My smiling face wearing black shirt.

Assistant Professor
Tulane University

Tulane University
623 St. Charles Ave.
303 Stanley Thomas Hall
New Orleans, LA 70118
saadhassan [at] tulane [dot] edu
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@SaadHassann
@saadhassann
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Short Bio. I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the School of Science and Engineering at Tulane University. Previously, I was a Ph.D. student in Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology, and a graduate research assistant at the Center for Accessibility and Inclusion Research and Linguistic and Assistive Technologies Laboratory, where I was fortunate to be advised by Dr. Matt Huenerfauth.

I am recruiting 1-2 Ph.D. students to join my research group at Tulane University!

Research. I am particularly enthusiastic about three research areas:

  • Developing and studying interactive systems that address pressing accessibility and inclusion challenges, with a focus on Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals and sign language users. See my prior research on designing sign language technologies [PAHCI 2023, ASSETS 2022, CHI 2022a, TACCESS 2021] and enhance captioning [ W4A 2023, CHI EA 2023, CHI 2022b, W4A 2021].
  • Understanding the impact of sociotechnical linguistic systems, including AI-powered experiences, on individuals with disabilities using cross-disciplinary theories and methods. See my prior research on investigating ableist biases and anti-social behaviors in NLP systems [EMNLP 2021].
  • Facilitating creative expression and promoting art engagement for performance artists, especially those with disabilities, by gaining an understanding of their experiences and implementing solutions within art-making and exhibiting environments.

Industry Experience. During my doctoral studies, I was a Student Researcher and Research Intern at Google Research, where I worked with the Sign Language Understanding Group (SLUG). During Summer and Fall 2022, I was Research Scientist Intern at Meta Reality Labs, where I worked with the audio experiences team.

Teaching. I have been fortunate to be taught by life-changing teachers throughout my schooling, who have inspired me to pursue teaching and research. I have had many opportunities to teach during my graduate and undergraduate degree programs. I would like to see more diverse groups of people become active in higher education and research, and I think diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are important towards that. See teaching section for more details about my teaching experience.

Undergrad. Prior to starting at RIT, I did my undergrad at Lahore University of Management Sciences, where I got my Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Computer Science.

** Beyond research the things that matter to me the most are political activism, sustainability, and human welfare. I also enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction books, creating Spotify playlists, and occassionally painting and creating digital art.

I'm always looking to work with new researchers and talk about shared academic or non-academic interests so please drop me an email.

I also hold the position of Communication Chair within Center for Accessibility and Inclusion Research. I am tasked with keeping the 40+ team of faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students organized by setting weekly agendas and inviting extnernal speakers to our meetings. Please drop me an email if you are interested in presenting your work to the group .

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