Md Dilshadur Rahman
Postdoctoral Researcher @ Harvard University
I'm a postdoctoral researcher in the HIDIVE Lab at Harvard Medical School, working with Nils Gehlenborg.
I earned my PhD in Computer Science from the Kahlert School of Computing, University of Utah, where I worked at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute with Paul Rosen. I also hold an MS in Computer Science from the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing at the University of South Florida.
My research spans Data Visualization, Human-Computer Interaction, and Computing Education. I study how people create, use, and interpret visualizations in practice, and I translate these insights into design frameworks and interactive tools grounded in empirical research and user-centered design. My work focuses on supporting visualization authoring, annotation design, data communication, and human-AI workflows for visualization creation and understanding.
A broader goal of my research is to understand how people use visualizations and interactive intelligent interfaces for data analysis, comprehension, and communication in interdisciplinary settings. I aim to build user-centered tools that make these tasks more efficient, expressive, consistent, and reliable.
I have also developed educational tools currently used by hundreds of students at major U.S. universities. In addition, I have taught Computer Science in a variety of roles at multiple institutions in Bangladesh and the United States, and I thoroughly enjoy teaching.
Recent Updates
- Oct 2026Five papers and talks at IEEE VIS 2026 in Boston. Attend our talks: sessions, times, and rooms.
- Oct 2026I'll give a talk on annotation design at Cluster: The Practitioner's Summit at IEEE VIS 2026.
- Oct 2026Gave an invited lecture on "Annotations in Visualizations" at Furman University Computer Science.
- Sep 2026Successfully defended my PhD dissertation, "Design Space and Tooling for Annotations in Visualizations," at the Kahlert School of Computing, University of Utah, on September 9, 2026.
- Aug 2026Paper accepted at the BELIV Workshop at IEEE VIS 2026.
- Aug 2026Two papers accepted at the Accessible Data Visualization Workshop at IEEE VIS 2026.
- Jul 2026Accepted to the Future Leaders of AI program at ACM AI Leadership Summit 2026.
- Jun 2026Paper talk at EuroVis 2026, Nottingham, UK — "Designing Annotations in Visualization: Considerations from Visualization Practitioners and Educators"
- May 2026Invited talk at Harvard Medical School — "Design Space and Tooling for Annotations in Visualizations."
- Apr 2026Serving on the IEEE VIS 2026 Short Papers Program Committee.
- Mar 2026Received the Kahlert Impact Prize 2026 from the Kahlert School of Computing
- Mar 2026Paper appeared in Computer Graphics Forum and was accepted at EuroVis 2026.
- Feb 2026Paper accepted in ACM Transactions on Computing Education (ACM TOCE).
- Feb 2026Invited talk at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee — "Design Space and Tooling for Annotations in Visualizations."
- 2025Paper accepted in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE TVCG).
- 2025Passed PhD Oral Qualifying Exam at the University of Utah — officially a PhD candidate!
- 2025Paper accepted at IEEE VIS 2025.
- 2025Serving as co-organizer for the VisComm Workshop at IEEE VIS 2025.
- 2025Serving on the IEEE VIS 2025 Short Papers Program Committee.
- 2025Passed PhD Written Qualifying Exam at the University of Utah.
- 2025Reviewer for talk submissions at Outlier Conference 2025.
- 2025Judge for the Visual Data Storytelling Contest at IEEE PacificVis 2025.
- 2024Paper accepted at IEEE VIS 2024; published in IEEE TVCG. [22% acceptance rate]
- 2024Posters accepted at IEEE VIS 2024, Tampa Bay, Florida.
- 2024Paper accepted at BELIV 2024, co-located with IEEE VIS, Tampa Bay, FL.
- 2024Co-organized the EduVis Workshop at IEEE VIS 2024, Tampa Bay, FL.
- 2023Doctoral Colloquium Fellowship + NSF Travel Award (~$4,000), IEEE VIS 2023, Melbourne, Australia.
- 2022Paper and poster accepted at IEEE VIS 2022, Oklahoma City, USA.
Publications
IEEE TVCG is the top journal for visualization research. IEEE VIS and EuroVis are premier conferences in visualization research.
Journal Articles
2026
Designing Annotations in Visualization: Considerations from
Visualization
Practitioners and Educators
Computer Graphics Forum, Proceedings of Eurographics
Conference on Visualization (EuroVis), 2026.
2026
Designing for Engagement: A Comparison of Canvas and a Visual Peer
Review Dashboard
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (ACM TOCE)
ACM TOCE
DOI
2025
A Qualitative Analysis of Common Practices in Annotations: A
Taxonomy and Design
Space
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE
TVCG), 2025. Proc.
of
IEEE VIS 2024. [22% acceptance rate]
2025
A Survey on Annotations in Information Visualization: Empirical
Studies,
Applications, and Challenges
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE
TVCG), 2025.
2024
Exploring Annotation Taxonomy in Grouped Bar Charts: A Qualitative
Classroom Study
Information Visualization, 2024.
Conferences & Workshops
2026
Guidelines Are Not Rules: Characterizing Terminologies around Visualization Design Guidelines
IEEE Evaluation and BEyond: Methodological Approaches for Visualization (BELIV), co-located with IEEE VIS, 2026.
2026
Chart-Supported or Model-Supplied? Examining MLLM-Generated Claims for Accessible Visualization
Accessible Data Visualization Workshop at IEEE VIS 2026.
2026
A Case Study in Accessible Redesign of a Wastewater Dashboard
Accessible Data Visualization Workshop at IEEE VIS 2026.
Accessible Data Visualization Workshop @ IEEE VIS 2026
At VIS 2026 · Mon, Nov 9
2025
AnnoGram: An Annotative Extension of the Grammar of Graphics
IEEE Visualization and Visual Analytics Conference (IEEE VIS),
2025.
2024
Seeing is Believing: The Role of Scatterplots in Recommender System
Trust and
Decision-Making
International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC), 2024.
ISVC 2024
DOI
2024
Striking the Right Balance: Systematic Assessment of Evaluation
Method Distribution
Across Contribution Types
IEEE Evaluation and BEyond — Methodological Approaches for
Visualization (BELIV),
co-located with IEEE VIS, 2024.
BELIV @ IEEE VIS 2024
DOI
2024
EduVis: 2nd IEEE VIS Workshop on Visualization Education, Literacy,
and Activities
IEEE Visualization and Visual Analytics Conference (IEEE VIS),
2024.
EduVis @ IEEE VIS 2024
Workshop Page
2024
Enhancing Student Feedback Using Predictive Models in Visual
Literacy Courses
IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (IEEE EDUCON), Kos
Island, Greece,
2024.
IEEE EDUCON 2024
DOI
2023
Exploring Annotation Strategies in Professional Visualizations:
Insights from
Prominent US News Portals
IEEE VIS Workshop on Visualization for Communication (VisComm),
Melbourne,
Australia,
2023.
2022
A Qualitative Evaluation and Taxonomy of Student Annotations on Bar
Charts
IEEE VIS Workshop on Visualization for Communication (VisComm),
Oklahoma City, USA,
2022.
2019
A Framework for Implementing Join Operation Between Multiple MOLAPs
IEEE International Conference on Electrical, Computer and
Communication Engineering
(IEEE ECCE), 2019.
IEEE ECCE 2019
DOI
Posters
2024
How Do Professionals Use Annotations in Visualizations?
IEEE VIS Poster Proceedings, Tampa Bay, Florida, 2024.
2024
Seeing is Believing: The Role Recommender System Accuracy Plays on
Trust in
Scatterplots
IEEE VIS Poster Proceedings, Tampa Bay, Florida, 2024.
IEEE VIS 2024
Poster Page
2022
A Qualitative Evaluation and Taxonomy of Bar Chart Annotations
IEEE VIS Poster Proceedings, Oklahoma City, USA, 2022.
Teaching
Direct Classroom Teaching
LecturerSept 2017 – Aug
2019
Daffodil International University, Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh
- Discrete Mathematics (Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018)
- Data Structures (Spring 2019, Summer 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018)
- Programming and Problem Solving (Fall 2018, Fall 2017)
- Systems Analysis and Design (Fall 2018, Fall 2017)
- Operating Systems (Spring 2018)
- Data Communications (Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017)
LecturerMay 2017 – Sept
2017
University of Information Technology and Sciences, Computer Science & Engineering,
Bangladesh
- Microprocessors (Summer 2017)
- Computer Architecture (Summer 2017)
- Database System Management (Summer 2017)
Instructor of RecordMay
2020 – Aug 2020
University of Arizona, Computer Science
- Introduction to Computer Programming II (Summer 2020)
Graduate InstructorAug
2021
– May 2022
University of South Florida, Computer Science & Engineering
- IT Computer Networking Lab (Fall 2021)
- Computer Architecture Lab (Spring 2022)
Teaching Support Roles
Graduate Teaching AssistantJan 2021 – Aug 2021
University of Arizona, Computer Science
- Data Visualization (Spring 2021)
- Introduction to Computer Programming II (Summer 2021)
Graduate Teaching AssistantAug 2021 – May 2022
University of South Florida, Computer Science & Engineering
- Interactive Data Visualization (Spring 2022)
- IT Security Systems (Fall 2021)
Teaching MenteeJan 2023 –
May 2023
University of Utah, Kahlert School of Computing
- Computational Geometry (Spring 2023)
Graduate Teaching AssistantAug 2024 – Dec 2024
University of Utah, Kahlert School of Computing
- Visualization for Data Science (Fall 2024)
Talks
-
2026Annotations in VisualizationsInvited LectureFurman University Computer Science, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
-
2026Towards AI-enabled Visualization Authoring and CommunicationSummit TalkACM AI Leadership Summit, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
-
2026Designing Annotations in Visualization: Considerations from Visualization Practitioners and EducatorsConference TalkEuroVis, Nottingham, UK
-
2026Design Space and Tooling for Annotations in VisualizationsInvited TalkHarvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
2026Design Space and Tooling for Annotations in VisualizationsInvited TalkOak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, USA
-
2024A Qualitative Analysis of Common Practices in Annotations: A Taxonomy and Design SpaceConference TalkIEEE VIS, Virtual
-
2024A Qualitative Analysis of Common Practices in Annotations: A Taxonomy and Design SpaceSeminar TalkVisualization Seminar, SCI Institute, University of Utah, USA
-
2023Understanding the Design Space of Annotations in VisualizationsInvited TalkDoctoral Colloquium, IEEE VIS, Melbourne, Australia
-
2023How Do People Comprehend Annotations in Visualizations?Conference TalkVis X Vision Workshop, IEEE VIS, Melbourne, Australia
-
2023Exploring Annotation Strategies in Professional Visualizations: Insights from Prominent US News PortalsConference TalkVisComm Workshop, IEEE VIS, Melbourne, Australia
-
2022A Qualitative Evaluation and Taxonomy of Student Annotations on Bar ChartsConference TalkVisComm Workshop, IEEE VIS, Oklahoma City, USA
Service & Awards
Conference & Workshop Organization
- Program Committee Member (Short Papers), IEEE VIS2026, 2025
- Technical Program Committee Member, IEEE EDUCON2026, 2025
- Co-Organizer, VisComm Workshop, IEEE VIS2025
- Committee Member, Talk Submissions, Outlier Conference2025
- Committee Member (Judge), Visual Data Storytelling Contest, IEEE PacificVis2025
- Co-Organizer, EduVis Workshop, IEEE VIS2024
- Student Volunteer, IEEE VIS2024
Peer Reviewing
- ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI)2026, 2025
- IEEE Visualization and Visual Analytics (IEEE VIS)2026, 2025
- ACM Intelligent User Interfaces (ACM IUI) — Posters2026
- IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (IEEE EDUCON)2026, 2025
- ACM Designing Interactive Systems (ACM DIS)2025
- Eurographics Conference on Visualization (EuroVis)2025
- International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI)2025
- IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium (IEEE PacificVis)2025
- ACM Conversational User Interfaces (ACM CUI)2025
- Australian Conference on Human–Computer Interaction (OzCHI)2025, 2024
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE TVCG)2026, 2024
- ACM Conference on CSCW and Social Computing (ACM CSCW)2024
- IEEE VIS Workshop on Visualization Education, Literacy, and Activities (EduVis)2024
- IEEE International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Communication Engineering (IEEE ECCE)2024
Honors & Awards
- 2026Selected as a Future Leader of AI at the ACM AI Leadership Summit 2026, with NSF travel support
- 2026Kahlert Impact Prize 2026 for Research & Academic Service Excellence
- 2026Special recognition for outstanding reviews (Posters), ACM CHI
- 2025Special recognition for outstanding reviews (Late Breaking Works), ACM CHI
- 2023Doctoral Colloquium Fellowship, IEEE VIS
- 2023~$4,000 NSF travel funding for Doctoral Colloquium, IEEE VIS
- 2022~$500 travel award from Associated Students of the University of Utah for IEEE VIS
- 2021~$1,500 NSF travel funding for Topological Data Visualization workshop, University of Iowa
- 2017University Dean's Award, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (2016–17)
- 2016University Dean's Award, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (2015–16)
Contact
I enjoy a good conversation about research, life, and everything in between. I’m always excited to collaborate on interesting projects in visualization, visual analytics, human-computer interaction, and computing education. Feel free to reach out.
Email
Office
WEB 3760, 72 Central Campus Dr
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Web
Phone