Joseph Oche Agada
Joseph Oche Agada
Data Science and Engineering (DSE)
Prior to beginning his Ph.D., he served in the Nigerian Air Force, where he was a core member and technical lead on a specialized research and development team focused on integrating data and geospatial intelligence tools into counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. In this role, he helped design and deploy data-centric solutions that improved operational efficiency and supported efforts to dismantle Boko Haram and related insurgent groups in Nigeria. Agada also lectured in statistics and data analytics at the University of Nigeria, where he mentored undergraduate students. Over the course of his career, he has received multiple honors and awards, including the General Service Medal, Operation Thunder Strike Medal, Operation Ruwan Wuta IV Medal, and the Operation Diran Mikiya Medal for Outstanding Contribution. He has held several leadership positions, including Head of the Department of Statistics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Kaduna, Assistant Director (Cartography), Assistant Director (Imagery and Geospatial Production) at the Nigerian Air Force Geospatial Intelligence Data Center, and Officer Commanding, Command Services Squadron, Nigerian Air Force Mobility Command. He has presented his research at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston (December 2025) and the Tennessee Advanced Materials Summit in Knoxville (May 2025). Agada is a Fellow of the MSME Institute of Management and Professional Studies (Nigeria) and is affiliated with the Mathematical Association of Nigeria, the Professional Statistical Society of Nigeria, the American Statistical Association, the Nigerian Statistical Association, the Nigerian Institute of Management, and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
Education
Agada earned both his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Statistics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Research
Agada is working under the supervision of Dr. Arpan Biswas in the Automation and Steering division of Independent Research Group 1 (IRG1) at the NSF-funded Center for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (CAMM), UT-MRSEC. His research focuses on the development of AI-driven systems for the autonomous, high-throughput characterization of materials with frustrated magnetism. These materials, renowned for their rich emergent physics, hold significant promise for applications in quantum computing, spintronic devices, and other areas. However, their physical properties are exceptionally sensitive to subtle defects, necessitating ultra-precise refinement of their structural parameters. This required level of precision is not achievable with conventional approaches. Hence, Joseph is building novel AI frameworks for modeling defect signals in these materials and achieving state-of-the-art performance in the refinement of their structure parameters. This research will contribute significantly to AI methodological development and the lifting of the bottlenecks in the application of frustrated magnets in quantum computing