Prabakar Nagarajan

Prabakar Nagarajan serves as Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director at Florida International University's School of Computing and Information Sciences, where he has held continuous faculty positions since 1984—from Visiting Assistant Professor (1984-1985) to Assistant Professor (1985-1991) and Associate Professor (1991–present). His office (CASE 345) hosts Monday/Wednesday office hours, and he maintains an active research profile with recent publications spanning security, robotics, and social media analytics.

His educational foundation includes:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Queensland (1985)
• M.E. in Automation, Indian Institute of Science (1979)
• B.E. with Gold Medal (First Rank), Annamalai University (1977)

Research interests focus on distributed systems and spatial data, particularly Distributed Sensor Networks, Grid Computing, and Image Processing for Spatial Data. He pioneered TerraFly software for real-time spatial database access and dynamic mosaicking algorithms at FIU's High Performance Database Research Center. Current work involves fault-tolerant distributed computing grids with large-scale sensor networks, bridging theoretical innovation with practical applications in data-intensive domains.

Recent publications (2017-2019) reveal strong thematic continuity in machine learning applications—especially for security (malicious attack detection, fake review identification, ATM authentication) and robotics (rehabilitation therapy, telepresence failure prediction). His work consistently integrates temporal data analysis, graph-based methods, and deep learning across cybersecurity, social media, and biomedical engineering contexts.

Award highlights include:

• FIU Excellence in Service Award (College of Engineering, 2012; School of Computing, 2011)
• Teaching Incentive Program Award (1995)
• University of Queensland Postgraduate Prizes (1982, 1984)
• Annalmai University Gold Medal (1977)

Dr. Nagarajan secured $13.7M across eight funded grants as PI/Co-PI/Senior Investigator, demonstrating sustained external funding success. His leadership extends to academic governance through roles like Undergraduate Committee Chair (2006-2012, 2014–present) and University Curriculum Committee Chair (2010-2012), reflecting deep institutional commitment. As Undergraduate Program Director, he shapes curriculum and student development in computing disciplines.

He remains central to FIU's High Performance Database Research Center—originator of TerraFly technology—and currently leads sensor network initiatives within distributed computing grids, emphasizing fault tolerance for real-world deployment scalability.