People – iMAPLE

CORE FACULTY

David Han

Professor

David Han is the inaugural holder of the Bruce Eisenstein Endowed Chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering. He is an ASME Fellow and an IEEE senior member. Dr. Han received his B.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon University and M.S.E. degree from the Johns Hopkins University. He completed Ph.D. degree at the Johns Hopkins University under the supervision of Andrea Prosperetti. He has previously held positions as a research and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Army Research Laboratory, and the University of Maryland at College Park, and has additionally served as Distinguished IWS Chair Professor at the US Naval Academy. He spent over 11 years as program officer at the Office of Naval Research and served as its Deputy Director of Research, overseeing the Discovery and Invention portfolio of over $900 million from 2012 to 2014. He also served as Associate Director for Basic Research in Machine Intelligence and Robotics in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Research & Engineering from 2014 to 2016, helping to oversee an over $2 billion annual research portfolio. Han has authored or coauthored over 120 peer-reviewed papers, including four book chapters.

Email: dkh42@drexel.edu

Phone: 215-895-5814

CURRENT MEMBERS

Amirreza Rouhi

Ph.D. Student

I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. degree at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel University, under the supervision of Professor D. Han. I am interested in deep learning problems as well as their applications in computer vision. I am also interested in other machine learning problems like feature selection, dimensionality reduction in high-dimensional data, and ensemble learning. During my M.Sc. degree at the Polytechnic University of Milan, I have done research in the field of feature selection in highly sparse data (Single Cell Hi-C data) and Cell Stage prediction. At iMaPLe, I do research on object detection, classification, and identification using computer vision techniques.

Solmaz Arezoomandan

Ph.D. Student

I am a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, under the supervision of Dr. David Han. I earned my M.Sc. in Machine Learning Engineering from Drexel in 2024, during which I was a member of the iMaPLe lab. I have continued my research in the same lab as a Ph.D. student, focusing on synthetic data generation, domain adaptation, and scene understanding to improve the robustness of computer vision systems. Outside of research, I enjoy photography—especially black-and-white landscape photography—and practicing Persian calligraphy in my free time.

Knut Peterson

Ph.D. Student

I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University under Dr. David Han’s supervision. I received my B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2021, and my M.Sc. in Robotics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2023. During my M.Sc. I also worked as a Software Engineer at Superlative Technologies Inc, a DoD Contractor for the U.S. Transportation Command. In my research I hope to explore different approaches to autonomous perception and decision making, and especially how learning techniques can be more effectively used in robotics applications. Apart from research, I have a wide variety of hobbies ranging from blacksmithing to solving Rubik’s Cubes.

Priontu Chowdhury

Ph.D. Student

I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University under the supervision of Dr. David Han. I received my B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Constructor University, situated in Bremen, Germany. During that time, I have also worked as a Software Engineer for the Motorsport department at Bosch Engineering GmbH (Bosch Motorsport). Later, I worked at the Process Data Systems Engineering department of ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (ZEISS SMT) in the area of Data Quality Management. I did my thesis in collaboration with Bosch Motorsport, where the research involved the use of network simulation. As part of the research, I studied algorithms that could maximize data throughput on the Bosch Telemetry System when implemented during a race. My research interests involve signal processing and applied deep learning, and at iMaPLe I wish to explore the conjunction of both in acoustic scene understanding and source localization.

Quoc Thinh Vo

Ph.D. Student

I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University under Dr. David Han’s supervision. I received both my B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Drexel, with my Master’s thesis – also supervised by Dr. Han – focused on Machine Learning and Edge ML techniques for underwater and airborne acoustic signal classification, innovating Transformer architectures and Knowledge Distillation. I also work in Software Engineering, with a focus on the reliability, scalability, and automation of Developer Tools, Platforms, and Infrastructure. My current research at iMaPLe involves acoustic scene understanding, underwater sound source localization and its applications. Outside of work, I enjoy reading, cooking, playing soccer, and building mechanical keyboards.

Zaid Mayers

M.Sc. Student

I am a graduate in Machine Learning Engineering from Drexel University. At iMaPLe, I have contributed to drone operations and data acquisition, helping build the LRDD V3 dataset through image collection and metadata preprocessing. My current work focuses on improving the performance of YOLO-based object detection architectures and previously worked on exploring range estimation techniques for long-range drone detection. My broader research interests include Large Language Models (LLMs), RAG pipeline development, model optimization, and enhancing generalization in real-world applications. Outside of research, I enjoy flying drones, watching anime, and playing video games.

Azmain Yousuf

B.Sc. Student

I am an undergraduate pursuing a double major in Electrical And Computer Engineering at Drexel University. Within the lab, I am working on developing a Long Range Drone detection dataset that will be used to train and improve performance of YOLO-based architectures. I have worked internships at Exelon Inc. and Kulicke and Soffa, working on grid modernization projects, control systems and software development. Outside of classes, I am heavily involved with Drexel Engineers Without Borders, leading the club as the President up to June of 2026, where I have worked on designing solar power systems and irrigation system automation. I’m especially drawn to machine learning research—fascinated by the emergent properties of artificial neurons and their potential to power transformative applications in computing, vision, and robotics. Outside of these, I enjoy watching movies, cooking, photography, reading and going on long walks listening to a podcast or audio book.

Sukaina Najm

M.Sc. Student

I am a graduate student in Electrical Engineering at Drexel University with a focus on control systems and machine learning. At iMAPLE, I am working on improving UAV object detection using simulated snowy image datasets to enhance model robustness in challenging conditions as part of my research thesis. I previously worked as an Instrumentation Engineer at Engro Fertilizers, gaining experience in industrial control systems and process operations. Beyond academics, I enjoy travelling, reading and writing poetry.

Neil Deshpande

B.Sc. Student

Hello, my name is Neil Deshpande. I am a junior at Drexel University studying Economics and Data Science. I have previously worked on the Ground-Aerial Terrain Traversability Dataset for Heterogeneous Robot Teams in Unstructured Environments, where I contributed to data labeling. Currently, I am further exploring datasets and conducting data analysis related to weld defect detection. I am eager to continue expanding my knowledge and skills in machine learning!

Kashyap Raval

M.S. Student

Kashyap Raval, B.Tech., M.S.(C), is a Research Assistant at iMaPLe lab, Drexel University. In this role his primary responsibilities are to focus on object detection, classification, and identification using computer vision techniques and preparing metadata for LRDD project and development of huge data set under the varied environmental conditions. His primary language is Python with its depth in varied frameworks, specializing in robotics communicational languages like ROS and MATLAB. Prior to joining this lab, Mr. Raval gained valuable as a Junior Developer at Inexture Solutions Pvt. Ltd., where his primary focus on web development. Following that, he has experienced his web-based development skills by maintaining applications and providing backend support at Rimtex Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Raval has earned a Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology and Computer Engineering degree from Gujarat Technological University. Currently, pursuing Master’s of Science in Robotics and Autonomy in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University. His pro-found passion involves exploring thermal visuals and feeding meta data, VLSI models, Manufacturing automation and movement in robotics.

Amir Kaidarov

B.Sc. Student

I am a Computer Science student at Drexel University, where I focus on machine learning, data systems, and software engineering. My work spans both research and industry. As a Research Assistant, I developed optimization models and built neural network frameworks to analyze efficiency and fairness tradeoffs. I have also worked as a Data Scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, where I built a pose estimation pipeline for canine analysis and trained machine learning models to predict behavioral outcomes with high accuracy. In industry, I have experience as a Software Engineer at Apollo Global Management and Medidata Solutions, where I built AI-driven systems, deployed scalable cloud infrastructure, and developed data pipelines and APIs. My work includes designing LLM-powered tools, optimizing data workflows, and building end-to-end machine learning systems. I am particularly interested in the intersection of machine learning, large language models, and real-world decision systems. At the iMaPLe lab, I am currently working on developing the Long-Range Drone Detection (LRDD) dataset, contributing to data collection and preparation efforts for training and improving object detection models.

Asher Zacsepinski

High School Student

I am a student at Santa Monica High School working with the iMaPLE lab on creating datasets for drone detection AI. At the start of this internship, I took the Inspirit AI summer course to further my understanding of the inner workings of the AI models I was training. My interests center on computer vision and LLMs, building scalable data pipelines, and understanding the inner workings of the technologies that are transforming our world. When I’m not in the lab, I compete in cross-country and track, perform on clarinet, and develop iOS and web applications.

ALUMNI