Research Communities - Office of Research (2024)

Dr. Mario Bretfeld

Dr. Erin Adams

Associate Professor of Social Science Education

Dr. Michael Carroll

Associate Professor of Architecture

Dr. Victoria LaGrange

Assistant Professor of English

Andrea Knowlton

Associate Professor of Dance

Dr. Sylvia Bhattacharya

Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering Technology

Dr. Sylvia Bhattacharya is an Assistant Professor in the department of Electrical Engineering Technology at Kennesaw State University (KSU), USA and Faculty Research Champion in. Office of Research, KSU. She is also an ex-Visiting Research Faculty at Google, Mountain View. She graduated with a PhD degree in electrical engineering from Florida State University in 2019. Her research expertise is in Autonomous and Intelligent Transportation System, Neural Signal Processing, Human Computer Interface, and Artificial Intelligence. She has been awarded funding by U.S Army Research Laboratory to conduct research on “Multimodal Inference of Human State to Track Cognitive Processes in Risky Environments” and “AI Blind Spots.” She is also the 2020 and 2021 Google Explore CSR funding recipient for “An Initiative to support Under-represented and Minority groups toward Graduate Computing Research and Studies.” Dr. Bhattacharya is the director of Neuro Interaction Innovation Lab in Kennesaw State University and has been mentoring PhDs, masters, and a team of undergraduate students.

Dr. Jason Harron

Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology

Dr. Jason Harron is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology in the Bagwell College of Education. He specialized in emerging technology research at the intersection of computation, design, technology and the arts in K-12 and higher education. His current research focuses how to support student and teacher agency through the creation of digitally fabricated mathematical manipulatives, and how to support the development of spatial reasoning and design skills using collaborative models and simulations mediated by extended reality (e.g., augmented, mixed, and virtual reality) technologies.

Dr. Mahmut Karakaya

Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Dr. Mahmut Karakaya is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the College of Computing and Software Engineering. He received his BS degree in 2005, MS degree in 2007, and PhD degree in computer engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2011. He is the author of more than 40 articles and holds two patents. His research interests include machine learning, security, biometrics, and medical data analytics. He has managed four externally funded research projects as PI with a total budget of $669,000 including the recent NSF-SaTC award. He is a member of IEEE and SPIE.

Dr. Weiwei Chen

Assistant Professor of Economics

Dr. Weiwei Chen is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Coles College of Business. She specializes in empirical analyses in health economics and health services research. Her work has covered the effect of health insurance, changes in health care utilization and expenditures, child health, and issues of vaccine uptake. Her recent research focuses on substance use, hospital care outcomes, and health care in correctional facilities.​
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Dr. Chen has served as principal investigator, co-investigator, and consultant on research projects funded by local and federal government, international organizations, and private entities.

Dr. Brian Kliszczewicz

Professor of Exercise Science

Dr. Brian Kliszczewicz is a Professor of Exercise Science in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services, where his research line is cardiovascular and metabolic stress with a sub-emphasis on body composition variables as they relate to acute and long-term exercise.

The evaluation of cardiovascular stress (via Heart Rate Variability) and metabolic stress (via Glucose, Insulin, Catecholamines...) following acute bouts of exercise provides important insight to exercise appropriateness and effectiveness. The evaluation of these markers over long-term exercise interventions allows for the assessment of exercise effectiveness and adaptation. The evaluation of body composition beyond simple measure of body fat provides much-needed insight into variables that lead to metabolic and cardiovascular responses to acute and chronic exercise. Initial assessments performed in our lab evaluated high-intensity exercise in relatively healthy and active individuals.

Dr. Maria Valero

Assistant Professor of Information Technology

Dr. Maria Valero is an Assistant Professor of Information Technology in the College of Computing and Software Engineering at Kennesaw State University, where she also serves as the Director of the pioneering IoT as a Service (IoTaS) Research Group. She earned a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Georgia and a master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Los Andes in Venezuela.​
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Dr. Valero has carved a niche for herself in cutting-edge research. Her diverse research interests converge around IoT and AI, catalyzing transformative innovations in smart healthcare, distributed computing, signal processing, wireless sensor networks, and cyber-physical systems. Dr. Valero has served as PI of multiple research grants in NSF, NIH, and NSA. She is currently the PI of an NIA-funded project related to developing a non-invasive AI-powered blood glucose monitoring system, for which she secured a provisional patent and national and international recognition.