Specific Interests Towards Fall Detection From 2004–2021", IEEE Dataport, August 2021 link to the dataset
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Isabella Hall, and Chia Y. Han, "Exoskeleton Twitter Dataset: A Comprehensive Dataset of Tweets Related to Exoskeletons", IEEE Dataport, October 2021 link to the dataset
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Isabella Hall, and Chia Y. Han, "Online Learning Global Queries Dataset: A Comprehensive Dataset of What People from Different Countries Ask Google About Online Learning", IEEE Dataport, November 2021 link to the dataset
  • Nirmalya Thakur, Saumick Pradhan, and Chia Y. Han, "A Dataset on Online Learning-Based Web Behavior from Different Countries Before and After COVID-19", IEEE Dataport, November 2021 link to the dataset

  • Keynote Addresses and Conference Presentations

    Keynote Addresses
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Recent Advances in Ambient Assisted Living for the Future of Smart Homes and Smart Cities", International Conference on Intelligent Transportation and Smart Cities (ICITSC 2022), Kaifeng, China, February 24-25, 2023
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "The Future of Ambient Intelligence-based Living Spaces for the Aging Population", International Symposium on Smart and Healthy Cities (ISHC 2022), Shanghai, China, December 16-17, 2022
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Machine Learning and its applications for monitoring Elderly Health in Smart Homes", International Symposium on Automation, Information and Computing (ISAIC 2020), Beijing, China, December 2nd-4th, 2020.
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Affective Computing and its Applications for Building Trust in Human-Technology Partnerships", International Conference on Electronics, Biomedical Engineering, and Health Informatics (ICEBEHI 2020), Surabaya, Indonesia, October 8-9, 2020.
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Machine Learning and its Applications for Developing Emotional Intelligence in Smart Homes", The International Conference on Machine Learning and Computer Application (ICMLCA 2020), Shangri-La, China, September 11-13, 2020.
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Towards Developing Affect Aware Smart Environments by Intelligent Analysis of User Interaction Data", The 2020 International Conference on Computer Vision and Data Mining (ICCVDM 2020), Xi'an China, August 14-16, 2020.
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Exploring the potential of Big Data for Ambient Assisted Living in Smart Homes", The Second International Conference on Big Data and Advanced Wireless Technologies (BDAW 2020), UK, July 09-10, 2020.

  • Conference Presentations
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Mining and Analysis of Search Interests related to Online Learning Platforms from Different Countries since the Beginning of COVID-19", the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2023), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23-28, 2023
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Analysis of User Diversity-based Patterns of Public Discourse on Twitter in the Context of Mental Health during Online Learning Due to COVID-19", the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2023), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23-28, 2023
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "An Approach to Investigate Public Opinion, Views, and Perspectives Towards Exoskeleton Technology", 7th International Conference on Human Interaction & Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence & Future Applications (IHIET-AI 2022), Lausanne, Switzerland, April 21-23, 2022
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Multimodal Approach for Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment from Tweets", the 5th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2021), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2021
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Google Trends to Investigate the Degree of Global Interest Related to Indoor Location Detection", the 5th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2021), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2021
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Human-Human Interaction-driven Framework to Address Societal Issues", the 5th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2021), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2021
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Pervasive Activity Logging for Indoor Localization in Smart Homes", the 4th International Conference on Data Science and Information Technology (DSIT 2021), Shanghai, China, July 23-25, 2021
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Towards A Language for Defining Human Behavior for Complex Activities", the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Towards a Knowledge Base for Activity Recognition of Diverse Users", the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Framework for facilitating Human-Human Interactions to Mitigate Loneliness in Elderly", the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Multilayered Contextually Intelligent Activity Recognition Framework for Smart Home", the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "An Intelligent Ubiquitous Activity Aware Framework for Smart Home", the 3rd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2020), Paris, France, August 27-29, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Context Driven Indoor Localization Framework for Assisted Living in Smart Homes", the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2020), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19-24, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Framework for Monitoring Indoor Navigational Hazards and Safety of Elderly", the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2020), Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19-24, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "A Framework for Prediction of Cramps during Activities of Daily Living in Elderly", the International Conference on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Engineering (ICBAIE 2020), Fuzhou, China, June 12-14, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "An Approach for Detection of Walking Related Falls during Activities of Daily Living", the International Conference on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Engineering (ICBAIE 2020), Fuzhou, China, June 12-14, 2020
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “A Context-Driven Complex Activity Framework for Smart Home”, the 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON) 2018, Vancouver, Canada, Nov. 1-3, 2018
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “A Hierarchical Model for Analyzing User Experiences in Affect Aware Systems”, the 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON) 2018, Vancouver, Canada, Nov. 1-3, 2018
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “An Approach to Analyze the Social Acceptance of Virtual Assistants by Elderly People”, the 8th International Conference on the Internet of Things (IoT) 2018, Santa Barbara, California, Oct. 15-18, 2018
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “Methodology for Forecasting User Experience for Smart and Assisted Living in Affect Aware Systems”, the 8th International Conference on the Internet of Things (IoT) 2018, Santa Barbara, California, Oct. 15-18, 2018
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “An Emotion Recognition Algorithm for Implementation of Affect Aware Systems in a Smart Home Context”, the Fourth Annual Society of Postdoctoral Scholars (SOPS) Research Symposium, University of Kentucky, June 1, 2018
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “A Virtual Wisdom Mining ‘Pan’ For Connecting Retired Experts With Currently Active Professionals”, IT Research Symposium, University of Cincinnati, Apr. 10, 2018
  • Nirmalya Thakur, “A Complex Activity Based Emotion Recognition Algorithm For Affect Aware Systems”, the IEEE 8th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (IEEE CCWC) 2018, Las Vegas, Jan. 08-10, 2018
  • Awards, Honors, and Recognitions
  • Featured on the Cover Page of Millennium Magazine link to the magazine
  • Interviewed by IEEE TV for contributions to the field of Computer Science link to the interview
  • "Smart on the Inside: Towards an Indoor Localization-Enabled, Age-friendly Intelligent Environment" - Press Release on Yahoo News about the findings of one of my journal papers on Indoor Localization View the Press Release on Yahoo News
  • "The Future of Intelligent Assisted Living Is Here: Falls in the Elderly Can Now Be Detected With Almost 100-Percent Accuracy" - Press Release on Business Insider about the findings of one of my journal papers on Assisted Living View the Press Release on Business Insider
  • Recipient of the Young Scientist of the Year Award at the 2nd International Business and Academic Excellence Awards (IBAE) 2020 Featured on on Channel Asia
  • Recipient of the Excellent Researcher of the Year Award at the 2nd International Academic and Research Excellence Awards (IARE-2020) Featured on Business Results Magazine
  • Findings from one of his journal paper's on COVID-19 Featured on the website of World Health Organization Link to the post
  • Featured in the American Scientist Magazine after receiving a Grants in Aid of Research from the National Academy of Sciences Link to the Magazine
  • Recipient of the Young Innovator Award at the 2nd Universal Innovators Leadership Awards Featured on Channel Asia
  • Recipient of the Best Presenter Award at the 5th International Conference on Data Science, and Information Technology (DSIT 2022) link to the certificate
  • Biography featured by Marquis Who’s Who in 2020 for Excellence in Human-Computer Interaction Research Link to the Press Release
  • Biography featured by Marquis Who’s Who in 2019 for Outstanding Contributions to the field of Computer Science Link to the Press Release
  • Certificiate of Apprecitation from the IEEE World AI IoT Congress for outstanding contribution as a Reviewer link to the certificate
  • Certificiate of Apprecitation from European Alliance for Innovation for outstanding contribution as a Reviewer for the 9th EAI MobiHealth Conference link to the certificate
  • Recipient of the Risk Management Award from the University of Cincinnati for conducting breakthrough research that addresses multiple risks associating with aging in Smart Homes
  • Recipient of the University of Cincinnati's Distinguished Thesis Award
  • Recipient of the Engineer of the Month Award from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Cincinnati
  • Elected as a Full Member of Sigma Xi - The Scientific Research Honor Society link to the certificate
  • Grants and Fellowships
  • Recipient of a Pedagogy Grant from the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence at Emory University, 08/2022 - 12/2022
  • Recipient of the Dean's Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati, 08/2021 - 04/2022, $46,276
  • Recipient of a Grant in Aid of Research from the National Academy of Sciences, 01/2021 – 12/2021, $2,500
  • Recipient of the Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati, 04/2021 – 04/2022, $1,500
  • Recipient of the University of Cincinnati's Conference Travel Award, 08/2021, $700
  • Recipient of funding from University of Cincinnati's Office of Research under the Graduate Student Stipend and Research Cost Program for Faculty (URC) - Student Collaboration, 05/2020 – 08/2020, $5,000
  • Finalist of the highly competitive U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM)'s Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award Competition
  • Recipient of the Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati, 04/2019 – 04/2020, $1,500
  • Recipient of the University of Cincinnati's Conference Travel Award, 10/2020, $700
  • Recipient of the Risk Management Awareness Grant from the University of Cincinnati,04/2019 – 04/2020 $1,000
  • Recipient of the University of Cincinnati's Conference Travel Award, 08/2019, $700
  • Recipient of the University of Cincinnati's Conference Travel Award, 01/2018, $700
  • Teaching Experience
    Teaching
    Department of Computer Science, Emory University
  • CS 323: Machine Learning Applications [Spring 24]
  • CS 211: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence [Spring 24, Fall 23, Spring 23]
  • CS 326: Analysis of Algorithms [Spring 24, Fall 23, Spring 23]
  • CS 497R: Directed Research [Spring 24, Fall 23, Spring 23]
  • CS 224: Foundations of Computer Science [Summer 23, Spring 23, Fall 22]
  • CS 170: Introduction to Computer Science I [Summer 2023]
  • PRECOL 100: AI and Computational Decision Making [Summer 2023]

  • Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Cincinnati
  • CS 1021-002: Computer Science 1 [Summer 2021]
  • CS 1021-001: Computer Science 1 [Summer 2021]
  • EECE 1080-002: Programming for ECE [Summer 2021]
  • EECE 1080-001: Programming for ECE [Summer 2021]

  • Other Teaching Experiences
  • Math Success Pathway Program, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Cincinnati (Summer 2021)
  • Delivered Guest Lectures in Courses: User Interface 1, Data Structures, Computer Graphics, and Artificial Intelligence (at the University of Cincinnati)

  • Webinars
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Adaptive Ambient Assisted Living in Smart Homes through Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence", Department of Computer Science, College of Informatics, Northern Kentucky University, United States, September 17, 2021
  • Nirmalya Thakur, "Towards Emotionally Intelligent Assistive Smart Homes for Health Monitoring", LBEF Campus, Nepal, in Academic Collaboration with Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, Malaysia, June 13, 2021

  • Advising Experience & Success Stories of Students
    Advising Experience
  • Karam Khanna, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, September 2022 - Present
  • Nazif Azizi, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - Present
  • Shuqi Cui, B.A. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - Present
  • Yuvraj Duggal, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, June 2023 - Present
  • Audrey Poon, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, July 2023 - Present
  • Kesha Patel, B.A. in Applied Mathematics, Emory University, July 2023 - Present
  • Rishika Shah, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, August 2023 - Present
  • Changhee Han, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, August 2023 - Present
  • Victoria Knieling, B.A. in Linguistics, Emory University, August 2023 - Present
  • Katie Shao, B.A. in Computer Science, Emory University, September 2023 - Present
  • Isabella Hall, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, June 2021 - Present
  • Zihui Liu, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - August 2023
  • Haokun Cheng, B.S. in Quantitative Sciences, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2023
  • Hazel Cho, B.A. in Linguistics, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2023
  • Austin Wheeler, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, September 2022 - April 2023
  • Oanh Nguyen, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, September 2022 - April 2023
  • Hyunji Lee, B.S. in Computer Science, Emory University, January 2023 - April 2023
  • Saumick Pradhan, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, August 2021 - April 2022
  • Cat Luong, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, August 2021 - December 2021
  • Huy Le Phong, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, August 2021 - December 2021
  • Dhruv Pandey, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, January 2022 - April 2022
  • Thavishka Gamage, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, January 2022 - April 2022

  • Service to the Profession
    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, 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 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
  • Get in Touch
    Email: nirmalya.thakur@emory.edu
    Office Address: W302-J, Math and Science Center, Department of Computer Science, Emory University

    Open Position: The Research Group on Data Driven Innovations for Human-Technology Symbiosis is currently looking for a motivated student to work on a research project at the interestions of Big Data and Machine Learning. If you are a graduate or an undergrduate student at Emory University and are interested in this position, please send your resume to Dr. Thakur at nirmalya.thakur@emory.edu to apply.