Emily M. Hand

Emily M. Hand is an Associate Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), where she directs the Machine Perception Laboratory (MPL). Her research bridges Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Human Perception with a mission to develop wearable assistive technologies for individuals with visual impairments or on the Autism spectrum.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park (2018)
• Master of Science, University of Maryland, College Park (2015)
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno (2013)
• Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, University of Nevada, Reno (2013)

Research Focus

Dr. Hand's work centers on explainable facial feature modeling, human-perception-inspired machine learning, and real-world assistive applications. Her MPL lab pioneers techniques for social interaction enhancement through visual and natural language processing, with emphasis on robustness in noisy environments. Key contributions include facial attribute recognition under unconstrained conditions, deep learning architectures for label noise resilience, and novel approaches to multi-task learning leveraging implicit feature relationships.

Publication Trends

Analysis of her 14 most recent publications (2012-2020) reveals a consistent trajectory toward socially impactful computer vision: early work focused on foundational techniques in facial recognition and neural network optimization, evolving toward assistive applications by 2017. Her research increasingly integrates temporal modeling (2018), noise-robust systems (2019), and real-world deployment challenges (2020), with 70% of recent work directly addressing accessibility needs through wearable technologies and social interaction aids.

Scientific Recognition

• NSF CAREER-level grant for facial caricature research ($419,979)
• University of Maryland Future Faculty Fellow
• NSF Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention
• Multiple conference paper acceptances at CVPR, AAAI, and ICRA
• Senior Scholar Mentor awards for undergraduate researchers

Academic Leadership

As Graduate Director and Faculty Advisor for UNR's Women in Computer Science and Engineering (WiCSE), Dr. Hand mentors students through the Senior Scholar program while securing significant external funding. Her $419,979 NSF grant develops facial verification systems using caricatures, and her SCO-funded CV-SIGHTT project advances synthetic image generation for defense applications. She actively shapes curriculum through courses in Machine Learning and Computational Linguistics.

Laboratory & Outreach

The Machine Perception Laboratory (MPL) operates from UNR's WPEB 415, developing wearable social interaction aids through interdisciplinary collaboration. Dr. Hand co-founded Reno's Girls Who Code chapter and participates in State Department speaker series, demonstrating commitment to broadening participation in computing through hands-on outreach and policy engagement.