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Language, Aid, and Representation AI (LARA) Lab

About the LARA Lab

In this lab, we look at using and improving language tools to make better, human-centered artificial intelligence (AI) by looking at how people communicate and creating computer-supported human communication tools. To find out more about what we’re currently working on, check out the Projects page.

Location

Information Technology and Engineering (ITE) 368

Lab Members

Director

  • A picture of Dr. Martin. Lara has asymmetrical purple hair and dangly earrings. She is wearing a navy/maroon vertical stripped dress.

    Lara J. Martin, PhD

    , Assistant Professor in CSEE
    she/they
    [website] [
    ] [scholar] [social]

PhD Students


  • Patty Delafuente

    , PhD Student in Computer Science
    she
    Joined Spring 2024
    RAG for Fraud Detection
    [website] [
    ]

  • Ray Groshan

    , PhD Student in Computer Science
    he/they
    Joined Fall 2025
    AAC/NLP for Assistive Technology
    [website] [
    ] [scholar]

  • Arya Honraopatil

    , PhD Student in Computer Science
    she
    Joined Summer 2024
    D&D AI
    [
    ]

  • Marcus McAllister

    , PhD Student in Computer Science
    he
    Joined Fall 2024
    Storytelling for Robotics
    [
    ]
    Co-Advised by: Cynthia Matuszek

Affiliated PhD Students

  • Statue of True Grit, UMBC's mascot. True Grit is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UMBC_Mascot.jpg

    Sai Vallurupalli

    , PhD Student in Computer Science
    she
    [
    ] [scholar]
    Advisor: Frank Ferraro

Masters Students


  • Harsha Kothapalli

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    he
    [website] [
    ]

  • Lahari Vuppalapati

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    she
    [
    ]

Undergrad Students


  • Paul Abili

    , BS Student in Computer Science
    he
    [
    ]

Lab Alumni

Affiliated PhD Students


  • Shawn Bray

    , PhD Student in Computer Engineering
    he
    [scholar]
  • Statue of True Grit, UMBC's mascot. True Grit is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UMBC_Mascot.jpg

    Asha Kumar

    , PhD Student in Human-Centered Computing
    she
    [scholar]
    Advisor: Patti Ordóñez

Masters Students

  • Statue of True Grit, UMBC's mascot. True Grit is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UMBC_Mascot.jpg

    Ashish Athimamula

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    he

  • Shadab Choudhury

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    he
    [website] [social]

  • Dedeepya Palakurthi

    , MPS Student in Data Science
    she

  • Saksham Kumar Sharma

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    he

  • Naren Sivakumar

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    he
    [website]
  • Statue of True Grit, UMBC's mascot. True Grit is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UMBC_Mascot.jpg

    June Young

    , MS Student in Computer Science
    she/they

Undergraduate Students

  • Statue of True Grit, UMBC's mascot. True Grit is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UMBC_Mascot.jpg

    AJ Boyd

    , BS Student in Computer Science
    he
  • Statue of True Grit, UMBC's mascot. True Grit is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UMBC_Mascot.jpg

    Tori Saylor

    , BS Student in Computer Science
    she