Majd Khalaf

About

I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Engineering at Northeastern University, working in the Spatial Intelligence Research Group (SINRG) with Prof. Mallesham Dasari. My research is at the intersection of wearable computing and wireless sensing, with a broad interest in spatial intelligence: building systems that help everyday devices understand and interact with the physical world around them.

I enjoy working across the full stack, from hardware and embedded systems to wireless networking, signal processing, and machine learning. I am especially drawn to problems where careful systems design can make intelligent sensing practical on small, low-power devices, and to applications that have real impact on people.

Before my Ph.D., I earned a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Norwich University (minors in Mathematics and Computer Science), where I was named Student Engineer of the Year and served as President of Eta Kappa Nu.

I am always open to new research collaborations. If our interests overlap, feel free to reach out at khalaf.m@northeastern.edu.

News

• Jun 2026🕶️ Presenting a poster at AWE USA 2026 (Augmented World Expo), the world's largest XR and spatial computing event, in Long Beach, CA.
• May 2026🔬 Submitted a paper on capacitive eye tracking for low-power smart glasses to ACM SenSys 2026.
• Apr 2026📡 Submitted a paper on multimodal traffic analysis in wearable XR / AI glasses to ACM MobiCom 2026.
• Feb 2026🎓 Presented a poster at the Northeastern COE PhD Research Expo 2026.
• Oct 2025📝 Submitted a paper on AI-assisted spatial awareness for accessibility to IEEE THMS.
• Sep 2025🎓 Started my Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at Northeastern, joining the SINRG lab.
• Jul 2025🛠️ Served as faculty and Resident Assistant at GIV Engineering (Governor's Institutes of Vermont), teaching high school students to build solar trackers.
• May 2025🎉 Graduated from Norwich University with a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering.
• May 2025🎤 Presented capstone project AI-VIS (AI for visually impaired individuals) at the Vermont Society of Engineers 112th Annual Meeting.
• Feb 2025🏅 Named Student Engineer of the Year at Norwich University.
• Nov 2024📄 Published work on NLP-based digital forensics in Future Internet.
• Nov 2024🎟️ Attended the IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu Student Leadership Conference in Charlotte, NC.
• Oct 2024🎤 Presented at the AESH Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water, and Energy at UMass Amherst.
• Sep 2024📊 Presented a poster at the Vermont AOT Research & Innovation Symposium in Barre, VT.
• Aug 2024🎤 Presented at the AI Colloquium hosted by the Norwich University Applied Research Institute (NUARI).
• Jun 2024🎤 Presented at the 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference at Northeastern University.
• May 2024📊 Presented a poster at the MassDOT Transportation Innovation Conference at the DCU Center, Worcester, MA.
• May 2024🎟️ Attended the NEUTC (New England University Transportation Center) Symposium in Worcester, MA.
• Apr 2024🔋 Began as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at NEUTC, studying battery electric vehicle (BEV) adoption across Vermont.
• Feb 2024🎤 Presented at the Cybersecurity Research in Undergraduate Programs (CyRUP) Conference at Norwich University.
• Nov 2022📚 Began tutoring as a Peer Tutor at the NU Center for Academic Success and Achievement.

Research

Publications

Identifying Persons of Interest in Digital Forensics Using NLP-Based AI

J. Adkins, A. Bataineh, M. Khalaf

Future Internet, 16(11):426, 2024

DOI

BibTeX

@article{khalaf2024forensics, title = {Identifying Persons of Interest in Digital Forensics Using NLP-Based AI}, author = {Adkins, J. and Bataineh, A. and Khalaf, M.}, journal = {Future Internet}, volume = {16}, number = {11}, pages = {426}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.3390/fi16110426} }

Advanced Misinformation Detection: A Bi-LSTM Model Optimized by Genetic Algorithms

A. Al Bataineh, V. Reyes, T. Olukanni, M. Khalaf, A. Vibho, R. Pedyuk

Electronics, 12(15):3250, 2023

DOI

BibTeX

@article{albataineh2023misinformation, title = {Advanced Misinformation Detection: A Bi-LSTM Model Optimized by Genetic Algorithms}, author = {Al Bataineh, A. and Reyes, V. and Olukanni, T. and Khalaf, M. and Vibho, A. and Pedyuk, R.}, journal = {Electronics}, volume = {12}, number = {15}, pages = {3250}, year = {2023}, doi = {10.3390/electronics12153250} }

Conferences

Experience

Education

Honors & Awards

• Student Engineer of the Year · Norwich University, 2025
• Carol E. Stephens Memorial Award · 2024
• Engineers Society Freshman Award · 2022
• President, Eta Kappa Nu (HKN)
• Vice President, Tau Beta Pi

Technical Skills