Biography
As a Lecturer, I bring a multidisciplinary foundation in machine learning and software engineering, with a strong emphasis on bridging theoretical research and practical implementation. My work centers on the development of advanced algorithms for object detection, semantic segmentation, anomaly detection, and generative modeling over complex, high-dimensional datasets. I have extensive expertise in 3D object recognition, multi-modal data fusion, and large-scale optimization, contributing to applications in healthcare, finance, intelligent systems, and automation. I am proficient in deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and ONNX, and adept at deploying scalable AI solutions using Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms including AWS and Azure. My research spans deep learning, transformers, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing, with a complementary focus on explainable AI and robust, real-time inference pipelines. I also specialize in large-scale data processing using Apache Spark and Hadoop, enabling efficient, high-performance model training and deployment. My goal is to advance cutting-edge AI research while delivering tangible innovations for real-world impact.
Research Interest
Image processing, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Reinforcement Learning
Educational Background
Ph.D. in Computer Science, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia (July 2019 – July 2022)
M.Tech in Computer Science, Aligarh Muslim University, India (July 2015 – July 2017)
B.Tech in Computer Science, Aligarh Muslim University, India (July 2011 – June 2015)
Working Experience
Lecturer, Xiamen University Malaysia (March 2025 — Present)
Lecturer, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjong Malim (March 2024 — March 2025)
Research Scientist, University of Limerick, Ireland (October 2023 — April 2024)
Postdoctoral Researcher, United Arab Emirates University, UAE (July 2022 — October 2023)
Research Assistant, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India (July 2018 — May 2019)
Research Experience / Grants
Collaborator, YUTP Internal Grant, “AI-Powered Analysis for Aperiodic Structures in Crystalline Materials”, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia – RM 100,000 (2024–2026).
Principal Investigator, Finland OKTU Project, “AI-Enhanced Vision Systems for Microscopic Image Interpretation” – RM 10,000 equivalent (2023–2024).
Publications
Usmani, U.A., Roy, A. & Watada, J. (2025) ’Robust Domain Adaptation Framework for Medical Image Segmentation with Style Transfer and Boundary Refinement’, Computer Vision and Image Understanding, accepted for publication.
Usmani, U.A., Roy, A. & Watada, J. (2025) ’Hierarchical Transformer With Edge-Preserving Pretraining for Cross-Modality MRI Synthesis’, Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics, accepted for publication.
Usmani, U.A., Roy, A. & Watada, J. (2025) ’PARDiff: Bridging Autoregressive and Diffusion Models for Order-Agnostic Graph Generation’, IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, accepted for publication.
Usmani, U.A., Roy, A. & Watada, J. (2025) ’Unified Learning of Anatomical Features and Text Descriptions for Medical Image Segmentation’, ACM Transactions on Probabilistic Machine Learning, accepted for publication.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2024) ’The Digital Age: Exploring the Intersection of AI/CI and Human Cognition and Social Interactions’, Procedia Computer Science, 239, pp. 1044-1052.
Usmani, U.A., Aziz, I.A., Jaafar, J., & Watada, J. (2024) ’Deep Learning for Anomaly Detection in Time- Series Data: An Analysis of Techniques, Review of Applications, and Guidelines for Future Research’, IEEE Access.
Usmani, U.A. & Usmani, M.U. (2023) ’AI-driven biomedical and health informatics: Harnessing artificial intelligence for improved healthcare solutions’, Proceedings of the 2023 2nd International Conference on Futuristic Technologies (INCOFT), IEEE, pp. 1–7.
Usmani, U.A., Sulaiman, S. & Watada, J. (2024) ’Intelligent Integration of IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems: Empowering the Next Generation of AI-Enabled Smart Environments’, Proceedings of the 2024 8th International Conference on Computing, Communication, Control and Automation (ICCUBEA), IEEE, pp. 1–9.
Usmani, U.A., Sulaiman, S. & Watada, J. (2024) ’Synergizing Environmental Computing, Agricultural Engineering, and AI for Sustainable ICT Applications in Agriculture’, Proceedings of the 2024 8th International Conference on Computing, Communication, Control and Automation (ICCUBEA), IEEE, pp. 1–7.
Usmani, U.A., Sulaiman, S. & Watada, J. (2024) ’Integrating AI in Data Warehousing and OLAP: A Pathway to Enhanced Analytics and Insights in Modern Data Ecosystems’, Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Computing Innovation, Intelligence, Technologies and Education (CIITE), IEEE, pp. 1–9.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., & Usmani, M.U. (2024) ’Advancing Image Processing through Cutting-Edge Optimization Methods: State-of-the-Art Techniques and Applications’, 2024 2nd International Conference on Self Sustainable Artificial Intelligence Systems (ICSSAS), pp. 980– 990.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2023) ’Advancements in Industry 4.0 Asset Management: Interoperability and Cyber Security Challenges and Opportunities’, Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference, pp. 468-488.
Usmani, U.A. & Usmani, M.U. (2023) ’Theoretical Insights into Neural Networks and Deep Learning: Advancing Understanding, Interpretability, and Generalization’, 2023 World Conference on Communication G Computing (WCONF), pp. 1-8.
Usmani, U.A. & Usmani, M.U. (2023) ’Beyond the Screen: An Exploration of Theoretical Foundations and Paradigms in Human-Computer Interface Design’, 2023 International Conference on Ambient Intelligence, Knowledge Informatics and Industrial Electronics (AIKIIE), pp. 1-7.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2023) ’Enhancing Medical Diagnosis Through Deep Learning and Machine Learning Approaches in Image Analysis’, Intelligent Systems Conference, pp. 449-468.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2023) ’ERP Integration: Enhancing Collaboration in Virtual and Extended Enterprises’, World Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, pp. 161-178.
Usmani, U.A. & Usmani, M.U. (2023) ’AI-Driven Biomedical and Health Informatics: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Improved Healthcare Solutions’, 2023 2nd International Conference on Futuristic Technologies (INCOFT), pp. 1-7.
Usmani, U.A., Usmani, A.Y. & Usmani, M.U. (2023) ’Ensuring Trustworthy Machine Learning: Ethical Foundations, Robust Algorithms, and Responsible Applications’, 2023 International Conference on Computing, Communication, and Intelligent Systems (ICCCIS),
pp. 576-583.Usmani, U.A., Usmani, M.U. & Usmani, A.Y. (2023) ’Enabling Intelligent Decision Making: Harnessing Advanced Management Strategies for Enhanced Organizational Efficiency and Effectiveness’, 2023 International Conference on Computing, Communication, and Intelligent Systems (ICCCIS), pp. 601-608.
Usmani, U.A. (2022) ’A Reinforcement Learning Algorithm for Object Segmentation in Complex Images’ (Ph.D. Thesis).
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2022) ’Enhanced Deep Learning Framework for Fine- Grained Segmentation of Fashion and Apparel’, Science and Information Conference, pp. 29-44.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2022) ’A Review of Unsupervised Machine Learning Frameworks for Anomaly Detection in Industrial Applications’, Science and Information Conference, pp. 158-189.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2022) ’Enhancing Artificial Intelligence Control Mechanisms: Current Practices, Real-Life Applications, and Future Views’, Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference, pp. 287-306.
Usmani, U.A. & Jaafar, J. (2022) ’Machine Learning in Healthcare: Current Trends and the Future’, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Smart Community: AISC 2020, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia, pp. 659-675.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J. & Aziz, I.A. (2022) ’A Systematic Review of Privacy- Preserving Blockchain in E-Medicine’, Biomedical and Other Applications of Soft Computing,
pp. 25-40.Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J., Aziz, I.A. & Roy, A. (2021) ’A Reinforcement Learning Based Adaptive ROI Generation for Video Object Segmentation’, IEEE Access, 9, pp. 161959-161977.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J., Aziz, I.A. & Roy, A. (2021) ’Particle Swarm Optimization with Deep Learning for Human Action Recognition’, International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control, 17(6), pp. 1843-1870.
Usmani, U.A., Haron, N.S. & Jaafar, J. (2021) ’A Natural Language Processing Approach to Mine Online Reviews Using Topic Modeling’, International Conference on Computing Science, Communication and Security, pp. 82-98.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J., Aziz, I.A. & Roy, A. (2021) ’A Reinforcement Learning Algorithm for Automated Detection of Skin Lesions’, Applied Sciences, 11(20), p. 9367.
Usmani, U.A., Usmani, M.U. & Usmani, A.Y. (2023) ’Enabling Intelligent Decision Making: Harnessing Advanced Management Strategies for Enhanced Organizational Efficiency and Effectiveness’, 2023 International Conference on Computing, Communication, and Intelligent Systems (ICCCIS), pp. 601-608.
Usmani, U.A. (2022) ’A Reinforcement Learning Algorithm for Object Segmentation in Complex Images’ (Ph.D. Thesis).
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2022) ’Enhanced Deep Learning Framework for Fine- Grained Segmentation of Fashion and Apparel’, Science and Information Conference, pp. 29-44.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2022) ’A Review of Unsupervised Machine Learning Frameworks for Anomaly Detection in Industrial Applications’, Science and Information Conference, pp. 158-189.
Usmani, U.A., Happonen, A. & Watada, J. (2022) ’Enhancing Artificial Intelligence Control Mechanisms: Current Practices, Real-Life Applications, and Future Views’, Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference, pp. 287-306.
Usmani, U.A. & Jaafar, J. (2022) ’Machine Learning in Healthcare: Current Trends and the Future’, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Smart Community: AISC 2020, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia, pp. 659-675.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J. & Aziz, I.A. (2022) ’A Systematic Review of Privacy- Preserving Blockchain in E-Medicine’, Biomedical and Other Applications of Soft Computing,
pp. 25-40.Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J., Aziz, I.A. & Roy, A. (2021) ’A Reinforcement Learning Based Adaptive ROI Generation for Video Object Segmentation’, IEEE Access, 9, pp. 161959-161977.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J., Aziz, I.A. & Roy, A. (2021) ’Particle Swarm Optimization with Deep Learning for Human Action Recognition’, International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control, 17(6), pp. 1843-1870.
Usmani, U.A., Haron, N.S. & Jaafar, J. (2021) ’A Natural Language Processing Approach to Mine Online Reviews Using Topic Modeling’, International Conference on Computing Science, Communication and Security, pp. 82-98.
Usmani, U.A., Watada, J., Jaafar, J., Aziz, I.A. & Roy, A. (2021) ’A Reinforcement Learning Algorithm for Automated Detection of Skin Lesions’, Applied Sciences, 11(20), p. 9367.
Honors / Awards
MUTKU ry Research Fellowship, Finland – Selected as a Research Assistant to contribute to the AI-driven soil quality transformation project “Towards Good Quality Soils”, recognizing expertise in applying artificial intelligence to industrial challenges.
US ARMY Vision Systems Fellowship, U.S.A. – Received postdoctoral research funding to support my work in computer vision-based irregular object detection, contributing to defense-related AI technologies.
UAEU Collaborative Research Grant, U.A.E. – Postdoctoral Fellowship through a joint project between UAEU CIT and the Medical School, focusing on AI-enhanced healthcare applications and medical technology innovation.
Blockchain Research Fellowship, Massey University, New Zealand – Acknowledged for significant contributions to secure and accessible healthcare data systems using blockchain technologies.
IIT Compiler Research Assistantship, India – Granted research support to work on the development of a multi-language compiler platform, underscoring interoperability and cross- platform execution in software system.