Dr. Ali Dewan is an associate professor with the School of Computing and Information Systems, Faculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, Canada. He served as Chair for the School of Computing and Information Systems from 2019 to 2022. Before joining the University, he was a postdoctoral researcher at École de Technologie Supérieure (Montreal, Canada) from 2012 to 2014 and at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) from 2009 to 2012. He received the PhD degree in Computer Engineering from Kyung Hee University, South Korea, in 2009 and the BSc degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Khulna University, Bangladesh, in 2003.
His research interests include artificial intelligence in education, educational data mining, machine learning, affective computing, computer vision, information visualization and medical image analysis. He received the Dean’s Award and the Excellent Research Achievement Award for his academic performance and research achievements during his PhD studies in South Korea. He served as chair/co-chair, program committee member, and reviewer in many prestigious conferences and journals. He is an Associate Editor for Circuit Systems and Signal Processing and Computers Journals. He is a member of IEEE. He is a recipient of the NSERC Discovery Grant, Canada, for the period 2020-2025. In this research project, he is investigating student engagement detection and designing pedagogical intervention to support online learners.
IEEE — Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
CAIAC — Member, Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association
IAIED — Member, The International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society
AUFA — Member, Athabasca University Faculty Association
Journal Publications
Md. Rajib Hossain, Mohammed Moshiul Hoque, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Nazmul Siddique, Md. Nazmul Islam, Iqbal H. Sarker, Authorship classification in a resource constrained language using convolutional neural networks, IEEE Access, 2021.
Bruce Davidson, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Vive Kumar, Maiga Chang, Brenda Liggett, “Visualizing benefits: evaluating healthcare information system using IS-impact model,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 1-14, August 2020.
Francisco A. da S. Freitas, Francisco F. X. Vasconcelos, Solon A. Peixoto, Mohammad Mehedi Hassan, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Victor Hugo C. de Albuquerque, Pedro P. Rebouças Filho, “IoT system for school dropout prediction using machine learning techniques based on socioeconomic data,” Electronics, 2020.
M. Ali Akber Dewan, Mahbub Murshed, Fuhua Lin, “Engagement detection in online learning: a review,” Smart Learning Environment, vol. 6(1), pp. 1-20, 2019.
Mihal Miu, Xiaokun Zhang, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Junye Wang, “Development of framework for aggregation and visualization of three-dimensional (3D) spatial data”, Big Data and Cognitive Computing, vol. 2(9), pp. 1-14, 2018.
Mihal Miu, Xiaokun Zhang, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Junye Wang, “Aggregation and visualization of spatial data with application to classification of land use and land cover”, Geoinformatics & Geostatistics: An Overview, vol. 5(4), pp. 1-9, 2017.
M. Ali Akber Dewan, E. Granger, F. Roli, R. Sabourin, and G. L. Marcialis, “Adaptive appearance modeling of faces for watch-list screening.”, Pattern Recognition, vol. 49, pp. 129-151, 2016.
Book Chapters
Arta Faramand, Hongxin Yan, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Fuhua Lin, “Removing Barriers in Self-Paced Online Learning Through Designing Intelligent Learning Dashboards,” Artificial Intelligence in STEM Education: The Paradigmatic Shifts in Research, Education, and Technology, 2021.
John Mui, Fuhua Lin, M Ali Akber Dewan, “Multi-armed bandit algorithms for adaptive learning, a survey,” International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, pp. 273-278, 2021.
M. Ali Akber Dewan, Walter Moreno Pachon, Fuhua Lin, “A review on visualization of educational data in online learning,” in Proceedings of International Conference on Web-based Learning, Learning Technologies and Systems, Springer, October 2020.
Muntasir Shahriar, Shamsul Arefin, M. Ali Akber Dewan, “Developing a technique for overcoming the searching limitations of documents,” in Proceedings of International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence, Algorithms for Intelligent Systems, Springer, Singapore, 2020, pp. 705-719.
Conference Publications
Arta Faramand, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Fuhua Lin, “Constructing intelligent learning dashboard for online learners,” International Workshop on Adaptive Cyber Learning, IEEE Cyber Science and Technology Congress, Calgary, Canada, October 2021.
David Boulanger, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Vivekanandan S. Kumar, Fuhua Lin, “Lightweight and interpretable detection of affective engagement Constructing intelligent learning dashboard for online learners,” IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Intelligence and Computing, Calgary, Canada, October 2021.
Arta Faramand, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Fuhua Lin, “Student-facing educational dashboard design for online learners,” International Workshop on Adaptive Cyber Learning, IEEE Cyber Science and Technology Congress, Calgary, Canada, June 2020.
Kalpesh Lad, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Fuhua Lin, “Trust management for multi-management systems using smart contracts,” IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Intelligence and Computing, Calgary, Canada, June 2020.
Mahbub Murshed, M. Ali Akber Dewan, Fuhua Lin, Dunwei Wen, “Engagement detection in e-learning environments using convolutional neural networks,” IEEE Cyber Science and Technology Congress, Fukuoka, Japan, August 2019.
Detecting student engagement and designing pedagogical intervention in online learning, NSERC (Discovery Grant Program - Individual) (2020 - 2025)
Students engagement detection in distance education, Academic Research Fund, Athabasca University (2018 - 2019)
Intelligent system design for video processing and analytics, Research Incentive Grant, Athabasca University (2014 - 2019)
Still-to-video face recognition for watch-list screening, Academic Research Fund, Athabasca University (2015 - 2016)Intelligent Resource Management and Well Scheduling with Encana Inc., NSERC Engage (2015 - 2016) (Co-Investigator with Dr. Fuhua (Oscar) Lin)Adaptive appearance modeling of faces to improve face recognition and tracking in video surveillance, MDEIE Research Grant, Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, Quebec (at ETS, Montreal) (2012 - 2014)
Automated cell cycle analysis in time-lapse microscopic images, ReSMiQ Postdoctoral Fellowship, Quebec (at Concordia University Montreal) (2009 - 2012)