Abstract The rapid development of AI-based products and their underlying models has led to constant innovation in deep learning frameworks. Google has been pioneering machine learning usage across dozens of products. Maintaining the multitude of model source codes in different ML frameworks and versions is a significant challenge. So far the maintenance and migration work
Hariri Institute Names Mona Jalal New Lead of Data Science Mentoring Circles Program | Rafik Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering
The Hariri Institute for Computing at Boston University has named Boston University alumni Mona Jalal as the new lead of its Data Science Mentoring Circles Program (DSMC), effective September 2026. Jalal was selected for her passion for mentoring and experience in bridging cutting-edge AI research and real-world engineering.
As a Computer Vision Research Engineer III at Toyota Material Handling North America (TMHNA) in Columbus, Indiana, she develops next-generation perception technologies for industrial automation. Her work spans 3D perception, synthetic data generation, edge AI deployment, and MLOps, with hands-on experience across the full pipeline from research to production-scale systems.
Jalal has also been a visible leader in the computer vision community, serving as Area Chair for the WACV conference for three consecutive years, co-organizing the Women in Computer Vision workshop at CVPR 2025, and reviewing more than 100 conference and journal articles. Additionally, she has authored more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications in computer vision and deep learning, is a co-inventor on multiple patents, and holds an O-1A visa—recognizing her extraordinary ability and achievements in the field.
Jalal’s passion for AI, data science, and computer science has deep roots in both the BU community and broader university environments. She was a former Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at BU, advised Margrit Betke and Vijaya Kolachalama. During her time as a graduate student, Jalal studied efficient deep-learning based computer vision methods for cancer detection from H&E stained digital pathology whole-slide images; image and text analysis of public communications; 2D/3D human, animal, and object pose estimation and tracking; and 3D human-object interaction reconstruction from single 2D images.
Jalal co-founded Women in ACM (WACM) at Boston University and served as mentoring co-chair for the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of WACM, where she previously received her double master’s degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
Today, Jalal continues to give back to the next generations through university mentorships. At TMHNA, she serves as a university liaison for a collaborative research program with the University of Toronto, where she currently mentors a Ph.D. student and previously guided five undergraduates through a Machine Intelligence Capstone to bridge the gap between industry and academia.
As the new leader of DSMC, Jalal looks forward to helping the program deepen its focus on practical, research-to-deployment skills and bolster its community of mentors and mentees.
Want to get involved with DSMC? Apply to be a mentor or mentee by October 5!
About DSMC
The Data Science Mentorship Circles (DSMC) program connects Boston University alumni working in data science with BU graduate students across diverse disciplines such as astronomy, biostatistics, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and statistics. Initiated by BU alumni, the program helps prepare students for the competitive job market through mentorship, workshops, networking opportunities, and professional development sessions.
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