Mentorship

I have had the privilage of having amazing mentors such as Dr. Mona Ghassemian in my academic life. As part of my giveback to the community of women in computing, I have been mentoring and supporting the following to the best of my knowledge and ability:

• Underrepresented applicants to higher degree programs at the University of Toronto facilitated by Graduate Application Assistance Program (GAAP)
• Undergraduate students through the Youth Mentorship Program facilitated by UofT Scientista
• Lun Yu Li - University of Toronto (Now a Master's student at Stanford)

Student Volunteering

I have served as a student volunteer in the following conferences in HCI:

• ICTD 2022
• CHI 2021
• CSCW 2021

Peer Review

I have served as an Associate Chair (AC) in the following conferences in HCI:

• CHI LBW 2024
• CHI LBW 2023

I have served as a peer reviewer in the following conferences in HCI:

• CHI 2024
• CHI 2023
• CHI 2022
• CSCW 2021

Critical Computing Seminar Co-Organizer

I am part of the organizing team for the Critical Computing Seminar, an initiative of the ThirdSpace research lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto. This seminar series is an online virtual monthly event during which we read a new book on computing and discuss it with their author(s). The objective of the seminar is to create a broader understanding of computing from different critical perspectives, including feminism, postcolonialism, postmodernism, intersectionality, etc.

HCI4D @ Thirdspace Co-Organizer

I was part of the organizing team for the HCI4D @ ThirdSpace, a Virtual-CHI event to bring together papers on international development and critical computing from CHI 2020.

HerCodeCamp Co-Organizer

I was part of the organizing team for the Her Code Camp, a free computer science camp for senior high school students in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who identify as a woman, non-binary, or transgender with the goal of hacking the gender gap and helping minority groups grow to their full potential.

Departmental Graduate Student Representative

I served as the departmental graduate student representative for the department of Computer Science Graduate Affairs Committee at the University of Toronto.

Grad MetaSkills Seminars Departmental Committee Representative and Leader

I organized and led the Graduate MetaSkills Seminars hosted by the department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. These seminars are meant to provide pointers and guidance about crucial skills as a graduate student. During the seminars, we discussed important topics regarding life in graduate school, research, etc. and shared tips, solutions, and prompts through presentations, discussions, and sharing resources.

CSGSBS Treasurer

I served as the treasurer for the The Computer Science Graduate Student Benevolent Society (CSGSBS), the official body representing computer science graduate students at the University of Toronto.

Participated and Presented at the 2023 ACM CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women

I participated at the 2023 CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women, met wonderful peers, and presented a poster on "The Designing for Everyday Decision Making". Here is a photo of me in the beautiful San Francisco to remember this fantastic trip to California!

Was Awarded the Wolfond Scholarship Program in Wireless Information Technology

I was awarded the Wolfond Scholarship Program in Wireless Information Technology! This scholarship recognizes and supports graduate students who are pursuing research in areas related to systems, wireless, networks, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and digital media, based on academic merit. The recipients of this scholarship are known as “Wolfond Fellows”.

Passed the PhD Qualifying Oral Exam

I passed the PhD Qualifying Oral Exam, the first significant milestone in a PhD Program. The purpose of this exam is to assess a student's readiness to advance to the next stage in their PhD program.

Finally Participated in My MSc Graduation Ceremony!

Due to COVID-19, the 2020-2021 graduates didn't get the chance to have an in-person convocation at the time of their graduation. I am delighted to finally celebrate my master's graduation together with my loved ones! Here is a photo to remember this snowy day!

Got a paper accepted at ACM CSCW 2022

Our paper, "Kabootar": Towards Informal, Trustworthy, and Community-Based FinTech for Marginalized Immigrants, got accepted to ACM CSCW 2022! This year, the ACM CSCW will be held virtually on Nov 8 - Nov 22, 2022.

Got a paper accepted at ACM COMPASS 2022

Our paper on The Role of Intermediaries, Terrorist Assemblage, and Re-skilling in the Adoption of Cashless Transaction Systems in Bangladesh got accepted to ACM COMPASS 2022! This year, the ACM COMPASS conference is co-located with ICTD 2022 and will be held June 29-July 1, 2022, at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA.

Won the 2^nd prize in the Blue Sky Ideas Track at HCOMP 2021

My wonderful co-authors and I won the 2^nd prize in the Blue Sky Ideas Track at the HCOMP 2021 Conference.

Was Selected As A Student Volunteer (SV) for CSCW 2021

I was selected as a CSCW 2021 Student Volunteer. CSCW SVs are HCI researchers who help run the ACM CSCW conference on computer-supported cooperative work and social computing.

Was Awarded the UofT SGS Conference Grant

I was awarded the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies (SGS) Conference Grant for the Winter 2021 cycle. This grant aims to provide added financial support to eligible students who are actively presenting their research – either virtually or in-person – at an academic conference.

Was Invited to Join the First Social Computing Systems Camp

I am pleased to have received an invitation to the first Social Computing Systems Summer Camp. The aim of this 3-day camp is to build a community of social computing systems researchers and it features speculative talks, feedback sessions for in-progress work, debates, unconference sessions, and virtual smores.

Was Awarded the Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (CGS D) Scholarship

I was awarded the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (CGS D) for the duration of 3 years (total value = $105,000). The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) offers this federal scholarship through a national competition to the top-ranked Postgraduate Scholarships-Doctoral (PGS D) applicants. The prestigious CGS D program is aimed at rewarding and retaining high-calibre doctoral students at Canadian institutions.

Was Shortlisted for the UofT TATP TA Excellence Awards

I was shortlisted for the University of Toronto Teaching Assistants’ Training Program (TATP) TA Awards for the 2021 period among 70 nominations from students and faculty. This award is presented annually by TATP at the University of Toronto and seeks to value the work of TAs who regularly inspire and challenge undergraduate students.

Was Selected as a Student Volunteer (SV) for CHI 2021

I was selected as a CHI 2021 Student Volunteer (SV). CHI SVs are HCI researchers who help run the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Was Awarded the UofT DCS PhD Travel Conference Grant

I was awarded the 2021 University of Toronto Department of Computer Science PhD Travel Conference Grant! This grant is awarded to full-time PhD students in good standing presenting a paper as a speaker relevant to their academic program.

Was selected to participate in the 2021 CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women

I was selected to participate in the 2021 CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women on April 23-24, 2021 that is happening virtually this year.

Was Awarded the Beatrice “Trixie” Worsley Scholarship

I was awarded the Beatrice “Trixie” Worsley Graduate Scholarship in Computer Science for the 2020-2021 Academic Year! This scholarship (valued $4,000), is awarded on the basis of academic merit to one or more students enrolled in the PhD program who have taken an active role in helping to promote women in the field of computer science.

Participated at UofT CompSci SLC Graduate Student Panel

I was a guest at the graduate student panel of the UofT Computer Science Second-Year Learning Community (SLC)!

Delivered the Gender and Computing lecture for CSC300

I was the guest lecturer for the Gender and Computing module of CSC300 in Fall 2020. This was my 4th time delivering this lecture!

Started Co-organizing the Critical Computing Seminar

I started as part of the organizing team for the Critical Computing Seminar, an initiative of the ThirdSpace research lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto. This seminar series is an online virtual monthly event during which we read a new book on computing and discuss it with their author(s). The objective of the seminar is to create a broader understanding of computing from different critical perspectives, including feminism, postcolonialism, postmodernism, intersectionality, etc.

Was Awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)!

I was awarded the OGS scholarship for three consecutive semesters (valued $15,000), starting from September 2020!

Co-organized HCI4D @ ThirdSpace

I was one of the organizers of HCI4D @ Third Space, a Virtual-CHI event to bring together papers on international development and critical computing from CHI 2020.

Defended Master's and Transitioned to PhD!

I successfully defended my master's thesis and transitioned to the PhD program in Computer Science at UofT!

Accepted to Techno 2019 Program

After pitching our project on financial inclusion to the Techno team, our group was selected to be part of this year's Techno Program at UofT!

Attended CAN-CWIC 2019

I attended CAN-CWIC 2019 where I also presented a poster on "Informality and Transnational Finance".

Pueblo Science Hackathon and People's Choice Award Winner

My teammates and I designed a 3-day course material as part of the computer science and robotics curriculum for high schools in Guyana. Starting with basic programming concepts such as loops and conditions for the first session (using Scratch), students are gradually prepared to build their own robot and program it using Arduino. The second session is dedicated to learning about the different components of a basic robot, their functionalities, and assembling individual parts into a fully functioning robot. At this stage, the students are able to control their robot using a joystick. The robot is called an artist robot (or "Robart"), with the capability of creating unlimited artworks using different utensils. The students can either pre-program the Robart to draw the shapes they want or draw as they go. They can have fun challenges such writing their names or drawing a complicated shape using various utensils (chalk, marker, ink, ...) on the ground. In the third session, students are able to expand their programming knowledge by adding more functionalities or modifying the existing ones to customize their Robart.

Received Honerable Mention at FinteQC'19

I presented my work on "Designing Technologies for Financial Transactions Across Borders" at FinteQC'19 conference and received an honerable mention for my abstract and presentation.

Not-So-Fun Facts/Trivia About Me

• Although I'm not a mathematician, nor does my research relate to mathematics, I have an Erdős number of 5 through my PhD advisor, Prof. Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed. An Erdős number is a way to measure an individual's collaboration with the influential Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, who collaborated with a great number of mathematicians throughout his career. An Erdős number is essentially a measure of a mathematician's "distance" from Paul Erdős in terms of collaboration.
• My name will fly on NASA's next mission to Mars! This means that my name (along with the name of other people who signed up) will be etched onto a microchip and placed aboard the next Mars rover, landing on Mars! If you think this is made up, look at my boarding pass:

Places I've been