IMNIS Mentee Shakila Mahjabin Tonni
After finishing a Master of Research (MRes) in Computing with High Distinction (95/100) in 2019, Shakila has started pursuing a PhD in Computing from February 2020. Her research area is in the Natural Language Processing (NLP) field focusing on privacy-preserving machine learning models. Both her MRes and PhD is funded by Macquarie University through the iMQRES scholarship. She was also awarded the Executive Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence in Year 2 Master of Research.
Shakila also has a previous bachelor’s and master’s in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) degree from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. She has published four (4) collaborative researches with internationally recognized researchers and academics.
Besides carrying out her research, she also works as a Casual Academic in the Department of Computing. She has more than 7 years of past working experiences as a University Lecturer in Bangladesh. In addition to that, Shakila obtained a Cisco Certified Networking Associates (CCNA) certification and training on Technical Writing and Object-oriented programming (OOP).
Apart from the academic aspects, she continuously volunteered to Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) and was involved in multiple projects such as Take-back-the-tech (TBTT) – Bangladesh Chapter and Women in Digital, Bangladesh.
At Macquarie University, she volunteered in 2020 at the University Open day event.
Finally, in her opinion, and according to Clifton Strengths, her greatest personality trait is having empathy. She makes everyone feel welcomed and comfortable around her to work with.