Dr. Shermeen Yousif

Dr. Shermeen Yousif recently completed her first year as an Assistant Professor in FAU's School of Architecture, now housed in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters where she is advancing her research in Artificial Intelligence (AI). "I believe AI is a game changing technology that impacts architectural design at multiple levels," said Dr. Yousif, whose research is on employing AI methods to enhance design following a data-driven approach to overcome current and future environmental challenges.

"I am also interested in automating the building performance evaluation within performance-driven computational design frameworks to improve such protocols."

Dr. Yousif is working with fellow faculty to establish FAU's AI Lab initiative within the landscape of Fort Lauderdale. She is also working on a cross-disciplinary research project with The College of Engineering and Computer Science's Dr. Dimitris Pados, who also serves as the director of the Center of Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence where Dr. Yosif  serves as a faculty member.

Dr. Yousif was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. She finished her bachelor's degree in architectural engineering at University of Baghdad ranking second in a class of 55 students. She was awarded the highly competitive DAAD fellowship to study for her Master's degree in Germany. And later, after teaching architecture for three years, she was awarded a scholarship to complete her Ph.D studies at Texas A&M University. Dr. Yousif now lives in Fort Lauderdale.

"My favorite experience at FAU is the warm welcome I received from faculty, administration, and students, said Dr. Yousif. “This summer, I received an internal research grant at the college level, and an award at the university level, both represent great moments for me during my first year at FAU."