Graduate Student Award Recipients

Each year, the Department of Computer Science recognizes our graduate students' contributions to research and volunteerism.

Research Excellence Awards

Research Excellence Awards are given to a Ph.D. and M.Sc. student who have recently defended and have shown outstanding research performance at the Ph.D. and M.Sc. Level.  

Sara Mardanisamani

The recipient of the Ph.D. Research Excellence Award is Sara Mardanisamani.

Sara has recently completed her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Mark Eramian. After completing a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical and Communication Engineering, Sara started her Ph.D. research to address challenges in plant phenotyping. During her program, Sara expanded her research in image processing and machine learning areas to develop algorithms for segmenting and detecting microplots within orthomosaic images. Furthermore, she developed a deep convolutional neural network architecture to predict lodging on microplots and highlight the impact of deep learning on microplot phenotyping.

Sara's exceptional research contributions have been recognized through multiple awards. She won the Best Poster Award at the Research Fest 2023 organized by the Computer Science Graduate Council (CSGC) at the University of Saskatchewan. Additionally, she received the best poster award at the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Center (P2IRC) symposium in 2022, 2020, and 2019, held in Saskatoon, Canada.

Beyond her research pursuits, Sara actively engaged with the computer science department, taking on roles such as the Ph.D. representative and VP Internal of the Computer Science Graduate Council. Moreover, she contributed significantly as an executive member of Research Fest in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022. Her dedication to her field and community has made her a valuable asset to her department and the broader research community.

 

Thulani Hewavithana

The recipient of the M.Sc. Research Excellence Award is Thulani Hewavithana.

Thulani is working on her thesis under the supervision of Dr. Lingling Jin and Dr. Isolbel PerkinHer research is centered around developing a tool to help scientists understand plant genetics better, aiding agriculture and conservation efforts. This is done by introducing an algorithm called SyntenyLink, that organizes the extra sets of chromosomes from polyploid plants into subgenomes by analyzing patterns in gene sequences. 

It was Thulani's passion for exploring and solving biological problems through computer science that inspired her to pursue a graduate degree. "The thrill of discovering unknown patterns and tackling complex issues with logical thinking fuels my dedication to research," said Thulani. 

She has been actively engaged in various community services, including serving as the MSc representative for the Computer Science Graduate Council (CSGC) in 2022, being a member of the Research Fest 2022 Executive Committee, and acted as the Graduate Student Association (GSA) representative in 2023. She also volunteers with the Sri Lanka Association of Saskatoon (SLAAS) and volunteered at Folk-fest 2023.

Citizenship Award

The Ph.D. and M.Sc. Citizenship Award are given to current Ph.D. and M.Sc. students who have actively participated/volunteered in activities and events on campus, or whose actions and contributions have added to the quality and reputation of our department.

Debasish Chakroborti

This year's Ph.D. Citizenship Award recipient is Debasish Chakroborti.

Debasish has been working in the Software Research Lab under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Schneider and Dr. Chanchal Roy. His research focuses on Software Engineering, with interests in Software Maintenance, Empirical Software Engineering, Repository Mining, and Software Quality. Currently, he is investigating backporting with his thesis titled "Automated Backporting for Efficient Version Management in Software Repositories". The main goal of his research is to assist developers and integrators in maintaining multiple versions reliably, consistently, and automatically with reused code. He has published more than 12 international peer-reviewed articles and presented his research at several reputed conferences such as Big Data (Seattle), ICPC (Pittsburgh), BIDMA (Calgary), EICS (Eindhoven), and ICSE (Australia).

Professionally, Debasish has worked in software engineering roles at several companies and was a Lecturer at Khulna University. Additionally, he has served as a Teaching and Research Assistant for Master's and Ph.D. students and worked for the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre and the Global Institute for Food Security in Canada.

He credits three generations of women in his family — his mother, Protima Chakroborti, his elder sister, Mousumi Chakroborti, his wife, Sristy Sumana Nath, and his daughter, Ushasi Srija Chakroborti — as the greatest sources of support and inspiration throughout his academic career due to their support and their professions in academics. In the future, he plans to pursue a career in research to bridge the gap between industry practices and academic innovations.

Debasish has been extensively involved in acts of service. In the Saskatoon community, he has volunteered at Global Village, Folkfest, and Saskatoon Sharbojonin Puja Porishod (SSPP). Highlights of his involvement at USask include:

  • Computer Science Graduate Council: President (2022-2023), VP Social (2021-2022)
  • Research Fest: Lead Organizer (2023), Executive Committee Member (2021)
  • Bangladeshi Students' Association: - VP of Events (2021-2022), Administrator (2022-2023)

 

Palash Ranjan Roy

This year's M.Sc. Citizenship Award recipient is Palash Ranjan Roy. 

Palash is working under the supervision of Dr. Banani Roy and Dr. Kevin Schneider on his master's thesis entitled "Unveiling Tools, Refining Techniques, and Bridging Translations in a Comprehensive Study of Code Clones through Large Language Models". The goal of his work is to impact code generation, detection, and software quality, providing practical insights for developers in the evolving landscape of AI and software systems. He intends to continue his research in automated software engineering, potentially in the form of a Ph.D, with a long-term goal of developing innovative tools that contribute to both academia and industry.

Palash is driven by a lifelong passion of discovering how things work. "I was the kind of kid who enjoyed opening up toys to see what was inside," he recounts. "My fascination with computers, though inexplicable, was always strong. As a child, I had access to computers only at school, which made them even more intriguing to me". He also credits his family's strong example of academic excellence as a motivation to delve deeper into the field by pursuing graduate studies. 

Volunteerism and community involvement provide a profound sense of reward and fulfillment in Palash's life. He has been involved with the Computer Science Graduate Council, serving as Vice President of Finance in 2023-2024, and Vice President of Social in 2022-2023. He also served several roles in the BRAC University Robotics Club, including Assistant General Secretary, Robotics Instructor, and Director of Human Resources.  

Geddes Awards

The Geddes Awards are given to a Ph.D. and M.Sc. student currently in their graduate program. This award is based on high academic standing and research productivity.

Keyhan Najafian

This year's Ph.D. Geddes Award recipient is Keyhan Najafian.

Keyhan is a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Dr. Lingling Jin and Dr. Ian Stavness. His academic journey is centered around the challenges of developing AI-based models using limited data for real-world applications and collaboration with knowledgeable research groups.

His motivation is strengthened by the invaluable expertise, previous knowledge and constant support he receives from his supervisors as well as his mentor, Dr. Farhad Maleki from the University of Calgary. "This support has been instrumental in my success in research, internships, mentorship, and teaching activities," he notes. 

He is actively involved in social and volunteer pursuits at USask, serving in roles including student mentor, computer science graduate council member, and a representative for the GSA code of ethics. He explained that these pursuits have the dual benefit contributing to his personal skills development and the betterment of the university community. 

 

Norah Ridley

This year's M.Sc. Geddes Award recipient is Norah Ridley.

Norah is working in the Cyber Lab under the supervision of Dr. Natalia Stakhanova. Her primary research focus is on user privacy, with a special interest in detecting and profiling private information as it flows through online systems. 

"Since the technology we use is constantly changing, it can be challenging for users to know how to protect their privacy. One of the key goals of my research is to make it that knowledge accessible to all users - regardless of their technical skill level," she explains. 

Norah was a recipient of the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's, allowing her to focus on her research and scholarship during the first year of her program. 

Carl McCrosky Innovation Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Computer Science

Saikat Mondal

The Carl McCrosky Innovation Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Computer Science recognizes the academic achievement and innovative problem solving of students pursuing a MSc or PhD in Computer Science.

This year's recipient of the Carl McCrosky Innovation Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Computer Science is Saikat Mondal.

Saikat is a Ph.D. student in the Software Research lab, working under the supervision of Dr. Chanchal Roy. In his research, Saikat has been investigating online programming Q&A websites that curate invaluable programming knowledge or practices and disseminate them among millions of software developers daily, such as Stack Overflow. In particular, he has been developing intelligent tools and techniques to help these websites better manage their content and support users to improve the quality of content and search for relevant, high-quality content effectively. 

His work not only focuses on the technical aspects but also on various community aspects, such as voting and communications, to ensure a high-quality programming knowledge base that promotes equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. His current research leverages the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence, including Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI (GenAI). Saikat's work has the potential to significantly improve global online programming knowledge bases, which has been and will play a significant role in modern software development.

Saikat has demonstrated exceptional performance in his academic programs, research, and innovations and won several awards during his time at USask. To date, he has published more than ten conference papers and journal articles as a first author, including top software engineering venues like MSR, SANER, ICSME, and EMSE. His paper received the Best Paper Award from ISEC 22. Furthermore, Doctor Penguin selected one of his EMSE journals as the top paper of the week in the AI category.

He has proactively collaborated with reputed researchers from high-ranked universities and research institutes worldwide (Dalhousie University & the University of Calgary, Canada; Rural Health Progress Trust, India). Before coming to Canada, he worked professionally at the Samsung R&D Institute and as a full-time permanent faculty member at Khulna University in Bangladesh.

Saikat recognizes this award as a result of inspiration and guidance from remarkable people in his life. Saikat's father, the late Tarak Chandra Mondal, struggled immensely to educate him, teaching him determination, resilience, dedication, and compassion. Saikat thanks his teachers for guiding and inspiring him, shaping his mind and character, and fueling his love for learning and growth. He is deeply thankful to his wife, Eshita Lasker Ratna, for her constant support and encouragement, which played a crucial role in his success. His son, Barnabh Mondal Rhivu, brings him daily inspiration with his innocence and joyful smiles.