{"id":31,"date":"2025-11-13T17:25:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/?page_id=31"},"modified":"2025-11-13T17:25:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:25:41","slug":"members","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/?page_id=31","title":{"rendered":"Members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"expertise\">Expertise and Applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our group&#8217;s expertise can be summarised by these keywords:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>machine learning \/ neural networks \/ deep learning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>computer vision<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>optimisation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>evolutionary algorithms \/ metaheuristics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>signal processing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>explainable and trustworthy AI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>statistical analysis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dimensionality reduction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our work is a mixture of theoretical development and applied research; applications include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>healthcare<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sensory systems &amp; interpreting sound<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>assistive technology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>engineering<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>transportation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of our group members are also part of the cross-institutional Computational Vision and Image Processing (SVIP) group. You can learn more about this&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/vip.cs.stir.ac.uk\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"members\">Members<\/h3>\n\n\n<div>\n<p>  <!-- Jason Adair --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"130\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jason.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40\" style=\"width:130px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~jad\">Dr Jason Adair<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/><em>optimisation; metaheuristics; machine learning; explainability<\/em><\/div>\n<p><!-- Ahsan Adeel --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; overflow: auto;\">\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"180\" height=\"216\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Adeel.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36\" style=\"width:130px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~adl\">Dr Ahsan Adeel<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Associate Professor<br \/><em>Biologically plausible neural net; Neural information processing; Dendritic computation; Multisensory integration; Neuromorphic nanotechnology<\/em><\/div>\n<p><!-- Vahid Akbari --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; overflow: auto;\">\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"217\" height=\"217\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vahid.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vahid.jpeg 217w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vahid-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 217px) 100vw, 217px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~vak\">Dr Vahid Akbari<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/>\n      <em>Earth observation; Radar remote sensing; statistical modeling; machine learning<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Hazrat Ali --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"363\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hazrat.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hazrat.jpg 363w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hazrat-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hazrat-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stir.ac.uk\/people\/1987004\">Dr Hazrat Ali<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/>\n      <em>Medical AI<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Leonardo Bezerra --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Leonardo.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Leonardo.jpeg 256w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Leonardo-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~lbe\">Dr Leonardo Bezerra<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/><em>Heuristic; optimization; Machine and deep learning; Automated algorithm engineering; Data science; AI accountability<\/em><\/div>\n<p><!-- Sandy Brownlee --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; overflow: auto;\">\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"245\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sb_crop_square_sm.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sb_crop_square_sm.jpg 245w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sb_crop_square_sm-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~sbr\">Dr Sandy Brownlee<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Associate Professor, Group Leader<br \/><em>optimisation; metaheuristics; explainability<\/em><\/div>\n<p><!-- Burcu Can Buglalilar --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; overflow: auto;\">\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"490\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Burcu.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Burcu.jpeg 490w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Burcu-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Burcu-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong>Dr Burcu Can Buglalilar<\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/>\n      <em>natural language processing; computational linguistics; deep learning; machine learning<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Giancarlo Catalano --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Giancarlo.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-39\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Giancarlo.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Giancarlo-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong>Giancarlo Catalano<\/strong> \u2013 PhD Student<br \/><em>Optimisation; Metaheuristics; Explainability<\/em><\/div>\n<p><!-- Ipshita Roy Chowdhury --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; overflow: auto;\">\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"130\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/blank.jpg\" alt=\"Ipshita Roy Chowdhury\" class=\"wp-image-32\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong>Ipshita Roy Chowdhury<\/strong> \u2013 PhD Student<br \/>\n      <em>Deep Learning; Malware; Ontology; Signal Processing<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Yuanlin Gu --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"97\" height=\"128\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Yuanlin.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-46\" style=\"width:130px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stir.ac.uk\/people\/1917176\">Dr Yuanlin Gu<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/>\n      <em>NARMAX method; Interpretable machine learning; Model uncertainty; Multidisciplinary applications<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Simona Hapca --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"264\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Simona.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Simona.jpeg 264w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Simona-233x300.jpeg 233w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 264px) 100vw, 264px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stir.ac.uk\/people\/1437998\">Dr Simona Hapca<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/>\n      <em>statistical methodology; health and social care<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Gabriela Ochoa --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"180\" height=\"136\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Gabriela.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-38\" style=\"width:130px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~goc\/\">Prof Gabriela Ochoa<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Professor<br \/>\n      <em>Evolutionary Computation; Fitness Landscape Analysis; Metaheuristics; Hyper-heuristics; Neuroevolution<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Stefano Sarti --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"130\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/blank.jpg\" alt=\"Dr Stefano Sarti\" class=\"wp-image-32\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stir.ac.uk\/people\/1458413\">Dr Stefano Sarti<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Teaching Assistant \/ Research Assistant<br \/>\n      <em>Evolutionary Algorithms; Neural Networks; Neuroevolution<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Leslie Smith --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"180\" height=\"178\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Leslie.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43\" style=\"width:130px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n      <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.stir.ac.uk\/~lss\/\">Prof Leslie Smith<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Emeritus Professor<br \/>\n      <em>Artificial general intelligence; sensory systems; interpreting sound; neuromorphic systems<\/em>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <!-- Paulius Stankaitis --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5em; overflow:auto;\">\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/paulius.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34\" style=\"width:130px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/paulius.jpg 650w, https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/paulius-260x300.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stir.ac.uk\/people\/1967891\">Dr Paulius Stankaitis<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Lecturer<br \/><em>Safe AI; Formal Methods; Cyber-Physical Systems<\/em><\/div>\n<p><!-- Kevin Swingler --><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; overflow: auto;\">\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"180\" height=\"132\" src=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kevin.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41\" style=\"width:130px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stir.ac.uk\/people\/256072\">Prof Kevin Swingler<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Professor, Head of CSM<br \/><em>Computer vision; AI; machine learning; assistive technology<\/em><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expertise and Applications Our group&#8217;s expertise can be summarised by these keywords: Our work is a mixture of theoretical development and applied research; applications include: Some of our group members are also part of the cross-institutional Computational Vision and Image Processing (SVIP) group. You can learn more about this&nbsp;here. Members Dr Jason Adair \u2013 Lectureroptimisation;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/?page_id=31\" aria-label=\"Members Read full post\">Read full post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dais.stir.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}