Associate Teaching Professor, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Biography
Dr. Lama Hamandi joined the faculty of Northeastern in Silicon Valley in 2021. As the Course Lead for “Algorithms”, she teaches a variety of graduate courses, including Algorithms, Data Structures, Computer Networking, Computer Systems and Parallel Data Processing.
A member of IEEE and ACM, Hamandi teaches graduate courses on algorithms, computer systems, computer networking, parallel data processing, and data structures. She is the course lead for “Algorithms” across the Northeastern network and is a member of the Faculty Senate. Hamandi is also passionate about the gamification of computing education, and she supervises students who create engaging games to practice algorithms.
A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Hamandi taught at universities in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia — including the American University of Beirut, Beirut Arab University, and King Saud University — before joining Northeastern. At these universities, she taught numerous topics, including electrical and electronics courses, computer organization and digital systems design, data communication networks, computer systems, C/C++ and assembly language programming, and data structures. During that time, Hamandi also published parallel processing, natural language processing, and machine learning papers in journals and at conferences. Her recent research examines innovations in computing education.
Education
- PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ohio State University
- MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ohio State University
- BS in Electrical Engineering, American University of Beirut
Publications
Research Interests
Dr. Hamandi’s primary goal in designing educational games is to improve equity in teaching and assessments, by blending educational content with dynamic and engaging gameplay. The “Gamification of Algorithms” is a learning and assessment game/tool that supports all students, particularly those who may struggle with traditional instruction and assessment methods.
Projects
- Real-Time Exam Emotion Recognition: A system that uses multimodal analysis of facial expressions and physiological signals to detect and classify a student’s emotions like stress or confusion during an exam.
- Personalized learning through adaptive gamification: An educational game that adapts the learning path of each student according to their need, emotion and performance.
