Yehya Farhat

I am a first year PhD student in computer science at Rice University. I am advised by Anastasios Kyrillidis and I am also part of the AI OWLS research cluster at Rice.

My broad research objective is to develop scalable and rigorous methods for explaining and enhancing AI models. Additionally, I am keenly interested in applying machine learning to overcome a broad spectrum of bottlenecks encountered in real-world engineering and scientific challenges.
I’m interested in the following research themes:

• Leveraging AI models to tackle complex engineering and scientific problems


• Understanding the expressive capabilities of deep learning models through a theoretical lens


• Convex and Non-Convex Optimization

I was a research scholar at Syracuse University, where I worked with Prof. Venkata Gandikota. I previously earned an M.Sc. in Computer Science from Syracuse University, where I completed a thesis under the supervision of Prof. Ferdinando Fioretto. Before that, I received a B.Sc. in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the American University of Beirut (AUB).

In my free time, I enjoy playing chess, staying active by playing football, and hitting the gym. I am also an avid writer passionate about sharing intriguing scientific topics I encounter. To stay updated, you can check out and subscribe to my newsletter below! Or find me on Medium.