Computer Science

Prasanna Kumar Ghali holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Since Prasanna joined DigiPen in 1994, he has been instrumental in developing and implementing DigiPen’s computer graphics and game software development curriculum. Between 1998 and 2002, he was the Vice President of Engineering at Nintendo Software Technology (NST).

During his tenure at NST, Prasanna served as the technical lead for several video game titles, including Ridge Racer 64, Wave Race: Blue Storm, and 1080° Avalanche. He was also the key software engineer for the design, development, testing, and benchmarking of video game prototypes on Nintendo’s Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, and GameCube platforms.

Prasanna returned to DigiPen in 2002 and has been DigiPen (Singapore)’s Provost since 2020, continuing his interest in teaching and researching various topics related to game development, including computer graphics and game engine design. He has co-published articles in various journals and is the author of nine U.S. patents, which deal with game design and/or game engineering.

Dr. Vadim Surov received his Ph.D. in computer science and master’s degree in applied mathematics from Far-East State University, Russia. Before joining DigiPen (Singapore) in 2009, he held various positions within the industry and academia, including R&D work in South Korea under a government program. Since 2009, he has held a senior lecturer position in an educational partner program with DigiPen Institute of Technology and Keimyung University in South Korea.

Vadim currently teaches computer graphics and programming courses while researching the application of modern computing environments in education.

Dr. William Zheng Shou Kang received his M.Eng and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from National University of Singapore (NUS), and his B.Eng in information and controlling engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Before joining DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore in 2016, he was a scientist at A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research and held various positions in the industrial companies as an R&D engineer and product design engineer.

William’s research interests lie in the field of computer and communication networks, especially in wireless networks. He has actively participated in the standardization of IEEE 802.11ah. He also has a strong interest in applying his research findings toward real-world problems and has developed more than 14 international patents in the U.S. and Singapore. William also won the Best Paper Award for his research in IEEE at VTC2011-Spring and the Best Research Paper Award from the Institute for Infocomm Research in 2012.

William currently teaches in the areas of low-level programming and computer networks. He enjoys talking with students about real-world systems and networks, and enjoys talking with students about real-world systems and network applications.

Dr. Jeremy Chew Ping obtained his bachelor’s degree and PhD in Computer Engineering from Nanyang Technological University in 1997 and 2002 respectively and also received a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Nottingham. Before joining DigiPen (Singapore) in early 2021, he worked at DSO National Laboratories for over 17 years, where he was a Senior Member of Technical Staff performing defense research and development.

Jeremy’s interest lies in the area of computer networks. He teaches high-level programming and is passionate about helping his students establish a strong basis on which to build their lives and careers upon graduating.

Dr. Sayed Ameenuddin Irfan has a Ph.D. in Science (Applied Mathematics) from Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Malaysia. Upon graduation, he worked at his alma mater as a post-doctoral researcher from 2018 to 2021 before moving to DigiPen (Singapore).

Sayed has done extensive research on the numerical solution for partial differential equations arising from chemical engineering applications and the neural network solutions of partial differential equations. This also includes machine learning applications in the oil, gas, chemical, and sustainable environment industries. He has also published multiple papers on the aforementioned topics in reputed international journals such as the Journal of Controlled Release, IEEE Access, and the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering.

Sayed teaches machine learning, deep learning, and applied mathematics. What he enjoys most about being an educator is interacting with, helping, and learning from his students.

Dr. Teoh Chong Keat “Christopher” received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Before joining DigiPen (Singapore), Christopher held various roles in both academia and the industry, including lecturing in colleges in Malaysia. Christopher moved to Singapore in 2019 to pursue a career in data science and information technology.

Christopher’s research interests include metaheuristic algorithms, operations research, machine learning algorithms, and natural language processing. He currently teaches the python programming language, as well as topics related to data algorithms and machine learning. As an instructor, Christopher hopes to inspire his students to reach higher to achieve their full potentials.

Outside the classroom, Christopher is an editorial board member of the Journal of Autonomous Intelligence. To date, he has published nine academic papers related to operations research.

Dr. Fong Cheng Weng “Wayne” has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Wayne previously taught as a senior lecturer at a university in Malaysia and is passionate about teaching programming. At DigiPen (Singapore), he teaches courses related to Java programming and web development. He enjoys guiding students and hopes to help them enjoy success in their respective learning journeys.

Wayne is also particularly interested in metaheuristic algorithms and operations research. To date, Wayne has published 14 research papers on operations research in reputable journals such as IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation and Information Science.

Dr. Wang Zhiyuan received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, specializing in machine learning and engineering optimization, from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2024. Previously, he earned his Master of Science in Information Systems from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2020. The study and application of computing algorithms, machine and deep learning, multi-objective optimization, and multi-criteria decision-making to solve practical problems encompass his area of research. These topics are the focus of several of his published papers in prestigious academic journals, and he is the lead author of the textbook Numerical Machine Learning.

At DigiPen (Singapore), Zhiyuan teaches algorithm analysis, Python, data structures and algorithms, mathematics, data analytics, data visualization, machine learning, and deep learning. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge with his students and hopes to continually inspire them.

Before entering academia, Zhiyuan was an engineer at Micron Technology where he developed testing programs using C++ and Python, optimized testing algorithms, and conducted big data analysis.

Outside of teaching and research, Zhiyuan enjoys bodybuilding through dedicated gym workouts.

Dr. Soroor Malekmohammadi Faradounbeh holds a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering and a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence from Azad University in Iran. She also has a Doctor of Philosophy in Game and Computer Engineering from Keimyung University in South Korea.

Soroor’s wide range of research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networks, deep learning models, graphics algorithms, game algorithms, virtual and augmented reality, computer vision and image processing, and natural language processing.

Prior to joining DigiPen (Singapore), Soroor was a researcher at Azad University and Keimyung University. She also taught and served as a teaching assistant for various computer science and game development courses through DigiPen Institute of Technology’s dual degree program in collaboration with Keimyung University.

Elie Hosry graduated from the Lebanese University in Beirut, Lebanon with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2000. Following graduation, he joined DigiPen (Singapore) to begin working on the development of in-house game engines and tools.

Elie has served as a senior software engineer in the Research and Development department. He is also part of DigiPen’s curriculum development and the director of the Academic Support Center, which helps freshmen students with issues related to any given course.

Elie is a principal lecturer and teaches computer science courses and video game development classes.

Wong Han Feng, Gerald graduated from DigiPen (Singapore) with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Game Design in 2013.

Gerald was in the game industry for six years after graduating, working as a programmer for companies such as Koei Tecmo Singapore and UDream Entertainment. During his time in the industry, he helped to develop several web, mobile, and console titles. He also worked in Japan for over a year, experiencing many different development environments and challenges.

Gerald returned to DigiPen (Singapore) as a lecturer and currently teaches undergraduate computer science courses, where he shares his knowledge and experiences with his students. In his free time, he enjoys developing small projects, playing games, and pursuing music.

Goh Jing Ying holds a Bachelor of Computing in Communications and Media from the National University of Singapore.

Before moving into education, Jing Ying worked at Daylight Studios. She joined the team in 2012 and was one of the directors at the indie studio, where she also doubled up as the company’s programmer and game designer. She is passionate about procedural generation and randomization in games, as well as innovative mechanics and storytelling techniques.

Since joining DigiPen (Singapore) in 2022, Jing Ying has been finding ways to convey important game design concepts and considerations to students to help them understand what is needed for games to be engaging. She also strongly encourages passion and interest in game design among students and enjoys working with them to develop their ideas into more complete game concepts.

Besides playing video games in her free time, Jing Ying also takes part in Chinese dance regularly.

Parminder Singh holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and Engineering from Punjab Technical University in India.

With nearly two decades of industry experience, Parminder has worked in automotive visualization, geospatial apps and navigation, film post-production software, and scientific simulation. He has also authored two books on modern computer graphics.

Parminder is particularly interested in developing cutting-edge computer graphics methods to achieve optimal real-time performance. Additionally, he is passionate about constructing specialized graphics engines to cater to native, embedded, and web applications.

Outside the classroom, Parminder enjoys exploring new places, cooking, and spending time with his family and children.

Priyanka Hriday Bhoyar received her master’s degree in computer science and engineering with distinction and a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Nagpur University, India. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in data science and engineering from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Bangalore. Before joining DigiPen (Singapore), she worked in the IT industry as a data scientist in sectors such as healthcare and e-commerce. Prior to that, she also worked as an assistant professor in India.

Priyanka’s research interests lie in networking, image processing, and machine learning. She has published research papers in top international journals and conferences. She also received a best faculty award during her academic experience.

Priyanka is passionate about teaching. At DigiPen (Singapore), she teaches Python, data structure, databases, and machine learning.

Tan Siok Hoon Angeline graduated with a BSc in Computer Science in Games Technology (Honours) from Charles Sturt University in Australia in 2008. Her first project involved working on Diva Dancers, which was part of the Diva Girls series released on the Nintendo DS in Europe.

In 2011, she completed her WSQ Diploma in Digital Visual Effects & Animation and was hired by One Animation as its Pipeline Technical Director, working on the International Emmy-Nominated Oddbods and Insectibles.

While furthering her studies in Germany’s Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (Faculty of Technology and Bionics), she was offered the opportunity to help improve the teaching of programming modules by the faculty’s professors while earning her second BSc in Electronics Engineering. She joined the faculty at DigiPen (Singapore) in 2020.

Yu Sijie “Anne” holds a master’s degree in data science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Technology from Purdue University.

Anne has 15 years of experience working in various technology companies in Silicon Valley such as Cloudera, where she worked on Hadoop ecosystems, and at Google, where she was part of the data science and engineering team. Anne was most recently in Google APAC (Singapore)’s GPay consumer data infrastructure team before joining DigiPen (Singapore).

Anne is particularly interested in disruptive technologies and their applications in fintech. She is passionate about improving blockchain, cryptocurrency, KYC (Know Your Customer) processes, and anti-money laundering based on big data for banks.

As a lecturer, Anne brings many years of experience as a data engineer to the classroom. She has also been recognized as an Associate Adult Educator by the Institute for Adult Learning Singapore.

Anne hopes to enable her students to do their best by honing their theoretical skills and helping them see how they can be applied within the industry. Ultimately, she aims to bridge the gap between what is taught in books and the demands of real work.