Nisha M. Pillai

Assistant Research Professor of Computer Science and Engineering

Mississippi State University · Bagley College of Engineering

Current & Recent Courses

Computational Biology
Spring 2026
Introduction to Machine Learning (NSF ExLENT Initiative)
Spring 2026
Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning
Fall 2025
Introduction to Software Engineering
Fall 2025
Human-Robot Interaction
Spring 2025

Previous Teaching Appointments

Teaching Assistant — Advanced Robotics & Human-Robot Interaction
UMBC, 2015–2016
Teaching Assistant — Data Structures
UMBC, 2014–2015

Student Mentorship

Mentoring graduate and undergraduate students on interdisciplinary projects spanning cybersecurity, software engineering, computer vision, and natural language processing at Mississippi State University.

Tutorials & Invited Talks

  • Tutorial: BioMedical Learning through Graph Neural Networks: A Hands-on Approach — ACM-BCB (2022)
  • Talk: From Thermal Fields to Physiological Indicators: Transformer-Based Cow Temperature Prediction — PAG 33 (2026)
  • Talk: Towards Scalable Aerial Detection: Augmenting Datasets for Real-Time Animal Health Monitoring — PAG 32 (2025)
  • Talk: Explainable Chickenomics: Advancing Poultry AI with Interpretability — PAG (2024)
  • Talk: Embracing Deep Learning in Poultry Research: Challenges and Opportunities — PAG 30 (2023)
  • Talk: Graph-Based Neural Networks for Microbiome Signatures in Pastured Poultry — PAG 30, Genomics of Animal Health Workshop (2023)