This story is published in YFile’s New Faces feature issue 2023. Every September, YFile introduces and welcomes those joining the York University community, and those with new appointments.
The Lassonde School of Engineering is welcoming two new faculty members for the Fall term.
“I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to our newest faculty members,” said Jane Goodyer, dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering. “To tackle local and global challenges, we must enrich our community with people who have different experiences and perspectives. Our newest faculty members will undoubtedly contribute to our commitment to creating solutions for a just and sustainable world through their teaching and research pursuits.”
Ruba Al Omari
Al Omari is an assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Department. Her teaching and research interests include cybersecurity, attack and defence, pen testing, operating systems and machine learning. Her published work includes areas of brain-computer interfaces, human factors (e.g. usability) and security.
Al Omari received her PhD in computer science and Master’s of Information Technology Security from OntarioTech University, where she was the recipient of the Doctoral Excellence Award. At OntarioTech, Al Omari was also appointed as an adjunct professor and associate graduate faculty for the Master of Information Technology Security program.
Prior to joining York University, Al Omari taught at both Durham College and OntarioTech. She was the program co-ordinator for the Artificial Intelligence – Honours Bachelor program at Durham College. Before working in academia, Al Omari had over 15 years of experience in the information technology industry, in a variety of roles, including user support, network management and security.
Gias Uddin
Gias Uddin is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. Uddin’s research lies at the intersection of three areas in computer science: software systems engineering, human-computer interaction and machine learning.
Software engineering, data science and cybersecurity engineering skills are becoming indispensable for many professions; however, quality tools and resources are often lacking to complete tasks in these three domains. Uddin focuses on the design of usable and trustworthy artificial intelligence-assisted techniques that can improve task completions by professionals.
Uddin received his PhD from McGill University in 2018. Prior to joining Lassonde, Uddin was an assistant professor at the University of Calgary (2020-23). His previous positions include senior data scientist at the Bank of Canada, data scientist at Apption, and researcher and software developer at IBM Canada, Watson Analytics.