Jax State Computer Science Professor Dr. Arup Ghosh Leads Students to Success at Prestigious IEEE Conference

04/07/2025

Jacksonville State University Computer Science Professor Dr. Arup Ghosh recently led ten students—Jakob Skipper, Corey Dunn, Denzel Stinson, Tyler Best, Kris Mcanally, Norah Martin, Katty Juarez, Stutika Thapa Shrestha, Dikshant Shrestha, and Prashant Basyal—to an impressive showing at IEEE SoutheastCon 2025, held March 27–30 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

The students participated in a wide range of competitions—including hardware, software, ethics, circuit design, networking, presentation, and website development—earning recognition alongside top engineering and computing institutions from across the southeastern United States. The conference brought together about 900 participants, with students comprising nearly half of the attendees. 

One of the highlights of the event was Jax State’s third-place finish in the Software Competition, which followed a high-intensity Game Jam format. The competition challenged teams to develop creative software projects within a short time frame, showcasing technical and problem-solving skills. 

“Our students worked incredibly hard preparing for this event,” said Dr. Ghosh. “I’m thrilled with how they performed—especially in the software category. It’s truly rewarding to see their talent, collaboration, and perseverance recognized on such a large stage.” 

In addition to competition success, graduate student Jakob Skipper and undergraduate student Stutika Thapa Shrestha, both members of Dr. Ghosh’s Human-Technology Interaction Research Lab (HTIR Lab), presented and published peer-reviewed research papers at the conference. Jakob explored Adolescent Online Safety, focusing on how parents and children can stay informed and protected in an evolving digital world. Stutika’s research reviewed Artificial Intelligence applications in elderly caregiving, highlighting how AI and machine learning can enhance healthcare outcomes and caregiver support. 

“What makes this trip especially meaningful isn’t just the awards—but the confidence, knowledge, and experience the students gained,” added Dr. Ghosh. “This is exactly what I envisioned when I started my HTIR lab and the IEEE Student Branch at our university—exposure that inspires lifelong learning and opens doors to future opportunities.” 

This trip was made possible through the generous support of the IEEE Jax State Student Branch, IEEE Alabama Section, IEEE Region 3, the NSF S-STEM Program, Jacksonville State University’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences, and the Department of Mathematical, Computing, and Information Sciences (MCIS).