Research Assistant-AI Driven Disaster and Emergency Management System

Research Assistant-AI Driven Disaster and Emergency Management System

Computer Science is seeking highly motivated undergraduate or graduate research assistants (GRA) to contribute to a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research project focused on developing an AI-enabled, secure, and interoperable disaster and emergency management platform. The project addresses critical challenges observed in large-scale disasters—such as delayed alerts, lack of coordination among agencies, and limited use of intelligent decision-support systems—by integrating knowledge graphs, explainable AI (XAI), real-time alerting, LLM-based interaction, and cybersecurity/privacy mechanisms.

Key Responsibilities

• Collect, preprocess, and manage heterogeneous data from sensors, system logs, policy documents, and open-source disaster datasets.
• Design and implement a unified knowledge graph–based data model for data integration and interoperability.
• Develop and evaluate AI/ML models tailored to different stakeholders (e.g., first responders, government agencies, researchers).
• Integrate Explainable AI (XAI) techniques to provide transparent and interpretable decision support.
• Contribute to the development of a real-time smart alert and communication system.
• Assist in building an LLM-based conversational interface for natural language interaction with the platform.
• Implement and evaluate security and privacy mechanisms for secure data sharing and system access.
• Participate in system testing using the TEEX Disaster City testbed and other benchmark datasets.
• Contribute to technical reports, research papers, presentations, and proposal development.

Required Qualifications

• Must be a currently enrolled student, registered for classes, in an undergraduate or graduate program in Computer Science, AI, Cybersecurity, Data Science, or a closely related field.
• Strong programming skills in Python.
• Knowledge of machine learning or deep learning.
• Familiarity with data structures, databases, and basic software development practices.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a research environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with knowledge graphs, graph databases, or semantic web technologies (e.g., RDF, SPARQL, Neo4j).
• Background in natural language processing, LLMs, or information extraction.
• Familiarity with XAI, cybersecurity, privacy-preserving methods, or distributed systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms, real-time data processing, or IoT data.
• Prior research experience and interest in publishing.

Physical Demands

Salary - $15-$20/hour

EEO Statement - All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or status as a protected veteran. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Angelo State University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to employment opportunities for qualified individuals with disabilities. We are committed to ensuring that a qualified individual with a disability has the same rights and privileges in employment as non-disabled employees. If an accommodation is requested for the job application process, please contact our office at View phone number on click.appcast.io or email us at View email address on click.appcast.io.