Mohamed Y. Selim

Ahmad M. Nazar, Mohamed Y. Selim, Ashraf Gaffar et al.

Integrating Generative AI (GenAI) into educational contexts presents a transformative potential for enhancing learning experiences. This paper introduces CourseGPT, a generative AI tool designed to support instructors and enhance the educational experiences of undergraduate students. Built on open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) from Mistral AI, CourseGPT offers continuous instructor support and regular updates to course materials, enriching the learning environment. By utilizing course-specific content, such as slide decks and supplementary readings and references, CourseGPT provides precise, dynamically generated responses to student inquiries. Unlike generic AI models, CourseGPT allows instructors to manage and control the responses, thus extending the course scope without overwhelming details. The paper demonstrates the application of CourseGPT using the CPR E 431 - Basics of Information System Security course as a pilot. This course, with its large enrollments and diverse curriculum, serves as an ideal testbed for CourseGPT. The tool aims to enhance the learning experience, accelerate feedback processes, and streamline administrative tasks. The study evaluates CourseGPT's impact on student outcomes, focusing on correctness scores, context recall, and faithfulness of responses. Results indicate that the Mixtral-8x7b model, with a higher parameter count, outperforms smaller models, achieving an 88.0% correctness score and a 66.6% faithfulness score. Additionally, feedback from former students and teaching assistants on CourseGPT's accuracy, helpfulness, and overall performance was collected. The outcomes revealed that a significant majority found CourseGPT to be highly accurate and beneficial in addressing their queries, with many praising its ability to provide timely and relevant information.

Namrata Vaswani, Mohamed Y. Selim, Renee Serrell Gibert

Signal Processing (SP) and Machine Learning (ML) rely on good math and coding knowledge, in particular, linear algebra, probability, trigonometry, and complex numbers. A good grasp of these relies on scalar algebra learned in middle school. The ability to understand and use scalar algebra well, in turn, relies on a good foundation in basic arithmetic. Because of various systemic barriers, many students are not able to build a strong foundation in arithmetic in elementary school. This leads them to struggle with algebra and everything after that. Since math learning is cumulative, the gap between those without a strong early foundation and everyone else keeps increasing over the school years and becomes difficult to fill in college. In this article we discuss how SP faculty, students, and professionals can play an important role in starting, and participating in, university-run, or other, out-of-school math support programs to supplement students' learning. Two example programs run by the authors, CyMath at Iowa State and Algebra by 7th Grade (Ab7G) at Purdue, and one run by the Actuarial Foundation, are described. We conclude with providing some simple zero-cost suggestions for public schools that, if adopted, could benefit a much larger number of students than what out-of-school programs can reach.

Ahmad M. Nazar, Abdulkadir Celik, Mohamed Y. Selim et al.

Vehicular communication systems operating in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band are highly susceptible to signal blockage from dynamic obstacles such as vehicles, pedestrians, and infrastructure. To address this challenge, we propose a proactive blockage prediction framework that utilizes multi-modal sensing, including camera, GPS, LiDAR, and radar inputs in an infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) setting. This approach uses modality-specific deep learning models to process each sensor stream independently and fuses their outputs using a softmax-weighted ensemble strategy based on validation performance. Our evaluations, for up to 1.5s in advance, show that the camera-only model achieves the best standalone trade-off with an F1-score of 97.1% and an inference time of 89.8ms. A camera+radar configuration further improves accuracy to 97.2% F1 at 95.7ms. Our results display the effectiveness and efficiency of multi-modal sensing for mmWave blockage prediction and provide a pathway for proactive wireless communication in dynamic environments.