Yaa Takyiwaa Acquaah, PhD

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State (NCAT) University. I mentor undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. students, and our research focuses on various aspects of cybersecurity in cyber-physical systems. My expertise lies in developing statistical and machine learning methods for real-world applications.

During my academic training, I held data science internships at the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and Vanguard. At NCDOT, I analyzed bicyclist crash data over time to identify high-risk hotspots. At Vanguard, I developed statistical models for predicting the Owner’s Equivalent Rent (OER). I earned my Ph.D. in Computational Science and Engineering from NCAT, where I focused on HVAC automation developing methods for thermal preference estimation and occupancy detection using thermal images and environmental sensors.

My research interests include machine learning and artificial intelligence, particularly in adapting models for deployment in practical settings. For example, we customize AI techniques to improve the reliability of cyber-physical systems, tackle cross-domain anomaly detection, and generate synthetic datasets in an increasingly automated and interconnected world.

I have worked on several interdisciplinary research projects funded by distinguished institutions, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research (ONR), NSF Engineering Research Center for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials, NSF CMMI, Army Research Laboratory (ARL) – PRI Program, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), UNC Policy Collaboratory, Center for Energy Research and Technology (CERT), and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

In addition to my research, I actively contribute to the academic community as a peer reviewer. I have reviewed manuscripts for several journals, including: Springer Nature: Discover Data, Scientific Reports, Discover Internet of Things, Energy Informatics and MDPI: Sensors, Computers, Electronics, Applied Sciences, Algorithms, Big Data and Cognitive Computing, Symmetry, Future Internet, Forests, and Information.