About Me
Greetings! My name is Aicha AID. I am a Python Developer from Algeria, an Associate Professor, and Head of Computer Systems Engineering graduate program at Bouira University and LIMPAF research lab.
As a Software Engineer, I have been working with Java since 2009 to build multiple systems and algorithms related to my research work. Nevertheless, I always push myself to learn other technologies and languages as well, and use them if they seem to be a better solution for the job.
I like to spend my free time enjoying a nice cup of tea and reading books. Around 2018, two of those books have launched my journey with Python: Hands-On Machine Learning, by Aurélien Géron, and Deep Leaning with Python by François Chollet.
I have been mastering, enjoying, and using Python as my main language ever since, and Django for most web-related projects. I find this language high-level, expressive, readable, and provides a vast range of libraries for such various fields, which helps me to take any idea and bring it rapidly and concisely to life with code.
My fields of interest include Machine Learning, Deep Learning, NLP, Web Scraping, Pervasive Computing, Crisis and Disaster Management, Semantic Web, and Arduino based projects.
On this personal website, you can find some information about me, my work, and some courses I teach.
~ Writing code is therapeutic and itertools is the glue that holds your code together.
Technical Stack
Here are a few technologies and languages I've been working with :
Programming Languages
Python, Java, SQL, SPARQL, C, RDF, RDFS, OWL, HTML/CSS, JavaScript.
Libraries & Frameworks
Django, Django RF, Flask, FastAPI, Scikit-Learn, Numpy, Keras, Celery, NLTK, spaCy, Hugging Face Tkinter.
Tools & Platforms
MySQL, PostgreSQL, ORM, MongoDB, Redis, Jenkins, Docker, Git, RabbitMQ, Heroku, SOAP, REST.
Computing
Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Asynchronous, Microservices, Natural Language Processing, Web Scraping, Web Services, Arduino, Context-awareness
Work Experience
- - Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, Bouira University, affiliated to LIM - Computer Science & Mathematics Laboratory.
- Design, teach, and deliver lectures, seminars, and lab sessions. Courses range from Data Mining, NLP, Human-Computer Interactions, and Service-Oriented Architectures.
- Conduct research in area of disaster management, machine learning, deep learning, pervasive computing, and Natural Language Processing.
- Design and develop interactive web applications using Python. Research and course materials use Python technologies too.
- Supervise, collaborate, and mentor graduate students. Up to 26 supervised students working on development and research subjects related to applied ML and DL, text summarization, and information management techniques and algorithms.
- Research, design, implement, and build a context-aware DPWS-based framework to enhance situation-awareness and information filtering in crisis and disaster situations.
- Participate actively as a member of the department community: on administrative committees, search committees, scientific committes, and student advising.
- - Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department, Bouira University.
- - Assistant, temporary teacher, Computer Science Department, Bouira University.
- Taught and directed lab sessions about Algorithms, Data Structures, and Office Automation for undergraduate students.
- Verified and corrected problem sets, algorithms, and exercises in class and answered students’ questions.
- Prepared and graded assignments and exams. Evaluated students C programming projects.
- Prepared students for assessments and provided helpful performance feedback.
DECEMBER 2017 – PRESENT
DECEMBER 2016 – DECEMBER 2017
SEPTEMBER 2014 – DECEMBER 2016
Other scientific roles
- - Member of the Computer Science Department Scientific Committee, Bouira University.
- Assess the results of educational, research, and scientific activities and validated the research subjects of graduation and post-graduation students.
- Propose, in terms of graduation and post-graduation, the opening, renewal and / or closure of programs and certificates, and the number of positions to be filled.
- Shortlist and select students for graduate programs.
- - Head of Computer Systems Engineering graduate program, Computer Science Department, Bouira University.
- Animated the work and the meetings of the training team of the computer science department.
- Clarified, facilitated, and ensured the proper functioning, the effectiveness, and the achievement of training curricula objectives through sustained dialogue with students, teachers, and administrators.
- Recommended and reviewed proposals for all changes to existing graduate curricula and courses, including course additions and deletions.
- Discussed and proposed measures to improve existing courses contents. 24 courses were available for up to 50 students each year.
JANUARY 2020 – PRESENT
SEPTEMBER 2020 – SEPTEMBER 2022
Some Things I’ve Built
Here are a few projects I've built with Python:Context-aware framework to support situation-awareness for disaster management.
Authors: Aicha Aid and Idir Rassoul
International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing
When a crisis event occurs, there is a strong need for any involved decision maker to gather in short time frames relevant situational information from different available data sources, to better understand the caused disruptions. Technological devices proliferation and ICT efficiency in timely information sharing did not leave a choice to responders only to adopt them, supporting their operations. This paper proposes a framework that aims to solve challenges brought by this new paradigm of information sharing. Based on service-oriented architecture, our framework relies on web service standard for Devices to make pervasive situation-awareness (SA) environment that allows seamless integration of heterogeneous devices. It also provides solutions to filter in real time received information by taking into account the decision maker's context. This context-aware mechanism plays an important role in making the data source intelligent that delivers personalized view of the situation, relevant to decision maker current needs.
Full Text
Transformer-Based Question Answering Model for the Biomedical Domain.
Authors: Ahcene Haddouche, Ikram Rabia, and Aicha Aid
The 5th IEEE International Conference on Pattern Analysis and Intelligent Systems
Motivation: Question Answering (QA) is a highly focused topic in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). Recent progress in neural network models and the availability of large datasets like SQuAD have played a significant role in improving performance in open domains. However, there remains a need to further effectively implement these systems in more specific domains, especially in the biomedical field, to help medical practitioners provide accurate solutions for inquiries related to medicine and healthcare, including specific subjects such as the COVID-19 disease. Fortunately, recent models, such as transformers, have opened up avenues and modern techniques for developing accurate systems. Aims: In this work, we aim to leverage transformer models and Transfer Learning to effectively train models in the biomedical domain. By taking a pre-trained model for Question Answering tasks and further fine-tuning it on specific domains, we enhance the system's performance in the biomedical domain. Our ultimate goal is to develop a QA model specifically tailored for COVID-19 QA. Results: We have trained BERT and RoBERTa models on the COVID-QA dataset and achieved competitive results on COVID-19 QA. Our RoBERTa model achieved an Exact Match (EM)/F1 score of 0.38/0.64, respectively, on COVID-QA, indicating successful performance in COVID-19 QA.
Full Text
- Transformer-based Question Answering Model for the Biomedical Domain, with HADDOUCHE Ahcene and RABIA Ikram. Published in PAIS'23 IEEE Conference: https://pais.univ-setif.dz/. 2023. Master.
- Web platform for centralized management of rainfall data in Algeria, with BETTAHAR Amina and ZAKNOUN Fatima Zohra, and the help of AGIRE - National Agency for Integrated Water Resources Management. 2022. Master.
- Realization and control of an autonomous mobile object tracking robot based on Raspberry PI, with MOULAI Azeddine. 2022. Bachelor.
- A semantic-based approach for Data Mining and Machine Learning, with LARBAOUI Racha and NACERI Siham. 2021. Master. Code: https://github.com/rachalarbaoui
- Smart Library Management System (LMS) based on RFID and Machine Learning, with SALHI Soraya and MIDOU Oussama. 2021. Master.
- Automatic text summarization for crisis management: coronavirus (COVID 19) case, with KARBOUA Sabrina. 2020. Master. Codes: https://github.com/sabrinakba/code-source & https://github.com/sabrinakba/djangooapp. Dataset: https://www.kaggle.com/allen-institute-for-ai/CORD-19-research-challenge
- Malware Prediction Model using XGBoost: based on Microsoft Malware Prediction Kaggle Competition dataset, with SALMI Nadia and BAHRI Rym. 2020. Master. Codes: https://www.kaggle.com/c/microsoft-malware-prediction & https://github.com/salminadia/nadia-salmi
- Histopathologic Cancer Detection using Deep Learning, with SELMANE Hayette et KHITER Hayet. Dataset on Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/c/histopathologic-cancer-detection. 2019. Master.
- Hybrid recommendation system for cinematographic content, with LARBI MEROUA et BOUCHENAK SIHAM. 2019. Master.
- A solution for extracting information from social media to improve Situational Awareness in emergencies, with BOUDRAF Youcef et ZEKHMI Salah. 2018.
- Classification of information in social media using machine learning techniques to improve Situation Awareness in emergency situations, with BELLILI Amira et BENMADANI Khaoula. 2018. Master.
- Design and Development of a web application for the management of medical visits of Air Algeria flight personnel. 2019. with Bettahar Amina and Mamouni Lydia. Bachelor.
- Design and Development of a Web Platform for a Community Delivery Service - National and International. 2018. with Imad Sebti and Teldjoune Said. Bachelor.
- Design and Development of a Web Application - Community Game - Enabling Medical Students to Revise using MCQ. 2018. with Karboua Sabrina and Tiabi Imene. Bachelor.
- Design and Development of a Mobile Application for Crisis Management Based on Geolocation. 2018. with Lynda Abbas and Dihia LYAZID. Bachelor.
- Design and Development of a Web Application for Sharing, Discussion, and Rating of Information Resources - Local Community Version of Reddit - Case: Computer Science Department. 2017. with Guenoune Khireddine and Haboussi Omar. Bachelor.
- Design and Development of an Android Application for a Geolocated Search of a Specialist Doctor. 2017. with Bohri Mohamed El Mahdi. Bachelor.
Data Mining
FR - La fouille de données vise à découvrir, dans les grandes quantités de données, les informations importantes qui peuvent aider à comprendre les données ou à prédire Le comportement des données futures. Le but de ce cours est d'initier les apprenants aux différents algorithmes et techniques utilisés en fouille de données.
Natural Language Processing
FR - Le traitement automatique des langues (TAL) vise l’élaboration d’outils et de méthodes capables d’appréhender leur sémantique afin d’en faciliter la prise de connaissance et plus généralement l’exploitation. Selon l’usage que l’on veut en faire, les niveaux d’interprétation peuvent être différents, allant de l’identification de termes pour extraire des mots-clés à des résumés, des traductions ou de la recherche d’informations précises en réponse à des questions. L’objectif de ce module est de présenter les problématiques posées pour le TAL et les principaux modèles pour analyser, synthétiser, exploiter et produire des documents.
Service Oriented Architecture
FR - L'architecture orientée services (SOA) est une façon de concevoir un système d'information d'entreprise, indépendamment des technologies mises en place pour la réaliser. A l’issu du cours, l’apprenant sera capable de comprendre les SOA, d’identifier clairement les niveaux de granularité de services, de modéliser des services métier, de définir des contrats de service, de décrire des processus métier, et les décliner en orchestration de services.
Human-Computer Interactions
FR - L’objectif de ce cours est d’initier les apprenants à produire des logiciels ergonomiques tenant compte de l’aspect usager. Pour ce faire, il faut étudier les différents formalismes de spécification d’interfaces. Des exemples d’environnements sont également proposés. Il est recommandé d’effectuer des travaux pratiques sur un environnement d’interfaces homme-machine.
Ontologies and Semantic Web
FR - Ce cours doit définir l’objet « ontologie » et son intérêt, les différentes facettes relatives à l’ingénierie ontologique, de même que le web sémantique et les différents langages et des modèles de formalisation d’ontologies devront présentés.
- Question Generation using Natural Language Processing Techniques. Keynote at the First National Conference on ACISN’23, November 2023.
- Deploying Machine Learning Models in Production as APIs. Keynote at the First Workshop on Artificial Intelligence WAI’23, April 2023.
- Intégration de l’intelligence artificielle en entreprise, entre Opportunités et défis. Talk at INSIM Bouira private school job fair, September 2023.
Associations & Volunteering
- Organizer – The First National Conference on Advances in Computational Intelligence, Systems and Networking by Computer Science Department, Bouira, November 2023.
- Organizer – Startup Weekend Women Maghreb by DZWIT and Algeria 2.0, Algiers, May 2014.
- Volunteer – TEDx Tizi-Ouzou, Tizi-Ouzou, May 2014.
- Organizer and Participant – 22th Linux and Free Software School, Bouira, December 2014.
- Volunteer – Youth Success, Tizi-Ouzou, Mars 2015.
- Member of DZ Women in Technology (DZWIT), 2014-2015.
