
EMPATHIA: Multi-Faceted Human-AI Collaboration for Refugee Integration
San Diego, USA 2025
Under Review
I'm Mohamed Rayan Barhdadi, a third-year Electrical Engineering student and researcher at Texas A&M University, where I also pursue a minor in Mathematics. My research focuses on machine learning and computer vision, particularly 3D computer vision and AI for social good, though I remain open to exploring interdisciplinary domains where ML can create meaningful impact. I have published my research at top-tier venues including ICML 2025 and have work currently under review at NeurIPS 2025, and I'm fortunate to work as a Student Researcher at the Kurban Intelligence Lab.
PhysicsNeRF: I developed PhysicsNeRF, a physics-guided framework that integrates physical constraints into neural radiance fields for 3D reconstruction from sparse views—achieving 21.4 dB PSNR using only 8 input images. This work, accepted at ICML 2025 Building Physically Plausible World Models, addresses fundamental challenges in sparse view 3D reconstruction with applications in robotics, autonomous systems, medicine, and virtual reality.
EMPATHIA: I created EMPATHIA, a multi-agent AI framework for refugee integration that employs emotional, cultural, and ethical reasoning agents to make transparent, explainable, value-aligned reasoning for integration decisions. This human-AI collaborative system, under review at NeurIPS 2025 Creative AI track, demonstrates how AI can preserve human dignity when machines participate in life-altering decisions.
I have the chance to work under the supervision and collaborate with: Dr. Hasan Kurban and Dr. Erchin Serpedin on AI for social good, Dr. Hasan Kurban and Dr. Hussein Alnuweiri on 3D neural rendering, and Dr. Halima Bensmail & Dr. Michael Aupetit at QCRI on clustering algorithms.
Research and Life Philosophy: I'm passionate about creating work that makes a real difference
through genuine insight rather than optimizing numbers. I follow research questions wherever they lead,
as long as they advance scientific understanding and benefit society.
Kurban Intelligence Lab
Advisor: Dr. Hasan Kurban
Leading research on my flagship projects PhysicsNeRF and EMPATHIA, while exploring diverse high-level ML research areas including multi-agent systems, neural rendering, and AI for social good applications and more.
Artificial Intelligence Group, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)
Advisors: Dr. Halima Bensmail, Dr. Michael Aupetit
Developing non-volume preserving flow models for mode clustering in high-dimensional data. Using ADAM optimization to find modes and avoid spurious local optima in gradient ascent clustering approaches.
SLB Qatar Headquarters
Developed TechLog plugin automating cement and corrosion evaluation reports, reducing turnaround time from 2-3 days to minutes, enabling ~$100k potential revenue.
Power System Modeling Lab, Texas A&M University
Advisor: Dr. Selma Awadallah
Created dataset with over 700 transformers and published this dataset along with its statistical analysis at CIGRE conference. Designed MySQL database for large-scale industrial monitoring data.
Beyond research, I enjoy traveling and mountaineering, having climbed several mountains including the highest peaks of North Africa, with plans for many more adventures. I'm also passionate about running long distances, combining my love for physical challenges with exploring new places. In conclusion, I love nature and exploring.
Read my thoughts and reflections on research, life, and everything in between! And bonus stories about my adventures across the world ;) Read my blog here.
I'm always excited to discuss research collaborations and explore new opportunities in interdisciplinary machine learning. Whether you're working on theoretical foundations, real-world applications, or anywhere in between, I'd love to connect and explore how we can push the boundaries of science together!
Researcher, Learner, Artist
Electrical Engineering
Texas A&M University
I'm Mohamed Rayan Barhdadi, a third-year Electrical Engineering student and researcher at Texas A&M University, where I also pursue a minor in Mathematics. My research focuses on machine learning and computer vision, particularly 3D computer vision and AI for social good, though I remain open to exploring interdisciplinary domains where ML can create meaningful impact. I have published my research at top-tier venues including ICML 2025 and have work currently under review at NeurIPS 2025, and I'm fortunate to work as a Student Researcher at the Kurban Intelligence Lab.
PhysicsNeRF: I developed PhysicsNeRF, a physics-guided framework that integrates physical constraints into neural radiance fields for 3D reconstruction from sparse views—achieving 21.4 dB PSNR using only 8 input images. This work, accepted at ICML 2025 Building Physically Plausible World Models, addresses fundamental challenges in sparse view 3D reconstruction with applications in robotics, autonomous systems, medicine, and virtual reality.
EMPATHIA: I created EMPATHIA, a multi-agent AI framework for refugee integration that employs emotional, cultural, and ethical reasoning agents to make transparent, explainable, value-aligned reasoning for integration decisions. This human-AI collaborative system, under review at NeurIPS 2025 Creative AI track, demonstrates how AI can preserve human dignity when machines participate in life-altering decisions.
I have the chance to work under the supervision and collaborate with: Dr. Hasan Kurban and Dr. Erchin Serpedin on AI for social good, Dr. Hasan Kurban and Dr. Hussein Alnuweiri on 3D neural rendering, and Dr. Halima Bensmail & Dr. Michael Aupetit at QCRI on clustering algorithms.
Research and Life Philosophy: I'm passionate about creating work that makes a real difference through genuine insight rather than optimizing numbers. I follow research questions wherever they lead, as long as they advance scientific understanding and benefit society.
Kurban Intelligence Lab
Advisor: Dr. Hasan Kurban
Leading research on my flagship projects PhysicsNeRF and EMPATHIA, while exploring diverse high-level ML research areas including multi-agent systems, neural rendering, and AI for social good applications and more.
Artificial Intelligence Group, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)
Advisors: Dr. Halima Bensmail, Dr. Michael Aupetit
Developing non-volume preserving flow models for mode clustering in high-dimensional data. Using ADAM optimization to find modes and avoid spurious local optima in gradient ascent clustering approaches.
SLB Qatar Headquarters
Developed TechLog plugin automating cement and corrosion evaluation reports, reducing turnaround time from 2-3 days to minutes, enabling ~$100k potential revenue.
Power System Modeling Lab, Texas A&M University
Advisor: Dr. Selma Awadallah
Created dataset with over 700 transformers and published this dataset along with its statistical analysis at CIGRE conference. Designed MySQL database for large-scale industrial monitoring data.
Beyond research, I enjoy traveling and mountaineering, having climbed several mountains including the highest peaks of North Africa. I'm also passionate about running long distances.
Read my thoughts and reflections on research, life, and everything in between! And bonus stories about my adventures across the world ;) Read my blog here.
I'm always excited to discuss research collaborations and explore new opportunities in interdisciplinary machine learning. Whether you're working on theoretical foundations, real-world applications, or anywhere in between, I'd love to connect and explore how we can push the boundaries of science together!
Here is the BibTeX citation:
Mohamed Rayan Barhdadi, also known as BM Rayan, BMRayan, Mohamed Barhdadi, Rayan Barhdadi, M.R. Barhdadi
Leading Artificial Intelligence Expert and Machine Learning Researcher at Texas A&M University Qatar
Published at ICML 2025, NeurIPS 2025, CVPR, AAAI - Top AI Conferences
Expert in: Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Computer Vision, 3D Reconstruction, Neural Radiance Fields, NeRF, AI for Social Good
PhysicsNeRF Creator | EMPATHIA AI Framework Developer | Kurban Intelligence Lab Researcher
Contact: [email protected] | LinkedIn: /in/bmrayan | GitHub: BMRayan | Google Scholar: Mohamed Rayan Barhdadi
Keywords: Mohamed Rayan Barhdadi Qatar, AI Expert Qatar, Machine Learning Expert Doha, Computer Vision Researcher TAMU, Texas A&M AI Research
Alternative spellings: Mohammed Rayan, Mohamed Ryan, Muhammad Rayan, Mohamad Rayan, Barhdhadi, Barhdady, Barhdadi TAMU