Student Spotlights: Getting to know international computer science students
This article features international student profiles shared by the Department of Computer Science in their Student Spotlight Series.
Daniel Bazmandeh
Daniel Bazmandeh is an Arizona second-year international student from Iran. Daniel is pursuing a PhD in Computer Science. Daniel looked at several institutions when deciding to attend the University of Arizona and ultimately decided to join U of A because of ranking, interests, reputation and research intensive program. He decided to do graduate work in order to increase his knowledge of CS while opening up more opportunities for future careers.
Daniel is interested in systems research, software engineering, program languages and compiler design, noting that "these areas together can help with the development of robot systems and efficient systems and enable....technical innovation."
At Arizona, Daniel enjoys the support available for students from CS staff. He especially enjoys the social experiences including playing pick up soccer with peers and staff.
Daniel plays the guitar and sings! He participated (but hadn't planned to, originally) in the University of Arizona International Student Talent Show in Spring 2023 and won! He has been singing since he was a young child (7-8 yrs old) and started learning the guitar about 3 years ago. Check out Daniel's performance in the Talent Show.
Daniel's advice to incoming graduate students: "find at least one extracurricular activity ...[and] allocate some time for it" and "connect with your professors early on!"
Fahmida Alam
Fahmida Alam is a U of A second-year international student from Bangladesh. Fahmida is pursuing a PhD in Computer Science under the supervision of Dr. Mihai Surdeanu and Dr. Ellen Riloff. Fahmida decided to attend the University of Arizona because of the large natural language processing (NLP) group and the funding opportunities for PhD students. She chose NLP as a research area because of it is an evolving area, possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration, and because NLP is "at the heart of how we communicate with the system or computer....bridges the gap between human language or communication and machine understanding."
A computer owned by Fahmida's brother piqued her interest in computer science. She wondered why certain actions on a computer screen resulted in a specific result.
At UA, Fahmida enjoys attending colloquiums, learning about other research going on in the department and engaging in department community building (CS picnics and game nights).
Once Fahmida finishes her program, she plans to become a research scientist and after a certain amount of time, return to academia to teach.
Fahmida's advice to incoming graduate students: "take advantage of all the opportunities available to you...be proactive!"
Asude Guvener
Asude Guvener is a UA first-year student pursuing a BS in Computer Science. Asude decided to attend the University of Arizona after looking at all her options and receiving scholarships. Being an international student from Istanbul, Turkey, Asude had many new experiences attending the UA. She has been involved in Women in Information and Computer Science (WICS) and the CS Buddy Mentor Program (as a mentee).
Asude plans to pursue an additional degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) and merge the two fields into her future career, possibly in project management. Asude enjoys hanging out with friends, barbecuing, and having fun.
Asude's advice to CS students - get connected and get involved!
Watch the interview and learn about Asude's experience in CS at UA. Captions provided in the video.
Elsie Bold
Elsie Bold is a Department of Computer Science senior undergraduate student graduating Spring 2023! Elsie will be earning a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Statistics and Data Science. Elsie decided, in part, to attend the University of Arizona because her sister lives in Tucson. Elsie's hometown of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is a 21 hour flight from Tucson (wow!).
Elsie chose computer science as a major because of her intrigue into programming languages. Being a single parent attending university in a foreign country "was really challenging for me to complete my degree while simultaneously taking care of my daughter".
Her determination and belief in herself coupled with her intrigue in CS topics, has resulted in obtaining a position at the University of Arizona as a Cloud Engineer (way to go Elsie!). Elsie plans on working at UA and pursuing a graduate degree. During her free time, Elsie enjoys hiking, working out, and dancing.
Transcript of Elsie's responses can be found here.
Mahshad Habibpourparizi
Mahshad Habibpourparizi is a Department of Computer Science sophomore undergraduate student. Mahshad is pursuing the BS in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. Being an international student from Iran, Mahshad decided to attend the University of Arizona because of opportunities to get involved in research and other activities in and out of the classroom.
She started computer science early - having been taught by great instructors since middle school and seeing her code run "like magic". Mahshad is doing research with Prof. Todd Proebsting and plans to attend graduate school to continue academic work and expand her knowledge. Besides being a full time student and doing research, Mahshad is also a Teaching Assistant for MATH 100 and a CS Buddy Mentor noting "it feels really good to be able to help people".
During her free time, Mahshad enjoys reading poetry (especially Persian poems), going to the gym and playing sports with friends, hiking, being out in nature, and being out and about (away from the desk). Mahshad has these great pieces of advice for incoming UA CS students : "be patient...there are resources at the University of Arizona...reach out to your advisor...ask for help".
Transcript of Mahshad's responses can be found here.
Thank you to the Department of Computer Science for sharing their international student profiles with Arizona International. For the full list of students featured in the article, please visit cs.arizona.edu/about/spotlights/student-spotlights.