CSGC Executive Committee

(2025-2026)

Mehdi Khalaj is a Ph.D. student in the Bioinformatics Lab (BioInfo) at the Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, where he also earned his Bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Additionally, He is a sessional lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and teaches Data Structure to the Undergraduate students.His research focuses on 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, developing quantum algorithms that can transform large-scale genomic and molecular data into actionable insights for 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲. Mehdi explores how quantum computing can accelerate advancements in computational genomics, structural biology, and biomolecular simulations.

Leila Moghaddam Moghanloo is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan, with a background in computer science and bioinformatics. Her academic interests center on applying computational and data-driven approaches to biological problems. Her research lies at the intersection of computational biology, deep learning, and structural  bioinformatics, with a focus on bacteria–phage interactions. Leila studies protein–protein interactions between phage anti-defence proteins and bacterial immune systems to advance our understanding of microbial evolution and contribute to future developments in gene editing and therapeutic discovery.

Nibir Neelim is currently pursuing his M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Debajyoti Mondal. His primary research interests include Graph Drawing Algorithms, Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning. Nibir completed his B.Sc. in Computer Science from BRAC University. As VP Internal, Nibir believes that a meaningful graduate life for students deserve the utmost support from everyone, and is such, aims to work diligently to serve the needs of graduate computer science students to the best of his abilities.

Thulani Hewavithana is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Computer Science at University of Saskatchewan and a member of the USask Bioinformatics Lab, supervised by Dr. Lingling Jin and Dr. Isobel Parkin. She previously completed her M.Sc. in Computer Science and has been actively involved in graduate student leadership throughout her academic journey. Thulani has served as an MSc Representative and a Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) representative in previous years, where she advocated for graduate students and helped organize events and activities that fostered connection and engagement within the graduate community. She is passionate about volunteering, community engagement, and creating inclusive spaces where students feel welcomed, supported, and heard. As VP Social of the Computer Science Graduate Council, Thulani is excited to organize social, cultural, and networking events that bring graduate students together beyond research and coursework. She believes that a strong graduate experience is built not only through academic excellence, but also through meaningful connections, collaboration, and a sense of belonging.

Ardalan is a Master’s student at the University of Saskatchewan specializing in Applied Machine Learning, with a research focus on Computer Vision and Image Processing under Dr. Mark Eramian. He graduated with Honours in Computer Science (Software Engineering Option). His research experience includes conducting a user study with 36,407 interaction events on SIFT-assisted image annotation systems, and co-authoring research on human-AI collaboration. He has also led full-stack development at BEAP Lab, building a smartwatch data processing and analytics platform. As a Teaching Assistant since 2023, he has mentored 100+ students across six core CS courses including Operating Systems. He is passionate about building intelligent systems that bridge the gap between AI research and real-world applications.

Malcolm Todd is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the USask Bioinformatics Lab since 2021. Supervised by Dr. Lingling Jin and Dr. Ian McQuillan, Malcolm began his Ph.D. program in January 2023 upon the completion of his M.Sc. degree. Malcolm also possesses a Bachelor’s degree in both Business Administration and Computer Science. Malcolm’s research investigates the discovery of large-scale DNA variations using graph- and text-index-based data structures. The discovery of these large-scale variants remains a key research area given their role in shaping species traits and the role that rare pathogenic variants play in numerous cancers and genetic diseases. However, these variants remain challenging to detect using existing approaches. Therefore, Malcolm’s research seeks to develop alternative methods that will enhance future studies’ ability to associate specific variants with disease or desirable plant traits.

Mary is an M.Sc. student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan, supervised by Dr. Mark Eramian. She conducts research in artificial intelligence, computer vision, and image processing, focusing on deep learning methods for plant image analysis to improve accuracy and efficiency in crop disease detection. She has a strong interest in applied computer vision, image recognition, and exploring real-world applications of AI. Outside her academic work, she enjoys contributing to the graduate research community through active engagement in departmental and university-wide initiatives.

Mahdi Moayeri is a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan, supervised by Prof. Raymond Spiteri. His research focuses on scientific and high-performance computing, with interests in developing actor-based concurrent frameworks for high-throughput scientific workflows.