I am a fourth-year Ph.D. student at the College of Information Studies (iSchool), University of Maryland, College Park. I work with Professor Niklas Elmqvist and am a member of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab. Previously, I obtained a Master's in Computer Science from Stony Brook University and a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. My official first name is Md Naimul, but you can call me Naimul (pronunciation: na-ei-mul). Md stands for Mohammod, a common name in Bangladesh. It is so common that at some point, we started using the short form!
My broad research interests are Human-Computer Interaction, Data Visualization, and Human-Centered AI. More specifically, I study how data visualization can help us to design AI-infused supertools, applications that amplify, augment, empower, and enhance human performance, by combining user experiences with AI support services. I argue that interactive visualization can work as a communication medium between humans and AI and help us retain human agency and ownership in AI-infused supertools. To validate this premise, during my dissertation, I designed three AI-assisted writing tools (HaLLMark, DramatVis Personae, and Portrayal), to study how visualization and AI can amplify creative writing while retaining writers’ agency and ownership.
I also design interactive visualization techniques that can adapt to large-scale data and models. For example, during my dissertation, I designed Aggregate Query Sculpting (AQS) for iteratively exploring large-scale multivariate data and Visual Concept Programming for summarizing and programming image datasets.
Finally, I am determined to ensure equal access to data and tools for everyone. As a starting point, we recently proposed a sonification method (Accessible Data Visualization) so that blind users can access charts and data. Please see my publication list below for more details.