Mumbai: Indian computer science professor Steven Fernandes features on billboard in Nebraska

Dentist Dr Veronica Fernandesrsquos job is to give her patients the perfect 32 pearly whites so that they leave her Thane clinic smiling from ear to ear This time though it is the dentist herself who is beaming with pride Dr Fernandesrsquos source of pride and joy is a big billboard in Omaha in the US state of Nebraska which has a photograph of her brother Steven Fernandes Steven is an associate professor of Computer Science at Creighton University in OmahaSteven who is originally from Mangaluru in Karnataka appears on the billboard which towers over passing cars alongside student Sara Avila The accompanying text reads ldquoLearn with people who bring out your bestrdquopopcorn number6 years descTime professor Steven Fernandes has been with Creighton University classDefaultProfessor Steven Fernandes poses in front of the billboard that towers over 72nd Street in Omaha Nebraska PicBy Special ArrangementlsquoA privilegersquoDr Veronica Fernandes said ldquoIt is a privilege for me to see my brotherrsquos photo displayed on a prestigious billboard in Omaha This is the result of his hard work and sincerity Teaching has always been his passion I am elated that his work is being appreciated Sitting here in Thane so many miles away I somehow do not feel so lsquoremovedrsquo We live in a globalised world where the Internet has shrunk distances and this billboard seems much closer than it really is It also tells me that wherever you may be in the world you can make your mark Steven I am so proud of you You are an academic ambassadorrdquoStreet wiseProfessor Fernandes said over the phone from Omaha ldquoI have worked at Creighton University for the past six years I am an associate professor of Computer Science I am also focused on research developing advanced deep learning models for applications in computer vision medical imaging and natural language processingrdquoFrom left The professorrsquos sister Dr Veronica Fernandes brotherinlaw Melwyn Fernandes and Melwynrsquos sister Sunita Saldanha at the Fernandes residence in Thane PICSayyed Sameer AbediHe said Creighton Universityrsquos marketing team had installed the billboard ldquoOn 72nd Street in Omaha It is a busy street with heavy traffic about four miles roughly 65 km from the University So many people who know me have driven past and called to tell me lsquoHey I saw you on the billboardrsquordquo he laughedSo thankfulThe professor who has been in the USA for 10 years and taught at other Universities prior to joining Creighton said ldquoI am deeply appreciative and most of all thankful that I can be of service to others I have won several research grants and medals recognising my academic achievements but this ranks high quite literally above the restrdquo He also pointed out that the board features Avila a student who has won the prestigious Goldwater ScholarshipMumbai connectProfessor Fernandes said he could ldquoHear the joy in my sisterrsquos voice when I told her that I was on the billboard My relatives in Orlem Malad were thrilled too Though I grew up and studied in Mangaluru I feel a connection with Mumbai as well since I have family in the city and stay with them during my visits to Indiardquo The professor whose life naturally revolves around academics also makes time for music and cricket ldquoAs a teacher I love helping young people grow in all aspects of liferdquo he said ldquoTheir studies are one thing but I also tell them to pursue their hobbies so that they grow into multifaceted individuals At the same time we live in an exciting and at times bewildering age in which Artificial Intelligence AI is now a part of everyday life I too am involved in AI research and its applications in our lives In that way I am a teacher but also a student constantly learningrdquo he concludedSpot onThe professor then did what he does best he analysed the situation ldquoAs teachers we are not celebrities or models in the stereotypical sense so we are not used to seeing ourselves on billboards This can make people see universities and study centres through a different lens Seeing not an actor sports star or artiste but a university teacher featured in such a highvisibility spot is refreshingrdquoThe prideMechanical engineer and entrepreneur Melwyn Fernandes Stevenrsquos brotherinlaw signed off from Vartak Nagar in Thane ldquoI feel so proud that an Indian has been honoured by such a powerful country like the USA We are all over the moon and it feels as if the billboard is right here in our backyard What can one say except congratulations and herersquos wishing him an even brighter futurerdquoThe professorrsquos interestsBuilding Generative AI Applications Software Engineering Analytics in Health Informatics Machine Learning Computer Organisation Data Science Capstone ObjectOriented ProgrammingResearch Focusgtgt Deep Learning for Computer Vision and Natural Language Processinggtgt RetrievalAugmented Generation RAG Applications and AI Agentsgtgt Medical Image Analysis and Predictive Analytics Modelsgtgt Deep Reinforcement Learning for Large Language Models LLMsImpressive backgroundSteven Fernandes teaches computer science data science and health informatics courses His current research is on robust trustworthy and safe AI for healthcare and robotics One line of work develops attributionbased confidence metrics and explainability methods for detecting adversarial attacks another applies visionlanguage models to medical imaging a third builds AI agents for healthcare Before Creighton he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on a medical imaging project funded by the National Institutes of Health NIH and then at the University of Central Florida on projects in robust and trustworthy AI funded by the National Science Foundation NSF and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA