About
Collegiate Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, working on AI-integrated computing education, human–computer interaction, and usability evaluation.
I am a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech with twenty years of academic experience in teaching, research, and service. My work focuses on AI-integrated computing education, human–computer interaction, usability evaluation, and database systems.
I lead course redesign initiatives that bring the responsible use of large language models into undergraduate curricula, and I am helping develop CS 2104, Problem Solving in Computer Science, as a foundational course for Virginia Tech’s AI minor. I also build and maintain DBWorkout, an open-access, gamified SQL learning platform.
I mentor undergraduate and graduate students in research spanning AI, usability, and digital education. I have published in national and international journals and conferences, and my funded projects support instructional innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Academic journey
I began teaching in 2005 and moved through lecturer and professor roles at the University of Sindh and the University of Mirpurkhas in Pakistan before joining Virginia Tech in 2023.
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
University of Mirpurkhas, Pakistan
University of Mirpurkhas, Pakistan
University of Sindh, Mirpurkhas Campus, Pakistan
University of Sindh, Mirpurkhas Campus, Pakistan
University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan
Ora-Tech Systems, Karachi, Pakistan
New Trends Computer Institute, Hyderabad, Pakistan
Education
2015 to 2020
University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan
Dissertation: “Usability Evaluation of the Websites of the Higher Education Institutes of Pakistan.” Supervisors: Khalil-ur-Rehman Khoumbati, Sarwat Nizamani, and Shahzad Ahmed Memon.
2007 to 2014
University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan
Thesis: “Evaluation of the Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems for Higher Education in Pakistan.” Supervisors: Khalil-ur-Rehman Khoumbati and Imdad Ali Ismaili.
2002 to 2005
University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan
First position in the degree program, with a silver medal. Final-year project, “Multiple CODEC for Multimedia Technology,” was selected for the PROCOM 2006 and NESCOM 2006 project competitions.
| Year | Award | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | CETL Excellence in Teaching Spotlight | Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Virginia Tech |
| 2026 | Best Paper Award, FutureHCI ’26 | For “Can LLMs improve accessibility? Evaluating LLM detection and remediation of WCAG violations in web dashboards,” with undergraduate co-authors |
| 2026 | Top 100 Voices in Higher Education | Vevox |
| 2026 | Principles of Effective Teaching (PET) Certificate Program Award | CETL, Virginia Tech, April 9, 2026 |
| 2005 | Silver Medal, first position, B.S. Information Technology | University of Sindh |
| 2005 | Ansa Khatija Award | Highest marks in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Sindh |
| 2005 | Governor of Sindh Award | Highest score in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, presented at Governor House |
Approach
I start with how people actually use technology and ask what the technology should do about it. That is why most of my studies stay close to the ground: a course I teach, a platform my students use, an evaluation I can compare with human experts.
I am wary of claims that AI will either fix education or ruin it. I would rather measure what students do with it, share the evidence, and design courses around what we learn.
I teach through hands-on, project-based work and treat accessibility as a design requirement, not an afterthought. I want hard ideas to be reachable for every student while preparing them for the problems they will meet in practice.
I mentor undergraduates as researchers rather than assistants. They own a question, run the study, write it up, and present it, and many of their papers and posters have gone on to conferences and symposia.
Affiliations and memberships