Banafsheh Rekabdar, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Computer Science
Portland State University
Email: mylastname [at] pdx [dot] edu
Banafsheh Rekabdar, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Computer Science
Portland State University
Email: mylastname [at] pdx [dot] edu
I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Portland State University and Director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab.
My research focuses on reinforcement learning and generative AI (e.g., VAEs, diffuison models), with an emphasis on robust and multimodal machine learning. I develop learning methods for decision-making, perception, and real-world deployment.
I’m recruiting BS/MS students in RL and GenAI (VAEs, diffusion, LLMs). Please email your CV + 3–5 sentences on your research interests (RL experience is a plus).
Research Interests:
Reinforcement Learning
Generative AI (VAE, Diffusion Models, LLMs)
Applied Machine Learning
Teaching:
CS410/CS510 (Deep) Reinforcement Learning
CS 350 Algorithm Design and Analysis
Selected Honors:
David E. Wedge Award for Excellence in Diversity, PSU 2024
Best paper award, IEEE AIxSet 2023
Selected Papers & Projects:
IEEE CogMI 2025 — Online Decision Mamba
Neurips Workshop— Robust MultiModal RL
ICLR 2025 Workshop—World Models with Hierarchical VAEs (NVAE)
CVPR 2024 — DAFF: Multispectral Pedestrian Detection
AAAI 2024 — Dynamic & Adaptive Feature Generation with LLMs
ICRA 2020 — Uncertainty-Measured MDP for Dynamic Environments