01
Education
PhD in Computer Science
Northwestern University
- Cognition, Creativity, and Communication (C3) Lab
- Advised by Kristian Hammond
- Expected graduation: July 2027
MS in Computer Science
Northwestern University
- Focus: AI, NLP, Machine Learning
BS in Computer Science & Mathematics
University of Oregon
- Double major: Computer Information Systems (Security emphasis) & Mathematics
- Dean's List: Spring 2019, Fall & Winter 2020
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Research & Work Experience
PhD Research Associate
Sep 2021 – CurrentNorthwestern University — Evanston, IL
- Analysis-Augmented Generation (AAG): A method for analyzing structured data to generate facts in natural language that guide language generation in language models.
- Satyrn: A neurosymbolic platform that employs AAG to create accurate, fluent, and coherent reports from large-scale databases.
- Tytan: A data ingestion tool that generates a lightweight knowledge representation, describing objects in a dataset to apply analytics and produce information.
- Retinal lesion detection (RIPL & GA): Identification of retinal ischemic perivascular lesions and geographic atrophy in OCT scans using curriculum learning.
PhD Research Intern
Jun 2025 – Sep 2025Walt Disney Imagineering — Los Angeles, CA
- Developed automated pipelines to ingest heterogeneous datasets and dynamically generate schemas using knowledge graph techniques.
- Implemented graph-based representations enabling efficient querying, dependency tracking, and insight discovery.
- Engineered processes to transform unstructured text into structured knowledge graphs for dependency and relationship exploration.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Jun 2020 – Jun 2021University of Oregon — Eugene, OR
- Conducted research at the Oregon Networking Research Group (ONRG) Lab on Longitudinal Analysis of Major Video Streaming Services in the U.S.
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Publications, Posters & Patents
Papers
- Marko Sterbentz, Cameron Barrie, Shubham Shahi, Abhratanu Dutta, Donna Hooshmand, Harper Pack, Kristian J. Hammond. Satyrn: A Platform for Analytics Augmented Generation.
- Michael Drakopoulos, Donna Hooshmand, Laura A. Machlab, Paul J. Bryar, Kristian J. Hammond, Rukhsana G. Mirza. Machine Teaching Allows for Rapid Development of Automated Systems for Retinal Lesion Detection From Small Image Datasets.
- Marko Sterbentz, Cameron Barrie, Donna Hooshmand, Shubham Shahi, Abhratanu Dutta, Harper Pack, Andong Li Zhao, Andrew Paley, Alexander Einarsson, Kristian Hammond. Lightweight Knowledge Representations for Automating Data Analysis.
- PendingMichael Drakopoulos, Donna Hooshmand, Laura Machlab, Paul Bryar, Kristian Hammond, Rukhsana Mirza. Machine teaching for automated retinal lesion detection in small image sets.
Posters
- Michael Drakopoulos, Donna Hooshmand, Laura Machlab, Kristian Hammond, Rukhsana Mirza. Automated identification of subretinal drusenoid deposits in dry age-related macular degeneration from a small imaging dataset.
- Michael Drakopoulos, Donna Hooshmand, Laura Machlab, Paul Bryar, Kristian Hammond, Rukhsana Mirza. Automated identification of retinal ischemic perivascular lesions, a potential imaging biomarker of cardiovascular disease.
- Michael Drakopoulos, Donna Hooshmand, Laura Machlab, Paul Bryar, Kristian Hammond, Rukhsana Mirza. Machine teaching enables rapid development of first automated system to identify retinal ischemic perivascular lesions.
Patents
- Jay Bisen, Michael Drakopoulos, Donna Hooshmand, Hayden Sikora, Laura Machlab, Paul Bryar, Kristian Hammond, Emma Alexander, Rukhsana Mirza. Retinal Ischemic Perivascular Lesion Identification Using Machine Teaching Techniques.
- In ProgressPatent with Walt Disney Imagineering.
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Technologies
Languages
Python
C / C++
MATLAB
SQL
SQLAlchemy
Cypher
HTML / CSS
Deep Learning & ML
PyTorch
TensorFlow
scikit-learn
Hugging Face
Data Science & Visualization
NumPy
SciPy
Pandas
Matplotlib
OpenCV
LLM / AI Agents
Instructor
LangChain
Pydantic
Graph & Knowledge
Neo4j
NetworkX
RL & Simulation
MuJoCo
OpenAI Gym
Tools & Infrastructure
CUDA
Docker
Git
JupyterLab / Colab
Linux / Unix
PostgreSQL
Practices
End-to-End ML
Prompt Engineering
LLM Query Design
Model Development
Leadership
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Teaching & Mentorship
Teaching Assistant
Jan 2023 – CurrentNorthwestern University
- COMP SCI 394 / CHEM ENG 395 / MECH ENG 395: Artificial Life — Winter 2023
- MSAI 431: Frameworks of AI — Winter 2024, Fall 2024
- Designed curriculum for COMP SCI 348: Intro to AI — Fall 2024 – Spring 2025
Research Mentor
Jun 2022 – CurrentNorthwestern University
- Created research curricula and projects for mentees to support them in their academic and research journeys.
- Collaborated with faculty to facilitate interdisciplinary projects applying AI to real-world problems.
Teaching Assistant
Fall 2019 – Spring 2021University of Oregon
- CIS 212: Computer Science III — Spring 2020
- Math 232: Discrete Mathematics II — Winter 2020, Winter 2021
- Math 231: Discrete Mathematics I — Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020
06
Awards & Honors
-
Peter and Adrienne Barris Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
-
Enhanced Funding Award
-
Philip Seeley Scholarship in CS & IT
-
NSF-REU funding for ML Research
-
Iran's Inventions Grand Prize
-
Khwarizmi Young Award
-
Iran's Great Mathematics Competition
07
Leadership & Community
Computer Science PhD Advisory Committee
Northwestern University · Fall 2022 – Current
Officer, AI Journal Club
Northwestern University · Fall 2022 – Current
Graduate Women in Computing Committee
Northwestern University · Fall 2022 – Current
Iranian Student Association Committee
Northwestern University · Fall 2022 – Current
Founder & President, Persian Student Association
University of Oregon
Founder & President, Mirzakhani Society
University of Oregon
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