Fettah Kiran | University of Houston

Bio

Dr. Fettah Kiran is a Ph.D. graduate in Computer Science from the University of Houston, where he conducted research in the Affective & Data Computing ACDC Lab under the supervision of Prof. Ioannis Pavlidis. His research focuses on include AI/ML, human–computer interaction(HCI), affective computing, and naturalistic studies.

His doctoral work was part of the NSF-funded Affective Math project, contributing to experimental design, multimodal data analysis, and modeling the relationship between affect and learning. He earned his B.S. from Ondokuz Mayıs University, his M.S. from Louisiana State University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Houston (2025). He is currently a Faculty Lecturer in AI and Data Enginering Department at Yıldız Technical University, Türkiye.

Research Interests

Affective Computing
Machine Learning
Computer Vision

Education

Ph.D., Computer Science (2025)
University of Houston, Houston, TX
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Relevant coursework: Statistical Methods in Research
Research: Affective Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, Signal Processing

M.S., Computer Science (2020)
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Division of Computer Science and Engineering
Relevant coursework: ML, AI, Theory of Computation, Game Design
Research: Brain Computer Interaction, ADHD, Serious Games

B.S., Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies Education (2013)
Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkiye
Faculty of Education
Relevant coursework: Material Design, Programming Languages, AI, Distance Learning

Technical Skills

Data Analysis and Statistics: Multimodal Data, R, Python
Design and Modeling Tools: SwiftUI, Xcode, Canvas, Microsoft Office
Programming: Python, R, C++, Swift
Operating Systems: MS Windows, MacOS, Bash, Linux
Selected Certifications:
- Micro-credential in Data Science - HPE DSI (2023) - Show credential
- Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers - CITI UH
All certifications

Experience

Research Assistant Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics, Houston, TX

Preparing experimental setup
Collecting, curating, and visualizing Affective Math data
Developing analytic methods in R
Developing ML models

Graduate Teaching Assistant Department of Computer Science, University of Houston, TX

Academic Support: Diligently graded assignments, midterms, and final exams for advanced graduate-level courses, including Ubiquitous Computing (Swift), Statistical Methods in Research (R), Data Science II (Python), Machine Learning (Python)
Mentorship: Provided invaluable guidance to over 40 fellow students across six University Computer Science laboratories, offering expertise in data acquisition, processing, and the effective reporting of experimental outcomes. Additionally, I actively mentored participants in the IUCRC BRAIN REM (Research Experience and Mentoring) program at the University of Houston—supporting high school students through in-person research during a 6-week summer program (2024, 2025), and preparation for participation in the IUCRC BRAIN Symposium.