I enjoy advising and supervising curious students at all levels, from high school to Ph.D., and mentoring postdoctoral researchers. You can see the list of people I’ve supervised over the years on this page. Select one of the menu items below to navigate this page.

Last updated on Sep 22, 2026.

Student and post-doc positions

No open positions at this point.


Want to join my research group?

Send an email at hkavak [at] gmu.edu and mention four things please:

  • your research interest
  • your CV/Resume
  • are you a current/accapted GMU student
  • express whether you need funding/research assistant position.


Currently advising

PhD Students (5 as committee chair, 12 as committee member)

As committee chair:

  • Ramya Rakkiappan - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
    • Research topic: Assessing fairness of recidivism models using real and synthesized data
    • Expected graduation: Fall 2026
  • Nicholas Bishop - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
    • Research topic: Surrogate Modeling for Agent-Based Simulations
    • Expected graduation: TBD
  • Bhalvinder Gulati - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
    • Research topic: Reinforcement Learning for Air Traffic Control
    • Expected graduation: TBD
  • Andrew Brown - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
    • Research topic: Ground Penetrating Radar Modeling and Detection
    • Expected graduation: Summer 2027
  • Samiul Islam - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
    • Research topic: Human Mobility Modeling and Analysis
    • Expected graduation: TBD

As committee member:

  • Wafi Almustafi - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Jason Chu - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • James Valentine - ESGS Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Jinyi Kim - IT Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Md Mahfuzur Rahman - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Szandra A. Péter - ESGS Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Mai Huong T Nguyen - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Abubakr S Bassam - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Adam G. Seybert - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Dwayne Smith - CSS Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Brian L Shaw - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU
  • Allen Wautlet - CSI Ph.D. student at GMU


MS Students (0 as committee chair, 0 as committee member)

None at the moment.


Undergraduate Research Students (1 current)

  • Ezgi Pinar - Shenandoah University
    • Project: Immersive Agent-Based Modeling through Virtual Reality: Implementation and Case Studies
    • ASSIP 2025 – present


High School Research Students (4 current)

  • Shreya Rachakonda
    • Project: Physical Random Number Generators for Agent-Based Models
    • ASSIP 2025 – present
  • Michael Wang
    • Project: Immersive Agent-Based Modeling through Virtual Reality: Implementation and Case Studies
    • ASSIP 2025 – present
  • Arnav Merla
    • Project: Analyzing Visualization Practices in Modeling and Simulation
    • ASSIP 2025 – present
  • Manil Singh-Prasad
    • Project: Analyzing Visualization Practices in Modeling and Simulation
    • ASSIP 2025 – present


Alumni & past mentees

Postdoctoral Researchers (2)

  • Sandro Martinelli Reia (June 2023 – May 2026)
    • Co-mentored with Dr. Taylor Anderson and Dr. Dieter Pfoser on METROPOL (IARPA-funded).
  • Joon-Seok Kim (May 2020 – March 2021)
    • Co-mentored with Dr. Taylor Anderson and Dr. Andreas Züfle on NSF-funded “An Ensemble Approach to Combine Predictions from COVID-19 Simulations”.
    • Subsequent position: Postdoctoral Research Associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory


PhD Alumni (9 chaired, 12 as committee member)

Chaired:

As committee member:


MS Alumni (1 chaired, 2 as committee member)

Chaired:

  • 🎓Maura Lapoff - Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (CSS concentration), MS degree awarded at GMU, Spring 2024.
    • Project title: Investigations in complexity in the age of COVID-19

As committee member:

  • 🎓James Stassinos - GEOINT, MS degree awarded at GMU, Spring 2023.
    • Proj. title: #COVID-19: Searching for a Relationship Between Twitter Sentiment and Infectious Disease
  • 🎓Mansoor Abdul Bari - Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (CSS concentration), MS degree awarded at GMU, Spring 2022.
    • Proj. title: Elements of Urban Development in New York City: A venue-based quantitative analysis of New York Boroughs


Undergraduate Alumni (15)

  • 🎓Steven Tai
    • Studying COVID-19 Spread Through Spatiotemporal Mapping and Phylogenetic Techniques. 🏆 Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (Summer 2022) recipient.
  • 🎓Victoria Gonzales
    • Estimating the Path of COVID-19 Using Phylogenetic Techniques.
  • 🎓Ekrem Kaya
    • AI-Based Analysis of the Relationship between Mass Media and Social Media in Creating Anti-U.S. Perceptions. 🏆 College of Science Promise Scholarship and University Scholars Program recipient. Subsequent position: Systems Engineering Intern at Visa.
  • 🎓Luke Palmieri
    • AI-Based Analysis of the Relationship between Mass Media and Social Media in Creating Anti-U.S. Perceptions. 🏆 Virtual Virginia Datathon (2021) runner-up. Subsequent position: Analytics and Modeling Program Associate at Fannie Mae.
  • 🎓Gowri Prathap
    • AI-Based Analysis of the Relationship between Mass Media and Social Media in Creating Anti-U.S. Perceptions. 🏆 Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (Summer 2020) recipient. Subsequent position: Software Engineer at Signa.
  • 🎓Alberto Rodriguez
    • AI-Based Analysis of the Relationship between Mass Media and Social Media in Creating Anti-U.S. Perceptions. Subsequent position: Data Engineer at EAB.
  • 🎓Justin Elarde
    • An Ensemble Approach to Combine Predictions from COVID-19 Simulations, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle (Spring-Summer 2021). 🏆 College of Science Undergraduate Research Colloquium Award in Environmental and Earth Sciences recipient. 🏆 GMU OSCAR Student Award recipient. Subsequent position: Data Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton.
  • 🎓Dhruv Gandhi
    • Summer Team Impact Project 2021, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle.
  • 🎓Jack (John) Blumstein
    • Summer Team Impact Project 2021, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle.
  • 🎓Radhika Laddha
    • Summer Team Impact Project 2021, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle.
  • 🎓Leela Yaddanapudi
    • Summer Team Impact Project 2021, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle.
  • 🎓Shivani (Sai) Gurrapu
    • Summer Team Impact Project 2021, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle.
  • 🎓Zachary Richardson
    • STIP 2021 participant.
  • 🎓Cecelia M Oneill
    • An Ensemble Approach to Combine Predictions from COVID-19 Simulations, co-supervised with Taylor Anderson and Andreas Züfle. 🏆 College of Science Undergraduate Research Colloquium Award in Environmental and Earth Sciences recipient.
  • 🎓Peter Banks
    • Verification and Validation as a Service. Subsequent position: Research Professional at Chicago Booth School of Business.


High School Alumni (10)

  • 🎓Raahim Javaid
    • ASSIP 2025. Physical Random Number Generators for Agent-Based Models.
  • 🎓Srihan Kotnana
    • ASSIP 2021–2022, Westfield High School. College: University of Texas at Austin (Class of 2026).
  • 🎓Aarav Khanna
    • ASSIP 2020–2021, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. College: Cornell University (Class of 2026).
  • 🎓Derek Goh
    • ASSIP 2021, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
  • 🎓Fiona Zheng
    • ASSIP 2021, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. College: Cornell University (Class of 2026).
  • 🎓Darius Kianersi
    • ASSIP 2021, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. College: University of Maryland (Class of 2025).
  • 🎓Nicole Liang
    • ASSIP 2021, River Hill High School. College: Yale (Class of 2027).
  • 🎓David Han
    • ASSIP 2020–2021, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. College: Cornell University (Class of 2025).
  • 🎓Isheitaa Bansal
    • ASSIP 2020, Chantilly High School. College: Virginia Tech (Class of 2025).
  • 🎓Rayan Yu
    • ASSIP 2020, James Madison High School. College: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Class of 2025).