Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Silvija Kokalj-Filipovic

Dr. Silvija Kokalj-Filipovic is a professor in the Computer Science department at Rowan University, teaching Computer Organization this semester. Her central research interests lie in artificial intelligence (AI), especially in regards to the area of deep learning.

Right now, Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic is looking into research regarding adversarial attacks on AI systems, including the defense the AI system employs against said attacks.  To study these systems of combat, Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic looks at both the imperfections naturally occurring in the data used by the AI systems, and the adversarial data modifications. 

Dr. Kokalj Filipovic is running an AI Lab for signals and wireless systems. The lab will research modern AI systems, allowing CS students to experience and study Deep Learning AI. 

Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic chose her position in this career due to the unique challenges and problems computer science offers. While her education lies in electrical engineering, Dr. Kokalji-Filipovic’s pHd allowed her to see fascinating interactions between engineering and Computer Science.

Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic picked Rowan as her workplace of choice because of the university’s potential. As the third fastest growing research university in the nation, Rowan is full of potential, energy and enthusiasm. In her opinion, people at the university are embracing the growth and accepting the change, taking problems head on and pushing progress forward. 

The computer science department offers a varied range of different people and talents, something Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic appreciates. She hopes to see the popularity of the department continue to rise, allowing for more collaboration and attention from within the university. This will increase opportunities for research and funding of new projects, allowing for an overall increase in quality for the department and university at large.

In the future, Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic hopes to help students identify their own careers while studying computer science. She is also interested in researching 5G and the Internet of things, especially in regards to applications requiring computer science expertise. She is also interested in applying AI in the medical field.

The AI Lab she will be supervising will be up and running once the GPU servers arrive. Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic and Dr. Guimo Guo are also currently developing an introductory course for computer science research, titled “Topics in CS: Research 1”. The course will involve an introduction to machine learning. It will be a late course this semester, and can be taken as a free elective. The course will offer an efficient way to introduce state of the art machine learning to Rowan University students, with students being able to experiment with deep-learning technology. The course will also teach research methodology, which students can later apply to senior level courses, and which prepares them for later research in artificial intelligence.

Dr. Kokalj-Filipovic is an important addition to the Computer Science department, and students should look forward to her and Dr. Guo’s upcoming class. 

Written by Kiley Parker | Posted 2022.10.3