Pooja Guhan, Tauksik Anil Kumar and Raina Saraiya Selected as 2026 CMNS Commencement Student Speakers

Three student speakers have been selected for the University of Maryland's College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) 2026 Commencement Ceremonies:

• Pooja Guhan (Ph.D. '25, computer science) will speak at the CMNS Doctoral Commencement Ceremony on May 19, 2026
• Tauksik Anil Kumar (M.S. '26, data science), will speak at the CMNS Master's and Graduate Certificate Commencement Ceremony on May 19, 2026, and
• Raina Saraiya (B.S. '25, neuroscience) will be the student speaker at the CMNS Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on May 20, 2026.

Susan Gregurick (Ph.D. ’95, chemistry), associate director for data science and director of the Office of Data Science Strategy at the National Institutes of Health, will be the keynote speaker at the CMNS Doctoral Commencement Ceremony. 

Andrew Balo (B.S. '70, microbiology), who recently retired as executive vice president of clinical, global access, and medical affairs at Dexcom, will be the keynote speaker at the CMNS Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony. 

The three ceremonies will honor the college's August 2025, December 2025 and May 2026 graduates receiving doctoral and master's degrees and graduate certificates.

Pooja Guhan's research focused on computer vision, multimodal learning, affective computing and generative artificial intelligence (AI), with an emphasis on methods that improve how visual media is edited and understood.

Advised by Distinguished University Professor Dinesh Manocha, her dissertation focused on developing AI-driven algorithms for contextual video editing. She studied how models can interpret creative intent, adapt visual styles and suggest meaningful edits using visual and multimodal cues. Her work explored how machine learning can serve as a useful tool in the creative process, empowering creators to explore ideas more freely, expand their creative potential and engage more deeply with the storytelling process.

During her time at UMD, Guhan worked on research problems spanning video editing, image styling, telehealth engagement estimation and multimodal understanding. Her work has been published in venues including the European Conference on Computer Vision, the Association for Computational Learning, the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference, Scientific Reports, JMIR and the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference. She also collaborated with researchers across academia and industry on projects at the intersection of vision, language and human-centered AI.

Her academic achievements have been recognized through several honors, including the University of Maryland Summer Research Fellowship, the Computing Research Association's Committee on Widening Participation Grad Cohort for Women Scholarship, the Grace Hopper Celebration Scholarship and the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference Scholarship.

In addition to her academic work, Guhan gained industry experience through research internships at Dolby Laboratories, Adobe Research and IBM Research, where her work led to patents and publications. She currently serves as a senior researcher at Dolby Laboratories in Atlanta, where she focuses on 3D modeling and video enhancement for next-generation media systems.

Guhan remains dedicated to contributing to the research community through mentorship, teaching and service. She serves as a reviewer for leading AI conferences and journals and is involved in mentoring initiatives that support aspiring researchers. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, painting, playing chess and traveling.

Tauksik Anil Kumar's academic interests lie in AI, with a focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies, as well as applications in financial technology, real estate and sports analytics.

During his time at UMD, Kumar served as a graduate teaching assistant for multiple courses in the College of Information (INFO), including Data Science Techniques, Transforming Unstructured Content with AI, and Digital Preservation of Data. He currently works with INFO Assistant Professor Julia Mendelsohn on natural language processing, focusing on misinformation detection across news and social media platforms.

He gained industry experience through a data science internship at the startup Futuralis and through his role as a data science and machine learning engineering intern at GA Software Technologies and SIEPL Innovations in India. Kumar also worked with Maryland Athletics as a fan development and event marketing intern, supporting data-driven marketing initiatives and game-day operations. He was an audit specialist with Conferences & Visitor Services, a Terp host and intramural sports referee with Maryland Athletics, and an active participant in the Terrapin Leadership Institute. He recently received the Do Good Medallion for the Changemakers Pathway. 

Kumar currently works at his own startup, Finlo Technologies, an AI-driven fintech platform in development that aims to help students manage income, expenses and financial decisions across multiple systems, currencies and cross-border payments. The platform focuses on enabling smarter financial decision-making through artificial intelligence and financial modeling.

After graduation, he will pursue a career in data science and apply the skills he’s learned in artificial intelligence and analytics to solve real-world problems and continue building impactful solutions at the intersection of technology and finance.

Raina Saraiya graduated in December 2025 summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience and a minor in general business. She is a member of the College Park Scholars International Studies program. With the mentorship of the program’s director, Stacy Kosko, she founded PERIOD.@UMD, an organization dedicated to eradicating period poverty and stigma. Through it, she has helped donate hundreds of hygiene products and care packages to women in need.

Saraiya has pursued research across multiple fields. As a UM Scholar, she worked with Nevil Singh on targeted immunotherapy in the Nevil Lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her research was selected for presentation at the Association for American Minority Physicians Conference. She also contributes to developing culturally sensitive autism interventions with Assistant Professor of Special Education Veronica Kang. Inspired by her mentors, including Chemistry and Biochemistry Senior Lecturer Christiana Guest, Saraiya supported fellow students as a biology and biochemistry teaching assistant and as a tutor with The Every Child Project.

One of her favorite passions is dance. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Kathak, an Indian classical dance, in 2024 from Bharati Vidyapeeth University in India. Throughout college, she competed nationwide as a dancer with UMD EntouRaas, the university’s premier Indian classical dance team. In her spare time, she loves traveling, exploring new cultures, and spending time with her family and friends.

This fall, Saraiya will begin medical school, aspiring to become a physician-advocate committed to advancing equitable care for underserved communities both locally and globally.