Dr Benhur Bakhtiari Bastaki

Senior Lecturer

Digital, Tech, Innovation & Business

Benhur joined Staffordshire University in 2003, studying an undergraduate degree followed by a masters. Following that he obtained his PhD in Computing Science specialising in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning in 2019.

He is currently a Senior Lecturer in AI and Big Data Analytics, the Course Leader for BSc Artificial Intelligence, and the Programme Coordinator for our international partner, EFREI Paris.

Benhur is involved in a wide range of projects and activities, using his expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning and software development to the benefit of business, industry, and other organisations. Since 2018, he has been the academic lead on several Staffordshire Digital Innovation Partnerships (SDIPs) and Staffordshire Connected & Intelligent Mobility Innovation Accelerator (SCIMIA) projects, researching and developing new solutions for the local SMEs.

Since 2021, Benhur has been the Program Advisor for Microsoft Learn for Educators Institutional Programme (MLEP). As a part of this role, he organises and delivers workshops to train students and staff to earn industry recognised certifications, including Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals and Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals.

Professional memberships and activities

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
  • Member of British Computing Society (MBC)
  • Program advisor for Microsoft Learn for Educators Institutional Programme (MLEP)

Academic qualifications

  • PhD in Computing Science, Staffordshire University
  • MSc in Computer Science, Staffordshire University
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher and Professional Education, Staffordshire University.
  • BSc (Hons) in Computing Science, Staffordshire University

Expertise

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Applied machine learning
  • Programming AI algorithm
  • Pattern recognition
  • Data analytics
  • Ambient assisted
  • Microsoft Azure AI and Data Analytics
  • Microsoft Power BI

Research interests

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Applied machine learning
  • Pattern recognition
  • Smart systems
  • Data analytics, data mining

Enterprise and commercial interests

Benhur has worked extensively on several projects, researching and developing domain specific solutions. This includes:

  • Successfully implemented a new data capture and modelling tool within the host business, enabling a solid foundation for the future use of artificial intelligence modelling in marketing campaigns.
  • Developed a solution integrating smart sensors into sporting headgear that can transmit and analyse the impact data to monitor health status of the players.
  • A data analytic solution for modelling demand patterns on health and social care systems based on cohorts of patient and service user groups.

He also has industrial experience as a software developer for the insurance software Warehouse.

Teaching

  • Data Analytics Tools and Techniques
  • Enterprise Big Data Analytics
  • Software Development with Python
  • Decision Management
  • Robot Ethics in an AI world
  • Engineering Enterprise Application

Publications

Bamaqa, A., Sedky, M., Bosakowski, T., Bakhtiari Bastaki, B. and Alshammari, N.O. (2022) 'SIMCD: SIMulated crowd data for anomaly detection and prediction', Journal of Expert Systems with Applications, 203, pp. 117475. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2022.117475

Bamaqa, Amna, Sedky, Mohamed and Benhur Bakhtiari Bastaki (2022) ‘Reactive and Proactive Anomaly Detection in Crowd Management Using Hierarchical Temporal Memory’. International Journal of Machine Learning and Computing (IJMLC), 12 (1). pp. 7-16. ISSN 2010-3700

Lutta, P., Sedky, M., Hassan, M., Jayawickrama, U. and Bakhtiari Bastaki, B. (2021) 'The complexity of internet of things forensics: A state-of-the-art review', Journal of Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 38, pp. 301210. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsidi.2021.301210

Hamid Reza Reza Sadeghi, Saeed Shiry Shiry Ghidary, and Benhur Bakhtiari Bakhtiari Bastaki,’A Method for Improving Unsupervised Intent Detection using BI-LSTM CNN Cross Attention Mechanism’ in Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Advances in Artificial Intelligence, 2020.

Afaf Almehmadi, Tomasz Bosakowski, Mohamed Sedky, and Benhur Bakhtiari Bastaki ‘HTM Based Anomaly Detecting Model for Traffic Congestion’ in Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Cloud and Big Data Computing, 2020.

Amna Bamaqa, Mohamed Sedky, Tomasz Bosakowski, and Benhur Bakhtiari Bastaki, ‘Anomaly Detection Using Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM) in Crowd Management’ in Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Cloud and Big Data Computing, 2020.

Benhur Bakhtiari Bastaki and Tomasz Bosakowski and Elhadj Benkhelifa, ‘Intelligent Assisted Living Framework for Monitoring Elders’ in Proceedings of 14th International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications, 2017.

in the UK for Quality Education

Sustainable Development Goal 4, Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Social Inclusion

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021