Salma Mekaoui received her Master’s degree in Intelligent Systems and Networks from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FST) in Fes, Morocco. Prior to beginning her Ph.D., she worked as a Java developer, gaining valuable industry experience in software development. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Limerick (UL), Ireland, as part of the SFI-funded Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence (CRT in AI). Her research focuses on natural language processing, specifically topic labeling, and she integrates advanced methodologies to tackle its challenges.

Supervisors: Dr. Nikola Nikolov 

Soukaina Rhazzafe is a PhD researcher at the University of Limerick, funded by Research Ireland Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence. Her research focuses on optimizing Neural Network architectures for greater efficiency and performance, with a particular emphasis on techniques such as quantization and Binary Neural Networks (BNNs).

Soukaina holds a Master’s degree in Data Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering. She has contributed to interdisciplinary AI research, including published studies on medical text summarization and ICU Length of Stay prediction. Her work bridges theoretical and applied AI, exploring methods to enhance computational efficiency while maintaining model interpretability and robustness. Beyond optimization techniques, she is interested in the broader implications of AI bias, particularly its impact on knowledge generation and the shaping of future information landscapes. Through her research, she aims to develop scalable and energy-efficient AI solutions with practical real-world applications.

Supervisor: Dr. Simon Colreavy

Dhiraj Singh is a Ph.D. student affiliated with the Biocomputing and Developmental System Group (BDS) within the Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS) department at the University of Limerick. Under the supervision of Professor Conor Ryan, his research focuses on Interpretable AI and is supported by funding from Research Ireland Centre for research and training in AI. Dhiraj holds a master’s degree in informatics and communication from the University of Delhi.

Prior to starting his PhD, Dhiraj worked as a Senior Data scientist in healthcare R&D. He has also collaborated with research teams from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, and the University of Houston on research within the technology forecasting domain. Additionally, he has played important roles in organizing ML conferences such as ICARTi 2021 and chaired the IEEE 25th International Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work in Design (IEEE CSCWD 2022).

Currently, Dhiraj is focused on developing methodologies to interpret intricate and deep-learning AI models that are characterized by millions of parameters. The aim is to bolster their adoption in high-risk AI applications, especially within domains like healthcare.

Supervisor: Professor Conor Ryan,

Josh McGiff is a second-year PhD student at the University of Limerick, specialising in Natural Language Processing and large language modeling. As a passionate Gaeilgeoir, Josh’s PhD research focuses on developing generative language models for the Irish language, aiming to bridge linguistic gaps in the digital age. Josh holds a degree in Computer Systems from the University of Limerick, where his undergraduate thesis explored building models to detect homophobic content on social media. Beyond his research, Josh lectures in the Immersive Software Engineering program and runs a business creating innovative software solutions for broadcasters. Aside from academia, Josh also has a strong interest in game development.

In the first year of this programme, Josh was named as one of the Sunday’s Business Post 30 under 30 in 2024.

Supervisor: Dr. Nikola Nikolov

Julien is a first-year PhD student at the University of Limerick, where she is supervised by Prof. Tiziana Margaria and Dr. Catherine Porter. Her research proposes to unravel the presence of Irish women practising traditional medicine through historical and geographical perspectives.  By using Artificial Intelligence to interoperate these different datasets, Julien’s research aims to provide a deeper and innovative analysis.
Julien graduated in History at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, she became interested in the topic of women in the folk medicine field and the issue of witch hunts. As a result, she developed an undergraduate thesis on women prosecuted for witchcraft in Scotland based on an extensive criminal records database. In recent years, Julien has also investigated anti-Judaism, medicine, and gender through a French criminal source in the Middle Ages, focussing on Jewish women’s representations and medical practices. Through her work and with the fundamental support of the digital humanities, she seeks to raise awareness of women’s roles in different periods and societies.

In her free time, Julien enjoys exploring museums, playing videogames, and trying out new types of coffee (as a good Brazilian).

Supervisor: Professor Tiziana Margaria & Dr. Catherine Porter

Talhat Khan is an AI researcher, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) CRT in AI program within the Computer Science and Information Systems Department at the University of Limerick, under the supervision of Professor Conor Ryan.

With a master’s in Computer Systems Engineering, his focus lies in demystifying black box neural network models. The topic of research in master’s degree was “An Explainable Regression Framework for Predicting Remaining Useful Life of Machines”.

Passionate about making AI transparent and ethical, Talhat explores innovative AI solutions while ensuring accountability. Committed to advancing the field responsibly, he aspires to leverage AI for societal good, balancing innovation with ethical considerations.

Currently, he is working on creating personalized large language models and mitigation of hallucinations from large language models. Before joining the Ph.D. program, Talhat also worked in programming and Data Analyst roles. His job description involved developing software for the organization and deriving valuable insights from data to enhance policies.

Supervisor: Professor Conor Ryan

Daniel Sami Mitwalli is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Limerick, entering his first year of doctoral studies. Before this, he earned his degree in Applied Computer Science from the Technical University of Dortmund in Germany. His academic focus revolves around artificial intelligence and low-code, with a particular emphasis on graphical domain-specific languages and metamodeling.

Supervisor: Professor Tiziana Margaria 

Amandeep ”Aman” Singh is a first-year PhD student in Lero at the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick, where he is supervised by Prof. Dr. Tiziana Margaria. His research is in the field of “digital thread platforms” which is a sub-field of Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics that is concerned with developing tools and techniques to produce a platform that can support dynamic use of AL/ML pipelines depending on the use-case of the industry stakeholders. He holds two Masters, first one in Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where the focus of his thesis was to develop a sub-grid model to analyse the abundances of H2 & CO molecules in giant molecular clouds in a cosmological galaxy formation simulation and then comparing the obtained results with observations from similar galaxies. His second Masters is in Data Analytics from National College of Ireland, Dublin, where the focus of his thesis was developing a deep learning pipeline for detecting and recognising faces behind face masks. Prior to joining the CRT-AI funded PhD programme, Amandeep worked as an Associate Faculty at National College of Ireland, Dublin, wherein he taught different modules from the field of Computer Science to Higher Diploma and Bachelors students. In his spare time, Amandeep enjoys playing the Indian classical instrument Tabla, reading books and cycling.

Supervisors: Professor Tiziana Margaria

Colm Brandon is a first-year PhD student in the University of Limerick, where he is supervised by Prof. Tiziana Margaria and Dr. Kerry Hagan. His research is in the field of Recommendation Algorithms which is a subfield of Artificial Intelligence that is concerned with tools and techniques to deliver tailored content and information to users. Colm holds an MSc. In Artificial Intelligence from the National University of Ireland, Galway where his thesis was focused on using network analysis in conjunction with machine learning to classify misinformation on Twitter. Away from academia Colm also is co-owner of a music events company and in the spare time enjoys playing rugby and listening to his record collection.

Supervisors: Professor Tiziana Margaria & Dr. Kerry Hagan

Mohammad Moghimi is a first-year PhD student in the SFI Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Limerick, where he is supervised by Dr. Patrick Healy.

He is working on a series of innovative projects for Smart Transport including Electric and self-driving (autonomous) vehicles. His research focuses on Sound Event Detection, as a Sound Assistance, for Driverless Cars. In his project, he uses Artificial Intelligence methods, especially Neural Networks and deep learning, to detect some important sound events, such as the siren of Emergency Vehicles, tire skidding, car crashes, and weird engine sounds. The purpose of this project is to increase safety and trust in driverless cars by detecting unseen events and hazards.

Mohammad did his MSc in Electronic Engineering from Iran where his thesis was related to Sound and Music processing. Prior to joining the CRT-AI funded PhD programme, Mohammad worked as a teacher and an advisor to students with Signal and Sound processing theses, a programmer and Signal processing research assistant at the Meymed Company, a Sound Engineer and Guitar player in some international concerts and studios.

In his spare time, he enjoys searching, reading books, teaching and playing the classic guitar, and listening to music.