Naomi Rehman and Rohil Shah Earn NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Two UC Santa Barbara Computer Science students earn National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships!

Congratulations to Naomi Rehman and Rohil Shah, who have each been selected for a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, one of the most competitive and prestigious honors available to early-career researchers in the United States. The GRFP has recognized outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for nearly 70 years; past recipients include Nobel laureates, cabinet secretaries, and founders of major technology companies.

Rehman is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Computer Science, advised by Professors Tim Sherwood and Jon Balkind. Her research sits at the intersection of computer architecture and artificial intelligence, with a current focus on enabling AI model training to run directly on edge devices, keeping sensitive user data local and out of centralized servers. She credits Professors Heiner Litz and Tyler Sorensen, her undergraduate advisors, with first encouraging her to pursue research, and describes the fellowship as a personal affirmation of her decision to transition into computer architecture. “I'm especially proud to represent women in computer architecture,” she said, “and I hope receiving this encourages other women to pursue careers in this field.”

Shah is a fourth-year undergraduate in the Computing program at the College of Creative Studies, working with Professor Tao Yang. His research addresses a fundamental limitation of modern search engines: their inability to keep pace with rapidly changing information. He is developing neural information retrieval systems that treat recency as a core ranking signal, with direct applications in surfacing corrected information to combat misinformation and returning accurate, up-to-date guidance during fast-moving events such as natural disasters. Shah traces the start of his research path to a UCSB faculty speed-advising event where he first met Professor Yang. “That meeting set off a series of events that heavily influenced my undergraduate research experience,” he said. This fall, Shah will pursue a Master of Science in Computer Science at Stanford University, where the fellowship will support his continued work.

The Department of Computer Science congratulates Naomi and Rohil on this well-earned recognition, and thanks the faculty mentors whose investment made it possible.