Hadiza Umar Yusuf

AI & CPS Safety Researcher

PhD Candidate · University of Michigan-Dearborn

Hadiza Umar Yusuf

I am a doctoral candidate in Computer & Information Sciences at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a Graduate Research Assistant at the AISE-CPS Lab. I am passionate about the safety and reliability of AI systems, especially for cyber-physical systems that operate in the real world where failures have real consequences.

My research interests include AI Safety and Ethics, Falsification of AI-enabled Cyber-Physical Systems, Reinforcement Learning, and Trustworthy AI. I am also interested in the intersection of AI and education, specifically in improving access to learning through adaptive AI technologies.

AI Safety Cyber-Physical Systems Reinforcement Learning Software Verification Trustworthy AI

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Research

Current — Active Research

Falsification of AI-enabled Cyber-Physical Systems

Developing a falsification technique that combines stochastic optimization and reinforcement learning to improve fault detection in AI-enabled CPS. Conducting empirical analysis to categorize CPS models and identify verification challenges specific to AI systems.

📍 University of Michigan-Dearborn 👩‍🏫 Supervisor: Prof. Khouloud Gaaloal 📅 Sept. 2024 – Present

CPS Safety & Verification

Completed · UM-D

Counterfactual-Guided Debugging of Cyber-Physical Systems (DeCaF)

Developed a framework for debugging CPS using counterfactual-guided explanations that identify minimal input changes preventing system failures. Evaluated across multiple Simulink CPS benchmarks.

👩‍🏫 Prof. Khouloud Gaaloal 📅 May – Aug. 2025 · Submitted

Completed · CMU Africa

Prosthetics Design for Low-Resource Environments

Improving access to customized prosthetics using smartphone-based digital reconstruction and data-driven prediction of mechanical functionality in resource-constrained communities.

👩‍🏫 Prof. Moise Busogi 📅 May 2023 – Aug. 2024

Completed · CMU Africa

Data-Driven Material Prediction for 3D Printing

Predicted material properties of 3D-printed parts using multi-layer perceptron (MLP) models linking specimen test results, printing conditions, and geometry. Generated and pre-processed simulation data under varying parameters.

👩‍🏫 Prof. Conrad Tucker 📅 Jan. – May 2024

Completed · CMU Africa

Adaptive Education for African Languages (ED-GPT)

Constructed an LLM pipeline for context-based answer generation for high school STEM subjects in Kinyarwanda. Achieved 98% accuracy with sentence similarity evaluation.

👩‍🏫 Prof. Azzizuddin Biyabani 📅 Oct. – Dec. 2023

Completed · CMU Africa

DTMF Demodulation using TinyML

Designed an experiment for accurate DTMF signal decoding using power spectral analysis. Captured and processed real-time signals on Arduino Nano Sense BLE and Raspberry Pi.

👩‍🏫 Prof. Mike Perkins 📅 May – Aug. 2023

Publications

Towards Counterfactual Explanation and Assertion Inference for CPS Debugging

Ghazal, Z., Yusuf, H. U., Gaaloul, K. · IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2026) · Accepted

CPSDebuggingCounterfactual AI

Navigating the Shift: Architectural Transformations and Emerging Verification Demands in AI-Enabled Cyber-Physical Systems

Yusuf, H. U., Gaaloul, K. · IEEE/ACM 4th International Conference on AI Engineering – Software Engineering for AI (CAIN 2025) · 2025

AI SafetyCPS VerificationSoftware Engineering

Model-Based Verification for AI-Enabled Cyber-Physical Systems Through Guided Falsification of Temporal Logic Properties

Yusuf, H. U. · IEEE/ACM 4th International Conference on AI Engineering – Software Engineering for AI (CAIN 2025) · 2025

FalsificationTemporal LogicCPS

Accessible Digital Reconstruction and Mechanical Prediction of 3D-Printed Prosthetics

Lee, J., Nkama, C., Yusuf, H. U., et al. · Journal of Mechanical Design, 147(6), 062001 · 2025

Computer VisionProstheticsMachine Learning

Increasing Accessibility of 3D-Printed Customized Prosthetics in Resource-Constrained Communities

Lee, J., Nkama, C., Yusuf, H. U., et al. · ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC/CIE 2024) · 2024

3D PrintingAccessibilityProsthetics

Inverse-Prediction of Material Property in Fused Filament Fabrication / Fused Deposition Modeling

Lee, J., Yusuf, H. U., Tucker, C. · ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC/CIE 2024) · 2024

3D PrintingMaterial ScienceDeep Learning

Towards Reliable DTMF Recognition: A TinyML Approach

Yusuf, H., Perkins, M., Nkama, C. · International Congress on Information and Communication Technology (ICICT 2024) · 2024

TinyMLSignal ProcessingEdge AI

Teaching

📐

Applied Stochastic Processes

Carnegie Mellon University Africa · Fall 2023

Graduate Teaching Assistant for 53 graduate students. Held weekly recitations, graded homework, and provided academic support.

📊

Mathematics & Statistics

Federal University of Technology Minna · 2021–2022

e-Tutor for 100 and 200-level computer science students. Average student rating: 4/5. Synchronous and asynchronous support.

💻

Programming & Web Design

Merrion IT (New Horizons College) · 2020–2022

Instructed 70+ high school students in Python, Blender, and web design. Guided hands-on project-based learning.

🔢

BASIC Programming & Numerical Analysis

College of Education Katsina-Ala · 2019–2020

Assisted in teaching, evaluating, and mentoring Computer Science students in BASIC, Microsoft Packages, and Numerical Analysis.

🔬

Science (Chemistry, Basic Science & Technology)

Talented Heroes Academy · 2013

Taught high school STEM subjects. Average student rating: 4.3/5.

🤖

AI Systems Design (EdgeML Labs)

Carnegie Mellon University Africa · Summer 2023

Developed and enhanced labs for the AI Systems Design course (EdgeML piece) as a graduate intern.

News

Feb 2026

🎉 Paper accepted at ICST 2026 (IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation) — Towards Counterfactual Explanation and Assertion Inference for CPS Debugging (DeCaF), a framework that identifies minimal input changes to prevent failures in cyber-physical systems.

Oct 2025

🤝 Served as a Student Volunteer at the 28th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS 2025) in Grand Rapids, MI — one of the premier venues for model-driven engineering research.

Sep 2025

🎤 Invited as Session Speaker at the International Conference on Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science — to present on Emerging Trends in Verification of AI-enabled Cyber-Physical Systems.

Aug 2025

🙌 Joined the LifeWise Academy Dearborn as a Leadership Board Member, contributing to the mission of equipping students with character, wisdom, and a strong academic foundation.

Apr 2025

🎓 Joined the Wolverine Mentors Collective (Graduate Students Edition) as a mentor, supporting early-career graduate students in navigating research, academia, and professional development at the University of Michigan.

Sep 2024

🎉 Began my PhD in Computer & Information Sciences at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, joining the AISE-CPS Lab under the supervision of Professor Khouloud Gaaloul. My doctoral research focuses on falsification and verification of AI-enabled Cyber-Physical Systems — funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

May 2024

📰 Featured in a Mastercard Foundation Impact Story: "Everyone has something to give in their own little space" — a story about my journey through academia, research, and giving back to communities across Africa.

May 2024

🏆 Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University Africa with an MS in Engineering Artificial Intelligence, receiving two prestigious awards: the Lakshimi Subramanian CMU-Africa Student Excellence Award — recognising outstanding academic and research contributions — and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Impact Award, celebrating scholars who demonstrate exceptional commitment to transforming Africa through their work and leadership.

Apr 2024

🎊 Received admission to the PhD program in Computer & Information Sciences at the University of Michigan-Dearborn — set to join the AISE-CPS Lab to work with Professor Khouloud Gaaloul on NSF-funded research in AI safety and cyber-physical systems verification.

Blog

🤖

AI Safety

Why Falsification Matters: Testing AI Systems Before They Fail in the Real World

How stochastic optimization and RL can be combined to find safety violations in autonomous systems before deployment...

🦾

Research Journey

From Nigeria to Rwanda to Michigan: Navigating Global STEM Academia as an African Researcher

Lessons learned about finding mentors, applying for scholarships, and building a research identity across continents...

Hadiza Umar Yusuf

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