Lab members

Prof. Vlad Veksler is the founder and director of the CogAI laboratory. Dr. Veksler is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Caldwell University. His research and teaching focuses on all topics where there is interplay between humans and machines, including Artificial Intelligence, UI/UX and Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Agent Teamming, Cybernetics, Cognitive Modeling, Behavioral Simulations, Behavioral Game Theory, AI in Games, and Cognitive Robotics. See Prof. Veksler's  Google Scholar profile for a selected list of publications.

Kushma Saud is the Lab Manager and research assistant for the CogAI and C-STEM laboratories. Guided by a deep interest in cognitive science and computer science, she is passionate about connecting technology and human thought/behaviors together. Kushma strives to build an environment where curiosity and collaboration drive discovery and where ideas can transform into meaningful impact. 

Message from the manager: I would like to make our lab a welcoming, accessible, and supportive community amongst all the tech-inquisitive minds. If you have any queries regarding the lab or want to discuss anything relating to the cSTEM programs, feel free to reach out to me anytime at  ksaud@caldwell.edu 

Santosh Raut is a sophomore with interests in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and system design. He has worked on several full-stack and AI-based projects, developing data-driven applications that integrate both software engineering and research. He enjoys exploring how deep learning architectures can be optimized for interpretability and performance, especially in large language models. 

Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—santoshraut.

Krenjila Sharma is the research assistant for the CogAI and C-STEM laboratories. With a deep passion for business intelligence and product, Krenjila is driven to make data come to life. Her commitment to excellence and enthusiasm for cutting-edge research drives her work. 

Know more about her through her LinkedIn profile—krenjilasharma.

Kenisha Thapa is a sophomore with strong interests in the intersection of business and technology, especially analysis, evaluation, and usability research. She recently completed an effectiveness and usability study on learning management systems and is currently developing it into a research paper. Outside of research, She serves as the Chief of Staff for the Student Government Association, the Mentorship Coordinator for the Honors Program, and a member of the Programming Board.

Know more about her through her LinkedIn profile—kenishathapa.

Apekshya Bhattarai is a junior majoring in Computer Science, and currently conducting research on improving accessibility in software development, with a focus on touch-based approaches to programming. Apekshya has also served as a research assistant at the Quantitative Research Lab at Rutgers University, where the focus was on developing a robust model of protease by incorporating the energetics of molecular interactions between protease and substrates into a machine learning workforce. Know more about her through her LinkedIn profile—apekshyabhattarai

Dibas is a Junior at Caldwell University double majoring in Computer Science and Business Analytics. He is the Founding President of the Google Developers Group at Caldwell University and serves as the VP of Marketing and Communications for the Student Government Association (SGA). Dibas is passionate about building software that makes a positive difference in the world. 

Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—dibasduliya

Pranish Uprety is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. His current work involves flight path simulation and navigation systems, with a focus on digital elevation model (DEM) data and terrain visualization. He is particularly interested in applying computational methods to aviation and aerospace research. Pranish also serves as president of the Caldwell Astronomy Club and is active in leadership and academic initiatives on campus. 

Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—pranishuprety 

Jorge Gonzalez is a Sophomore at Caldwell University, working on research and technical documentation for data collection software, with a special focus on data collection for scientific research. 

Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—jorgegonzalez

Joel Komieter is a Computer Science major at Caldwell. He is a full-stack developer with a wide range of expertise (React, Express, Firebase, Python, REST API, etc.). Joel is currently working on a web application for tracking research equipment. 

Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—joelkomieter

Rishikesh (Rishi) Yadav is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science at Caldwell University. Rishi is  building a GOPiler (a super-fast compiler using GO), VR GPTAssist using C# & Unity, DANN based Recommender System using Cross Domain Transfer Learning.  He is currently a SWE intern at TapDrop Inc where he uses LUA and Unity to develop games. 

Shovan Raut is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science. Shovan is fascinated with Embedded Systems Engineering and Design; and in his free time, he's an eager video gamer. Shovan is currently doing research on artificial neural networksm, with a concentration on reducing the costs of backpropagation. Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—shovanraut

Nana Blay Eku-Kintoh  is a Junior majoring in Computer Science. Blay is currently working on a ML project to detect and transcribe American Sign Language in real time on video streams. He is skilled in ML, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Python, Flask, Microsoft Azure and Web Development. Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—NanaBlayEku-Kintoh

Shadip  Khadka a senior majoring in computer science. He is currently working on a research project with Khagendra Khatri(KGen) and Professor Vlad on “ML for Plagiarism Detection in Coding Assignment”. Besides this, he's also working on a project focusing on Deep Neural Networks (DNN) to make a stock prediction. Know more about him through his LinkedIn profile—shadipkhadka