Dr. Heba Ismail has a Ph.D. in Computer Science, specializing in artificial intelligence and big data analytics. Her research focuses on AI and Big Data analytics applications in an array of domains, including health, human cognition, sustainability, and social media analysis. Dr Ismail has an extensive research portfolio, publishing more than 40 research papers in refereed journals and international conferences. She is an Academic Editor and Technical Reviewer for several refereed journals and serves as a Technical Program Committee (TCP) member for leading scientific conferences in the field. She is also actively engaged in conference leadership and has chaired scientific special sessions, including the IEEE EDUCON 2025 session on the Applications of Large Language Models (LLMs) in Engineering Education and the ISDIA 2025 special session on Resilient AI.

Dr. Ismail is a dedicated student mentor, having guided multiple award-winning teams in national and international competitions such as the ADU CoE-Datathon, ADU-WiDS International Datathon, ADU National Undergraduate Student Research Competition, and Zayed University Undergraduate Research Competition. These winning projects applied AI in human-activity recognition and tracking, Carbon footprint monitoring, social media mining for public health support, and virtual reality-based gamification systems. She has also supervised several master’s theses and capstone projects, contributing to advancements in AI-powered career recommendations, mental health assessments, and optimizing resource management.

Beyond research, she has spearheaded AI outreach initiatives, leading the organization of Artificial Intelligence Day for three consecutive years at Abu Dhabi University, the AI Sustainability Hackathon, and the ADU CoE-Datathon, while fostering global collaborations with Women in Data Science (WiDS) Stanford to expand opportunities for students and young researchers. She has also played a key role in curriculum development, designing and leading the development of three courses in AI, Data Science, and Big Data Analytics at Abu Dhabi University, ensuring their alignment with accreditation bodies’ requirements and with industry-leading certifications from Oracle and IBM to enhance student skill development and career readiness.

Her work has been recognized through several research grants from both academia and industry. Dr. Ismail is an IEEE member, Women in Data Science (WiDS) Ambassador, and a member of Arab Women in Computing (ArabWIC).