Neha Keshan is a passionate researcher dedicated to pursuing unconventional research that has a tangible impact on society and our daily lives. Her academic interests focus on integrating various domains, with a particular emphasis on harnessing the power of semantics and the knowledge graph aspect of artificial intelligence. She believes in the transformative potential of these technologies to revolutionize both industries and personal experiences.

As a faculty member, Neha is committed to empowering young minds through research-driven education. She has introduced courses such as "Introduction to Research" to nurture the next generation of scholars. Additionally, she has remodeled courses like "Data and Society" to help students better understand the evolving relationship between data, technology, and society. Neha also plays a key role in helping newcomers solidify their foundations in computer science by teaching fundamental courses such as "Data Structures" and "Computer Science 1."

Neha earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science in May 2023 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, under the guidance of Prof. James A. Hendler. Her dissertation, titled "Persona-Aware Strategy towards Building a Comprehensive Semantic Data Layer: A Resource for Marginalized US STEM Graduate Students", explores the intersection of semantics and the challenges faced by marginalized STEM students. She has received multiple accolades for her work, including the Best Ph.D. Symposium Presentation Award at WebSci'21 and the Best Paper Award at the Knowledge Graph Semantic Web Conference '21.

Throughout her graduate career, Neha has been recognized for her academic and leadership excellence with several prestigious awards. These include being selected as the Graduate Student Speaker at Rensselaer's 217th Commencement Ceremony, and receiving the Shakuntala Devi and Krishna Deva Malaviya Public Service Award, which honors a graduating student who exemplifies sustained excellence and selflessness in service to others. She was also awarded the Robert McNaughton Prize for outstanding achievement in computer science, and the Founders Award of Excellence, recognizing creativity, leadership, and embodying the values of pride and responsibility at Rensselaer.

During her first two years at Rensselaer, Neha worked on the project “Ontology-Enabled Infrastructure for Integrated Data Resources”, which focused on applications in healthcare and materials science research. Prior to Rensselaer, she worked at the Systems Security and Machine Learning Lab at Syracuse University and the Advanced Wireless Systems Research Center at SUNY Oswego, where she investigated stress level detection in individuals and used electrocardiogram data for authentication under varying stress conditions. She presented her work through multiple conference papers, posters, and a book chapter.

Neha was selected as a Global Education and Exchange Student during her Master’s in Computer Applications from the A.K. Choudhury School of Information Technology, University of Calcutta, and was a recipient of the Overseas Endowment Travel Scholarship 2015.

In addition to her academic work, Neha actively contributes to the research community. She serves as a reviewer for journals and conferences and holds leadership roles such as Sponsorship Chair for the International Semantic Web Conference'25 (ISWC) and Poster Session Chair for the Knowledge Graph Conference (KGC) 25. She started the poster session at KGC in 2024 as a mean to bridging the gap between academia and industry. She has previously served as Web Presence and Publicity Chair for ISWC 2022, Track Chair Concierge for KGC 2022, Treasurer for Graduate Women in Science, New York Capital Region Chapter, and President of the Rensselaer Computer Science Graduate Council. Neha has also been a Graduate Student Representative on the Rensselaer Computer Science Graduate Curriculum Committee and is an active member of IEEE and ACM.

Outside of her professional life, Neha is driven by a desire to make a real-world impact through both research and voluntary work. She enjoys spending time with her family and finds peace in nature, gardening, reading, watching web series, and painting.