:: Salma Emara

Salma Emara

Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream

The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)

University of Toronto

Bio

Salma Emara is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. She received her B.Sc. in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the American University in Cairo in 2018 and her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor Baochun Li in 2022. Her Ph.D. research focused on improving reinforcement learning algorithms for computer networking. Currently, her research explores pedagogical strategies for enhancing debugging skills in beginner programmers and leveraging natural language processing in engineering education. She believes engineers learn best by doing and is committed to engaging students through in-class activities and problem-solving assignments. Her dedication to teaching has been recognized with multiple student-voted teaching awards.

Research Interests

Engineering Education
Computer Networking
Machine Learning
Natural Language Processing
Reinforcement Learning

Prospective Students

I am looking for motivated students interested in creating software tools for programming education (or education in general). You can work with me as part of your MENG 2500, ESC 499, ECE 499, ECE 496 or as an undergraduate summer research intern. If you are interested, please email me your resume and transcript, and let me know why you want to work with me.

News

2024

[July 2024] She got cross-appointed with Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice (ISTEP)!

[May 2024] She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Award for ECE 244: Programming Fundamentals taught in Fall 2023 Term.

[April 2024] Our work was accepted to ASEE 2024.

[March 2024] Our abstract was accepted to CEEA 2024.

[February 2024] Our work was accepted to IEEE INFOCOM 2024 Workshop on Distributed Machine Learning and Fog Networks (FOGML).

2023

[September 2023] She launched Khufu: Object-Oriented Programming using C++, a work-in-progress book tailored for ECE 244: Programming Fundamentals students at the University of Toronto and others interested in learning object-oriented programming in C++.

[May 2023] She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Award for APS 105: Computer Fundamentals taught in Winter 2023 Term.

[January 2023] Our work was accepted to IEEE ICC 2023.

[January 2023] She officially joined the University of Toronto. You may refer to her welcome interview.

[January 2023] We published Snefru: Learning Programming with C on the web. We appreciate feedback and contributions from the public via email, GitHub issues or pull requests. The resource is tailored for students taking APS105: Computer Fundamentals at the University of Toronto and first-time programmers learning C.

2022

[November 2022] She defended her Ph.D. thesis successfully and was announced Dr. Emara!

[June 2022] Our work was accepted to IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering 2022.

[May 2022] She happily signed “the” offer to join ECE faculty at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in Winter 2023.

[May 2022] She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Award for APS 105: Computer Fundamentals taught in Winter 2022 Term.

[May 2022] She was honored to receive the ECE Departmental Teaching Assistant Award for ECE 244: Programming Fundamentals taught in Fall 2021 Term.

[April 2022] Our work was accepted in IEEE/ACM IWQoS 2022.

[January 2022] She got appointed as a Course Instructor for APS 105: Computer Fundamentals (in C) for Winter 2022 at the University of Toronto.

2021

[December 2021] We filed a US Patent.

[March 2021] Our work was accepted in IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 2022.

2020

[December 2020] She passed her qualifying exam at University of Toronto.

2019

[December 2019] Our work was accepted in IEEE INFOCOM 2020.

[September 2019] She transferred to the direct Ph.D. program at the University of Toronto.

[July 2019] Our work was accepted in ACM Multimedia 2019.

2018

[December 2018] She was awarded Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence.

[June 2018] Our first undergrad research paper was accepted in IEEE 23rd International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA).

[June 2018] She was awarded President’s Cup and the Mohamed El Beleidy Academic Award from the American University in Cairo.

[May 2018] She accepted the offer to join University of Toronto as an M.A.Sc. student.