Research Fellow, ANU School of Computing — computer vision, deep generative modelling, and multimodal AI for healthcare and infrastructure. (Publishes as Mst M. Rizia.)

Recent highlights

• Finalist, CHARM 2026 Rising Star Award.
• ECR Research Impact Award, ANU (2025); Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA, 2024).
• New open-access journal paper (joint first author) on autonomous AI-driven structural inspection, Int. J. Intelligent Robotics and Applications (2026).
• Deep generative models that re-paint brain MRI so convincingly that expert radiologists tell them from real scans only 51.67% of the time (IEEE BIBM 2024).
• Led computer-vision research on a US Department of Energy (NETL)–funded autonomous aerial inspection project (2018–2022).

I am a Research Fellow in the Neuroinformatics Group at the Australian National University’s School of Computing, working with Professor Hanna Suominen. My research focuses on advanced computer vision and deep learning, with the goal of building intelligent systems that enhance human capabilities.

My background spans autonomous navigation, AI‑enabled aerial inspection, and computational fluid dynamics, giving me a strong foundation in both engineering and applied artificial intelligence. I am passionate about pushing the boundaries of computer vision and machine learning to address real‑world challenges, particularly in healthcare and infrastructure maintenance, by developing practical and scalable solutions.

As a committed early‑career academic with nine years of experience in engineering and AI research, I specialize in computer vision, generative AI, and cross‑domain anomaly detection. With roots in mechanical and aerospace engineering, I bring a transdisciplinary perspective to my work. I am driven to leverage this expertise in both research and education to create meaningful impact across academia and industry.

In December 2022, I completed my PhD in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso, where I was part of the NASA MIRO Aerospace Centre’s Drone team (cSETR). I was fortunate to be advised by Dr Angel Fores‑Abad and Dr Ahsan Choudhuri, and throughout my doctoral studies, I contributed to a range of impactful projects in collaboration with industry partners, generously supported by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) between 2018 and 2022.

I am originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and served in the Bangladesh Air Force as a Maintenance Engineering Officer for over a decade, retiring with the rank of Squadron Leader. During my service, I was honoured with the Chief of Air Staff’s Trophy as the best all‑rounder from the Air Force Academy.

Besides my scientific interests, I enjoy travelling, reading, hiking, and crafting in my spare time.

News and Updates

• 06/2026 — Finalist, CHARM 2026 Rising Star Award.
• 05/2026 — My student Kyar Hsing Ma submitted his thesis titled “D3MRI: Dual-Domain Diffusion for Accelerated Magnetic Resonance Image Reconstruction Integrating Image and k-Space Priors” (ANU School of Computing).
• 05/2026 — Awarded the ISCEV 2026 (Sydney) Travel Grant.
• 04/2026 — Oral presentation and student poster accepted at CHARM 2026.
• 04/2026 — Abstract accepted for oral presentation at IPS 2026, Bern.
• 05/2026 — Published Autonomous aerial system for intelligent close-quarter inspection (open access, equal first author) in the International Journal of Intelligent Robotics and Applications. Article
• 08/2025 — Published Disentangling Blood-Based Markers of Multiple Sclerosis Through Machine Learning: An Evaluation Study at MedInfo 2025. Preprint
• 07/2025 — Seminar speaker on Generative Models and Explainable AI in Neuroinformatics at ANU SMP.
• 06/2025 — Workshop facilitator for AI and Ageing at ANU, with Tohoku University Hospital AI Lab & Nagoya University.

• 01/2025 - Awarded the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Research Impact Award by ANU School of Medicine & Psychology (SMP). [View Post]

• 12/2024 — Published Understanding the Development of Disease in Radiology Scans of the Brain through Deep Generative Modelling at IEEE BIBM 2024. IEEE Xplore
• 11/2024 — Awarded Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
• 07/2023 — Attended MedInfo 2023, the 19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics. Session
• 06/2023 — Gave a mentor talk at Women* in Physics, Astronomy & Engineering (WiPAE), ANU’s professional development session. Session
• 05/2023 — Joined ANU as a Research Fellow in the Neuroinformatics Group.
• 12/2022 — Submitted the final Technical Report: Autonomous Aerial Power Plant Inspection in GPS-denied Environments for our DOE project (US DOE Office of Fossil Energy, Office of Clean Energy Systems, FE-22).
• 12/2022 — New preprint: Deep Learning based Aerial Intelligent Crack Detection in Infrastructure using Computer Vision at the Edge. Authorea
• 12/2022 — Submitted my PhD dissertation. PDF
• 11/2022 — Defended my PhD dissertation.
• 08/2022 — Gave the closing presentation for our DOE-funded project Autonomous Aerial Power Plant Inspection in GPS-denied Environments.
• 07/2022 — Our work was featured on the cover of the journal Robotica. Issue
• 10/2021 — Our paper Autonomous aerial flight path inspection using advanced manufacturing techniques was accepted in Robotica. Article
• 2021 — Began teaching as PhD Instructor (Course Convenor, Engineering Computation), Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, UTEP. Department
• 05/2021 — Presented our UAV trajectory-generation work at the DOE Crosscutting Research and Advanced Energy Systems Project Review Meeting. Our work
• 01/2020 — Presented at AIAA SciTech 2020, Orlando: A CAM/AM-based Trajectory Generation Method for Aerial Power Plant Inspection in GPS-denied Environments. Paper
• 04/2019 — Presented our UAV trajectory-generation work at the 2019 Project Review Meeting for Crosscutting Research, Pittsburgh, PA. Meeting
• 08/2018 — Began as Graduate Research Associate, NASA MIRO Center for Space Exploration & Technology Research (cSETR), UTEP. cSETR
• 07/2018 — Defended my M.Sc. thesis.