Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning

AI Research Image

Our AI research program delves into the intersection of methods, applications, and ethics of AI. Researchers develop novel methods to enhance capabilities, transparency, and interpretability of AI models.  Simultaneously, the program applies these techniques to real-world challenges, including usability of computer systems by people with disabilities and to science problems, ensuring that AI technology benefits society responsibly and justly.

Academics and Coursework

Students may specialize their education around Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning topics via these undergraduate and graduate level courses, as well as in a Graduate Certificate in Ethical Artificial Intelligence

Undergraduate Courses

CSC 308  Introduction to Machine Learning for Interdisciplinary Data Scientists
CSC 508 Machine Learning and Data Science for Personalized Medicine
CSC 509 Data Science and Machine Learning for Medical Image Analysis
CSC 601 Data Science and Machine Learning for Biotechnology Seminar Series
CSC 602 Interview Preparation for Data Science and Machine Learning for Biotechnology Opportunities
CSC 621 Natural Language Technologies
CSC 665 Biomedical Imaging and Analysis
CSC 671 Deep Learning
CSC 676 Soft Computing and Decision Support Systems

Graduate Courses

CSC 820 Natural Language Technologies
CSC 821 Biomedical Imaging and Analysis
CSC 859 AI Explainability and Ethics
CSC 865 Artificial Intelligence
CSC 871 Deep Learning
CSC 872 Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
CSC 874 Topics in Big Data Analysis
CSC 876  Soft Computing and Decision Support Systems
CSC 878 Big Data Platforms and Systems
CSC 890 Graduate Seminar - Advanced Artificial Intelligence

Faculty and Focus Areas

Wes Bethel
High performance computing, quantum computing, scientific computing, computer graphics, scientific visualization, artificial intelligence/machine learning, computer vision/image analysis, computer organization and architecture
Daniel Huang
Programming languages, quantum computing, artificial intelligence/machine learning, computational chemistry
Anagha Kulkarni
Natural language processing, information retrieval, machine learning
Kaz Okada
Machine learning, computer vision, biomedical imaging
Dragutin Petkovic
Ethical artificial intelligence
Hui Yang
Data mining & machine learning, with a current focus on educational data mining/machine learning
Ilmi Yoon
Machine learning applications for video accessibility, smart readers, bioinformatics
Hao Yue
Machine learning and artificial intelligence in cybersecurity, machine learning and artificial intelligence education

Publications and Reports

L. D. Narins, A. Scott, A. Gautam, A. Kulkarni, M. Castanon, B. Kao, S. Ihorn, Y. T. Siu, J. M. Mason, A. M. Blum, I. Yoon. Validated Image description Rating Dataset”  NeurlIPS, Neural Information Processing Systems Datasets and Benchmarks Track, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://neurips.cc/virtual/2023/poster/73420

A. Stangl, S. Ihorn, Y. T. Siu, A. Bodi, M. Castanon, L. Narines, I. Yoon, “The potential of a visual dialogue agent in a tandem automated audio description system for videos,” in ASSETS, New York, NY, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://assets23.sigaccess.org/accepted-papers.html

Scott, A., Narins, L., Kulkarni, A., Castanon, J., Kao, B., Ihorn, S., Siu, Y. & Yoon, I. (2023). Improved Image Caption Rating - Datasets, Game, and Model. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’23), April 23–28, 2023, Hamburg, Germany. ACM, New York, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585632

C. Pitcher-Cooper, M. Seth, B. Kao, J. M. Coughlan, and I. Yoon, “You Described, We Archived: A Rich Audio Description Dataset,” J. Technol. Pers. Disabil., vol. 11, 2023, [Online]. Available:  https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?IF7cWk

Á. Sánchez-Villar, Z. Bai, N. Bertelli, E. W. Bethel, J. Hillairet, T. Perciano, S. Shiraiwa, G. Wallace, and J. C. Wright. Methodology for surrogate modeling implementation: application to the ICRF wave absorption forward problem. In 65th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Denver, CO, USA, November 2023. Abstract: BO05.00015.

Chong Teng, Daniel Huang, Elizabeth Donahue, and Junwei Lucas Bao. Exploring Torsional Conformer Space with Physical Prior Mean Function-Driven Meta-Gaussian Processes. Journal of Chemical Physics, 2023.

Chong Teng, Daniel Huang, and Junwei Lucas Bao. A Spur to Molecular Geometry Optimization: Gradient-Enhanced Universal Kriging with On-the-Fly Adaptive Ab Initio Prior Mean Functions in Curvilinear Coordinates. Journal of Chemical Physics, Emerging Investigators Special Collection, 2023. 

Hui-Ming Deanna Wang,Yinxing Li,and Hui Yang, “Content Diffusion on Social Media:The Roles of Emerging Ties and Users”. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Information Integration and Innovation (ICIII 2022), Taiwan. December 2022.

G.M. Wallace, Z. Bai, R. Sadre, T. Perciano, N. Bertelli, S. Shiraiwa, E.W. Bethel, and J.C. Wright. Towards fast and accurate predictions of radio frequency power deposition and current profile via data-driven modelling: applications to lower hybrid current drive. Journal of Plasma Physics, 88(4):895880401, August 2022. https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0022377822000708

Shuai Zhang, Robbie Sadre, Benjamin A. Legg, Harley Pyles, Talita Perciano, E. Wes Bethel, David Baker, Oliver Rübel, and James J. De Yoreo. Rotational dynamics and transition mechanisms of surface-adsorbed proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(16):e2020242119, April 2022. https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2020242119

Chong Teng, Yang Wang, Daniel Huang, Katherine Martin, Jean-Baptiste Tristan, and Junwei Lucas Bao. Dual-Level Training of Gaussian Processes with Physically Inspired Priors for Geometry Optimizations. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 2022.

Daniel Huang, Junwei Lucas Bao, and Jean-Baptiste Tristan. Geometry Meta-Optimization. Journal of Chemical Physics, 2022.

Daniel Huang, Chong Teng, Junwei Lucas Bao, and Jean-Baptiste Tristan. mad-GP: Automatic Differentiation of Gaussian Processes for Molecules and Materials. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 2022.

John Wright, Greg Wallace, E. Wes Bethel, Zhe Bai, Talita Perciano, Robbie Sadre, Nicola Bertelli, and Syun’ichi Shiraiwa. Overview and status of the FES Scientific Machine Learning Project "Accelerating Radio Frequency Modeling Using Machine Learning". In Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, volume 66, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, November 2021. TM10.00002s

Hui Yang, Thomas W. Olson*, and Arno Puder, Analyzing Computer Science Students' Performance Data to Identify Impactful Curricular Changes. In the proceedings of IEEE Frontiers in Education 2021, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, October 2021. 

Hui Yang, Apurva Pimparkar*,Celia Graterol, Rama Ali Kased, and Mary Beth Love, Analyzing college students’ interaction records to improve retention and graduation outcome. In the proceedings of IEEE Frontiers in Education 2021, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, October 2021.

Aditya Bodi, Pooya Fazli, Shasta Ihorn, Yue-Ting Siu, Andrew Scott, Lothar Narins, Yash Kant, Abhishek Das, and Ilmi Yoon, Automated Video Description for Blind and Low Vision Users”. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2021.

Govindu S, Guttula R, Swati Kohli, Poonam Patil, Kulkarni A, Yoon I. “Towards Intelligent Reading through Multimodal and Contextualized Word LookUp”. ICMLA. 2021.

Wong, M., Previde, P., Cole, J., Thomas, B., Laxmeshwar, N., Mallory, E., Lever, J., Petkovic, D., Altman, R.B. and Kulkarni, A., 2021. Search and visualization of gene-drug-disease interactions for pharmacogenomics and precision medicine research using GeneDive. Journal of biomedical informatics, 117, p.103732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2021.103732

Govindu, S., Guttula, R. V., Kohli, S., Patil, P., Kulkarni, A., & Yoon, I. (2021). Towards Intelligent Reading through Multimodal and Contextualized Word LookUp. In 2021 20th IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA) (pp. 1249-1252). IEEE.

Wong, M., Ghahghaei, S., Chandna, A. and Kulkarni, A. (2021) August. Scalable non-invasive pediatric cerebral visual impairment screening with the higher visual function question inventory (HVFQI). In Proceedings of the 12th ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Health Informatics (pp. 1-1). (Poster presentation).

Wong, M., Laxmeshwar, N., Joshi, R. and Kulkarni, A. (2021) August. Browsing weighted interactome models using GeneDive. In Proceedings of the 12th ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Health Informatics (pp. 1-1). (Poster presentation).

T. Touati, K. Okada, I. Song, What makes a person obese?: An individual-level analysis of obesity, Accepted as 1-page extended abstract at IEEE International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics, (2021)

Grants and Awards

U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences. Accelerating Radio Frequency Modeling Using Machine Learning. Subaward from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Oct. 2022 – Sep. 2024. (PI: W. Bethel)

Google Research, Democratizing Artificial Intelligence: Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics. August 2021.   (PIs: P. Fazli, A. Gautam, D. Huang, and H. Yang) 

Foundation for California Community Colleges, Enhancing Program Pathways Mapper with Large Language Models to Further Assist Transfer Students. January 2023–December 2023. (PIs: H. Yang and A. Puder)

Genentech Inc. Grant Renewal Award. Expansion of the gSTAR Professional Certificate Program “Data Science and Machine Learning for Biotechnology Professionals.”  August 2023 – July 2026. (PI: A. Kulkarni, Co-PIs: I. Yoon, P. Pennings, and S. Ihorn)

Genentech Foundation Grant Renewal. Gen-PINC Scholarships Program. June 2024 – May 2029. (PI: A. Kulkarni, Co-PIs: I. Yoon, P. Pennings, and S. Ihorn) 

Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. Computational Solutions for the Study of Higher Visual Function Deficits. Sept 2022 – Aug 2027. (PI: A. Kulkarni) 

Genentech Foundation Grant Award. Gen-PINC Scholarships Program. September 2020 – May 2024. (PI: A. Kulkarni, Co-PIs: I. Yoon, P. Pennings, and S. Ihorn)

Genentech Inc. Grant Award. gSTAR: New Certificate Program “Data Science and Machine Learning for Biotechnology.”  August 2020 – July 2023. (PI: A. Kulkarni, Co-PIs: I. Yoon, P. Pennings, and S. Ihorn)

NSF S-STEM (Award # 2030581). Scholarships To Improve Undergraduate Students' Academic Achievement, Retention, and Career Success in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI-STAARS Program).  March 2021 – February 2025. (PI: A. Kulkarni, Co-PIs: I. Yoon, P. and S. Ihorn)