Hi there citizen of the Internet! My name is Esra’a, pleasure to meet you!

I am a Computer Science Masters student at the University of Alberta, affiliated with AMII and the RLAI Lab.

My research interests are broadly in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. I am currently working on a research project on Model-Based Reinforcement Learning where I question the common assumption stating that models should accurately simulate environment dynamics. Instead, I seek to understand how models of the world could be built for utility to learning. You don’t have to know every minute detail of how a car functions. You have a good enough mental model of how a car moves for you to learn how to go to cool places. Your mental model is built for learning utility rather than accuracy. Our agents’ models should be built for learning utility too ;)

Outside of the world of research, I love mentoring aspiring Computer Scientists, downhill skiing, tinkering with electronics, and creative writing! I like talking to new people, so feel free to reach out. Lets grab a virtual coffee together :)

Here’s a dedicated link for scheduling research or career chats. If no time listed would work for you, email me and we’ll come up with other time-slots.