Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group

  In January 2021, I began a journey that would span nearly five years , three children, countless late nights, and a singular focus: teaching machines to extract data from complex scientific tables with confidence—and to know when they're uncertain. On October 29, 2025, I successfully defended my dissertation titled "SCITEUQ: Toward Uncertainty-Aware Complex Scientific Table Data Extraction and Understanding" at Old Dominion University . This milestone represents not just the culmination of intensive research but a testament to perseverance, family support, and the power of focused determination. Finding My Path at LAMP-SYS When I joined the Lab for Applied Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Systems (LAMP-SYS) , part of ODU's Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group (WSDL) under the guidance of Dr. Jian Wu , I knew exactly what problem I wanted to solve: making scientific table data extraction both accurate and trustworthy through uncertai...

In 2019, I packed my bags and flew from Sri Lanka to Virginia to begin my Ph.D. in Computer Science at Old Dominion University. I did not have a clear roadmap or any prior research experience; all I had was the hope that I would be able to figure things out along the way. After six years, I found myself diving deep into eye-tracking, human-computer interaction, and machine learning; eventually completing my dissertation in multi-user eye-tracking using commodity cameras, with the support of my advisor, Dr. Sampath Jayarathna , NIRDS Lab , and ODU Web Science and Digital Libraries Research group .        When I started my Ph.D. at ODU , I had limited knowledge and experience in eye tracking and computer vision research. After learning about ongoing research at the lab on cognitive load using eye tracking , I was fascinated by how we could use technology to better understand humans in terms of their intentions, focus, attention, and interactions with the world. Tha...

It felt like yesterday when I first enrolled in Old Dominion University (ODU) to pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2019 ( Muntabir's introduction ). Fortunately, I was accepted to the Lab for Applied Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Systems  (LAMP-SYS), part of the Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group  (WSDL) in the Department of Computer Science at ODU. LAMP-SYS is led by Dr. Jian Wu  and focuses on building intelligent systems that solve real-world problems using natural language processing (NLP), computer vision (CV), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) techniques. I was overwhelmed with joy on the day when I had my first meeting with my professor regarding project briefs and discussions. I was assigned to a collaborated project with Virginia Tech called " Mining Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) ," supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) . ETDs are scholarly articles that usually serve as...

In the Spring of 2019, I embarked on a six-year journey toward earning my PhD in Computer Science. After completing my undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Moratuwa , Sri Lanka, in 2018, I applied to the Computer Science PhD program at Old Dominion University (ODU). I was fortunate to be accepted to the Neuro Information Retrieval and Data Science (NIRDS) Lab , which is part of ODU’s Web Science and Digital Libraries (WSDL) Research Group . Led by Dr. Sampath Jayarathna , the NIRDS lab focuses on applied research involving human subjects and multimodal biosignals. Early in my PhD, before defining my research focus, I explored how to operate our lab's various biosignal acquisition devices and software (Eye Trackers, EEG Devices, and Wearable Health Sensors). This exploration allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the tools and technologies around human-subjects research, as well as their capabilities and limitations. A recurring issue th...

I ( Gavindya Jayawardena ) began my PhD journey in Spring 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Sampath Jayarathna at Old Dominion University (ODU) , immediately after completing my Bachelor’s degree. I joined the Neuro-Information Retrieval and Data Science (NIRDS) lab , a subgroup within the Web Science and Digital Libraries (WSDL) research lab in the Computer Science Department . Dr. Sampath Jayarathna provided me with the opportunity to engage in eye-tracking research, which rapidly became the central focus of my studies. In collaboration with Dr. Anne Perrotti from ODU, I explored how eye-tracking measurements could be utilized to predict Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) using machine learning algorithms. By extracting raw eye-tracking data, I created a feature set that enabled multiple models to achieve high prediction accuracy with tree-based classifiers. Additionally, I studied the performance of adolescents with ADHD during an audiovisual Speech-In-Noise t...