Anjali Kumar

Year in School
Junior

Major
Computer Science

Research Interests
Artificial Intelligence Data and Information Systems Security and Privacy

Research Mentor
Prof. Hanghang Tong

Research/Engagement Experience
Within campus, I am the advisor (previously Co-Director) for CS@Illinois Sail, a student organization sponsored by the Illinois Department of Computer Science that promotes computer science to prospective and admitted students. As Infrastructure Chair of Women in Computer Science, I worked to incorporate resources into the website to increase minority representation in tech and among CS majors. Through WCS, I was also on the mentoring committee, where I helped generate new ideas and organize the Bits n Bytes mentorship program, connecting underclassmen with upperclassmen students as they progress through their CS journeys at UIUC. As Information Director of Society of Women Engineers, I compiled organization news and sent out information each week as part of the SWEekly. CS STARS is one of my first research experiences, and I'm excited at the opportunity to learn about unique and important work being explored in the field of computing on campus.

Interests
Artificial Intelligence, Data and Information Systems, Security and Privacy Systems

Project Title

How did I get interested in Computer Science?
Computer Science interests me due to its constantly-evolving nature and versatility of being applicable to a plethora of tangential fields. The innovation stemming from computing is exciting, as it cultivates a foundation of developing solutions for highly pertinent problems facing the world today.

What social interests matter to me?
Increasing access to education, social and racial justice, gender equality

What is my most impactful college experience?
Being heavily involved in student organizations such as Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Women in Computer Science (WCS), and CS @ Illinois SAIL has been very rewarding, as I not only got to learn about various topics and take on responsibilities to help further the engineering community on campus, but I was also able to meet and be inspired by some amazing individuals.

These are a few of my favorite things!
Sangeetha (Indian classical music), Yoga, Spontaneous expeditions, Moderately chilly but sunny weather

Research Description
I just joined CS STARS Spring 2023, so I'm still deciding on my research topic. However, the topic should be related to the algorithm aspect of graph mining in some way.

Biography
My name is Anjali (she/her/hers), and I'm a junior from St. Louis majoring in Computer Science. I'm interested in how data is handled and intersects with networks in a variety of application domains (such as social networks and brain sciences). Including and encouraging women to pursue the field of computing is important to me. I've been involved in a variety of related student organizations on campus, such as Society of Women Engineers (SWE) as Information Director, Women in Computer Science (WCS) as Infrastructure Chair, and CS @ Illinois SAIL as Co-Director. I'm excited to explore the field of research through CS STARS!