Biography

Dr. Nahar received her BSc in computer science from the Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 2013. She received her MSc and PhD in visual informatics from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), in 2016 and 2020, respectively. 
Currently, Dr. Nahar is an Assistant Professor of Computing & Data Science, Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM). Before joining XMUM, she was an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Asian University for Women, Bangladesh (Aug 2022 – Jan 2024), and a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Faculty of Information Science and Technology, UKM (Jul 2021 - Jun 2022). From 2013 to 2014, she was a Graduate Research Assistant with the Institute of Visual Informatics, UKM. She is also the recipient of the prestigious Zamalah Research University scholarship for her MSc and PhD at UKM.
She authored several articles in reputed international journals and conferences. Her research interests include ICT for development, assistive technologies for persons with disability, educational technologies for visually impaired students, geospatial analysis, and development of geospatial analytics etc.

Research Interest

Educational technology, Software engineering, Artificial intelligence, Human-computer interaction, Usability Engineering, and Geospatial analytics.

Educational Background

• PhD in Visual Informatics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2020)
• MSc in Visual Informatics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2016)
• BSc in Computer Science, Asian University for Women, Bangladesh (2013)

Working Experience

•    Assistant Professor, Xiamen University Malaysia (2024 - present)
•    Assistant Professor, Asian University for Women (2022 – 2024)
•    Postdoctoral Researcher, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2021 - 2022)

Research Experience

•    Postdoctoral Researcher, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2021 - 2022)
•    Graduate Research Assistant, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2013 - 2016)
•    Study-Work Program, Asian University for Women (2011 – 20)
•    AUW-CMU iSTEP Research Internship, Asian University for Women (2011 – 2013)

Representative Publications

• Articles under review:

1. Lutfun Nahar, Sheikh Abdullah SNH, Abdul Maulud KN, Abdullah A, Zolkipli MF, Zainol Ariffin KA and Chun LM (2025) “A Systematic Literature Review on the Application of Machine Learning and Geospatial Analytics for Monitoring and Predicting Drug Dealing Activities”. Under Review in International Journal of Digital Earth [ISI Impact Factor of 2022 is 5.1, a Q1 journal].

2. Lutfun Nahar, Sheikh Abdullah SNH, Abdul Maulud KN, (2025) “Spatio-temporal assessment of illegal drug dealing activities in Malaysia”. Under review in JMIR Public Health & Surveillance [ISI Impact Factor of 2022 is 8.5, a Q1 journal].

    

• Articles in Journals:

1. Lutfun Nahar, Riza Sulaiman, Sheikh Abdullah SNH, (2025) “A Geometry Learning Application for Visually Impaired Students”, Education and Information Technology 30, pp 7321–7356, (2025) [SCIE Impact Factor of 2024 is 5.4, a Q1 & top 10% journal].

2. Ahmad Al-Aboosi, Sheikh Abdullah SNH, Lutfun Nahar, Abdul Maulud KN (2024) “A Geospatial Dashboard for Drug Abuse Risk Assessment and Monitoring School Students in Malaysia”.JMIR Human Factor [ISI Impact Factor of 2022 is 3.4, a Q1 journal].

3. Lutfun Nahar, Riza Sulaiman, Azizah Jaafar (2022) “An Interactive Math Braille Learning Application to Assist Blind Students in Bangladesh”, Assistive Technology 34(02): 157–169 DOI:10.1080/10400435.2020.1734112, [ISI Impact Factor of 2020 is 2.431, a Q2 journal].

4. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, Riza Sulaiman (2021) “Bangla Braille Learning Application (BBLA)” for Visually Impaired Students (VIS) in Bangladesh”, Interactive Learning Environments 29(5): 821–834, DOI: 10.1080/10494820.2019.1619588 [ISI Impact Factor of 2020 is 3.928, a Q1 journal]. 

5. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, Riza Sulaiman (2019) “Usability Evaluation of a Mobile Phone Based Braille Application "mBRAILLE"”, Malaysian Journal of Computer Science, Special Issue 2019, p. 108-117, DOI: 10.22452/mjcs.sp2019no1.8 [ISI Impact Factor of 2018 is 0.65, a Q4 journal]. 

6. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, Eistiak Ahamed, A. B. M. A. Kaish (2015) “Design of a Braille Learning Application for Visually Impaired Students in Bangladesh”, Assistive Technology, 27(3): 172-182, DOI: 10.1080/10400435.2015.1011758 [ISI Impact Factor of 2014 is 1.679, a Q1 journal].

    

• Articles in Conferences:

1. Lutfun Nahar, Riza Sulaiman, Azizah Jaafar, “Users’ Perception on Usability Aspects of a Braille Learning Mobile Application ‘mBRAILLE’, In book: Advances in Visual Informatics, 6th International Visual Informatics Conference, IVIC 2019, Bangi, Malaysia, November 19–21, 2019, Proceedings

2. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, Riza Sulaiman, “Mathematics Education and Accessible Technologies for visually impaired students in Bangladesh”, 5th International Visual Informatics Conference, Putrajaya, 28-30 November, 2017.

3. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, ABMA Kaish, “Mathematics Education for Blind: Current Scenario from the Blind Schools in Bangladesh”, 2nd International Conference on Special Education, Kuching, 31 July-02 August, 2017.

4. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, “Bangla Talking Calculator for visually impaired students in Bangladesh”, 4th International Visual Informatics Conference, Putrajaya, 17-19 November, 2015. 

5. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, “Touch based braille technologies for visually impaired people in developing countries”, Visual Informatics International Seminar, Kuala Lumpur, 26-27 November, 2014.

6. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, Faheem Hussain, “DAISY: An Assistive Technology for Visually Impaired People in Bangladesh”, 2nd International Conference on Computer Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 2013 (ICCEMS 2013), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5-6 December, 2013.

7. Lutfun Nahar, Azizah Jaafar, Faheem Hussain, “School Based Information Center for the Rural People in Bangladesh”, 2013 IEEE Student Conference on Research & Development, Putrajaya, 16-17 December, 2013. 

Honors / Awards

• Postgraduate scholarships:

1. MSc, Zamalah Research University Scholarship, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2014) 

2. PhD, Zamalah Research University Scholarship, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2016)

    

• Postdoctoral research fund:

1. Modal Insan Postdoctoral fund, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2021)