Salma Emara

Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream

University of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

salma@ece.utoronto.ca

Biography

Salma Emara is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. She received her B.Sc. in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the American University in Cairo in 2018, and her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor Baochun Li in 2022. Her Ph.D. research focuses on improving reinforcement learning algorithms to solve problems in computer networking algorithms. Currently, she is interested in researching pedagogical practices that build testing and debugging skills for beginner programmers. She believes that engineers learn by doing, which makes her committed to engaging students through in-class activities and problem-solving assignments and projects. She strives to create inclusive learning environments for all students from different backgrounds.

           

Prospective Students

I am looking for motivated students interested in creating software tools for programming education (or education in general). You can work with me as part of your MENG 2500, ESC 499, ECE 499 or as an undergraduate summer research intern. If you are interested, please email me your resume and transcript, and let me know why you want to work with me.

Research Interests

Machine Learning
Reinforcement Learning
Continual/Online Learning
Communication Networks
Programming Education

News

2024

February 2024 Our work was accepted to IEEE INFOCOM 2024 Workshop on Distributed Machine Learning and Fog Networks (FOGML).

2023

September 2023 She launched Khufu: Object-Oriented Programming using C++, a work-in-progress book tailored for ECE 244: Programming Fundamentals students at the University of Toronto and others interested in learning object-oriented programming in C++.

May 2023 She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Award for APS 105: Computer Fundamentals taught in Winter 2023 Term.

January 2023 Our work was accepted to IEEE ICC 2023.

January 2023 She officially joined the University of Toronto. You may refer to her welcome interview.

January 2023 We published Snefru: Learning Programming with C on the web. We appreciate feedback and contributions from the public via email, GitHub issues or pull requests. The resource is tailored for students taking APS105: Computer Fundamentals at the University of Toronto and first-time programmers learning C.

2022

November 2022 She defended her Ph.D. thesis successfully and was announced Dr. Emara!

June 2022 Our work was accepted to IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering 2022.

May 2022 She happily signed "the" offer to join ECE faculty at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in Winter 2023.

May 2022 She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Award for APS 105: Computer Fundamentals taught in Winter 2022 Term.

May 2022 She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Assistant Award for ECE 244: Programming Fundamentals taught in Fall 2021 Term.

April 2022 Our work was accepted in IEEE/ACM IWQoS 2022.

January 2022 She got appointed as a Course Instructor for APS 105: Computer Fundamentals (in C) for Winter 2022 at the University of Toronto.

2021

December 2021 We filed a US Patent. It is Salma's first Patent Application.

March 2021 Our work was accepted in IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 2021.

2020

December 2020 She passed her qualifying exam at University of Toronto.

2019

December 2019 Our work was accepted in IEEE INFOCOM 2020.

September 2019 She transferred to the direct Ph.D. program at the University of Toronto.

July 2019 Our work was accepted in ACM Multimedia 2019.

2018

December 2018 She was awarded Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence   [UofT media].

June 2018 Our first undergrad research paper was accepted in IEEE 23rd International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA).

June 2018 She was awarded President's Cup and the Mohamed EL Beleidy Academic Award from the American University in Cairo.

May 2018 She accepted the offer to join University of Toronto as an M.A.Sc. student.