Short Introduction

Georgios C. Anagnostopoulos is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in Melbourne, Florida, where he leads the Machine Learning Research Group. His research focuses on the foundations of AI/ML, probabilistic modeling, deep learning, optimization, Earth-science AI, and information diffusion. His work bridges foundational machine learning and applied AI for scientific and societal challenges, including hydroclimatic extremes, forecasting, and the modeling of complex information environments. He is an IEEE Senior Member. Anagnostopoulos is a native of Patras, Greece.

Selected Research Projects

Below are selected funded projects that reflect the main directions of my recent research.

• DeLAEINE: A Deep Learning Approach for Enhanced Identification of Nuclear Explosions
  Institutional PI, with Anthony O. Smith as Institutional Co-PI; subcontract from Array Information Technology, Inc.; supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 2021–2023.
  Developed machine-learning methods and software tools for seismic event discrimination at regional distances.

• SERVIR West Africa Flash Flood Forecasting
  Co-I; PI: Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos; supported by NASA SERVIR, 2023–2026.
  Developed machine-learning and hydrologic-modeling components for satellite-based flash-flood nowcasting and forecasting in West Africa.

• Multi-domain, Multi-sensor, Cyber-physical Tactical Exploitation (M2CTE)
  Co-I; PI: Adrian M. Peter; supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory, 2021–2023.
  Contributed machine-learning and data-analytic methods for multi-domain, multi-sensor cyber-physical systems.

• SIDDIS: Satellite Imagery Downscaling via Deep Image Super-Resolution
  PI, with Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos as Co-PI; supported by the FIT College of Engineering & Sciences Institutional Research Incentive Program, 2021–2022.
  Explored deep-learning methods for satellite imagery downscaling and Earth-science applications.

• SocialSim / Deep Agent: A Framework for Information Spread and Evolution in Social Networks
  Institutional PI; subcontract from the University of Central Florida; supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 2017–2021.
  Developed computational models for simulating information spread and evolution in online social networks.

Selected Alumni & Former Research Mentees

The following alumni and former mentees reflect part of my advising and mentorship work across doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate levels.

• Akshay Aravamudan, Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology, 2025; former doctoral advisee. Dissertation: “Expressive and Interpretable User Engagement Prediction using Multivariate Survival Processes.” He also earned his M.S. in Computer Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology in 2019, also as a former M.S. advisee. Thesis: “Survival Theory Modeling for Information Diffusion.” After graduation, he joined Amazon in Seattle, WA, as an Applied Scientist II.

• Xi Zhang, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology, 2024; former doctoral advisee. Dissertation: “Theoretical Advancements in Hawkes Processes and Their Practical Applications.” After graduation, she joined the Learning Systems Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a Research Scientist.

• Niloofar Yousefi, Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2017; former doctoral advisee. Dissertation: “Improved Multi-Task Learning Based on Local Rademacher Analysis.” After graduation, she joined the University of Central Florida as a Senior Research Associate.

• Mahlagha “Meli” Sedghi, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2017; former M.S. advisee. Thesis: “Learning Kernel-based Approximate Isometries.” After graduation, she joined Expedia Group as a Machine Learning Scientist II.

• Yinjie Huang, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2016; former doctoral advisee. Dissertation: “Content-Based Information Retrieval Via Nearest-Neighbor Search.” After graduation, he joined Twitter as a Software Engineer.

• Tiantian Zhang, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2016; former doctoral advisee. Dissertation: “Model Selection Via Racing.” After graduation, she joined Google Research as a Software Engineer.

• Cong Li, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2014; former doctoral advisee. Dissertation: “On Kernel-Based Multi-Task Learning.” After graduation, he joined Google as a Staff Software Engineer.

• Joey Velez-Ginorio, undergraduate research mentee, University of Central Florida, 2015–2016. Honors included the Ronald E. McNair Scholarship, UCF Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher recognition, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the Frost Scholarship, and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. After completing his undergraduate degree, he earned an M.S. in Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science from the University of Oxford.