Shehzad Afzal

Research Staff

Research Scientist

Current

Social Profile:

Research Interests

Shehzad's research interests include visual analytics-based decision support systems, data-driven decision-making, resource allocation, and situational awareness. His recent work focuses on interactive visualization techniques for large-scale ocean, atmospheric, and climate datasets in a supercomputing environment.  
Further research areas include visual analytics applications in syndromic surveillance, finance, social media, crime analytics, resource allocation for security and surveillance, precision agriculture, and text-based visualization design. 

Selected Publications

A Visual Analytics Framework for Renewable Energy Profiling and Resource Planning;
R.P. Pammi, S. Afzal, H.P. Dasari, M. Yousaf, S. Ghani, M.S. Venkatraman, I. Hoteit; EuroVA, 2023.

A visual analytics based decision making environment for COVID-19 modeling and visualization;
S. Afzal, S. Ghani, H.C. Jenkins-Smith, D.S. Ebert, M. Hadwiger, I. Hoteit; IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS), 2020.

Mass media and the contagion of fear, the case of Ebola in America; S. Towers; S. Afzal, G Bernal, N. Bliss, S. Brown, B. Espinoza, J. Jackson, J. Judson-Garcia, M. Khan, M. Lin, R. Mamada, V. M. Moreno, F. Nazari, K. Okuneye, M. L. Ross, C. Rodriguez, J. Medlock, D.S. Ebert, C. Castillo-Chavez, PLOS One, 2016.

Analyzing high-dimensional multivariate network links with integrated anomaly detection, highlighting and exploration; S. Ko, S. Afzal, S. Walton, Y. Yang, J. Chae, A. Malik, Y. Jang, M. Chen, D.S. Ebert; IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2014.

Spatial text visualization using automatic typographic maps; S. Afzal, R. Maciejewski, Y. Jang, N. Elmqvist, D.S. Ebert; IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2012.

Visual analytics decision support environment for epidemic modeling and response evaluation;
S. Afzal, R. Maciejewski, D.S. Ebert; IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2011.

Education

  • ​Ph.D., Computer Engineering, Purdue University, USA, 2017

Professional Profile

  • ​2020 - Current: Research Scientist, PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  • 2018 - 2020: Postdoctoral fellow, PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  • 2017-2018: Development Lead, Davista Technologies (Startup), Purdue Research Park, West Lafayette, IN, USA
  • 2009-2016: Graduate Research Assistant, VACCINE Lab, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

Scientific and Professional Membership

- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- IEEE Visualization and Graphics Technical Community (VGTC)

Awards

  • Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation (PROTECT): Served as a member of the United States Coast Guard Port Resilience for Operational Tactical Enforcement to Combat Terrorism (PROTECT) Team, Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence (VACCINE), Purdue University, May 2013
  • VAST 2010 Challenge Award: Support for Future Detection, IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology, October 2010 for “VACCINATED”, (A. Malik,Afzal, S., Hodgess, E.,Ebert, D., Maciejewski, R.)

KAUST Affiliations

Research Interests Keywords

Visual analytics Information visualization Data-driven decision making