Bishal Lakha

Boise, Idaho

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science at Boise State University, advised by Dr. Edoardo Serra. I have 5+ years of experience designing and deploying end-to-end ML systems — from research prototypes to production-grade services. My research focuses on graph machine learning, anomaly detection, and Generative AI/LLMs (fine-tuning, RAG, agentic workflows). Expected graduation: May 2026.

experience

Aug 2025 — Feb 2026

PhD Intern

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) · Boise, ID

May 2025 — Aug 2025

Research Intern

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) · Cambridge, MA

Aug 2021 — May 2025

Graduate Research Assistant

AI-Based Security Lab, Boise State University · Boise, ID

Jun 2019 — Jul 2021

Machine Learning Engineer · Co-founder

Newrun Technology · Kathmandu, Nepal

Apr 2017 — May 2019

Machine Learning Engineer

Paaila Technology · Kathmandu, Nepal

education

2021 — Present

Ph.D. in Computing (Computer Science)

Boise State University · Boise, ID

2021 — 2023

M.S. in Computer Science

Boise State University · Boise, ID

2012 — 2016

B.E. in Electronics & Communication Engineering

Tribhuvan University, IOE Pulchowk Campus · Lalitpur, Nepal

research interests

Graph Machine Learning Anomaly Detection Cybersecurity Large Language Models Fine-tuning & RAG Agentic Workflows Generative AI Spatio-temporal GNNs

latest posts

Dec 21, 2024	Causal Explanation for Graph Neural Network
Apr 9, 2024	Graph Diffusion Model and Its Applications
Feb 5, 2023	Generalization Ability as a Criteria of Intelligence

selected publications

IEEE

Prediction of Future Nation-initiated Cyberattacks from News-based Political Event Graph

Bishal Lakha, Jason Duran, Edoardo Serra, and 1 more author

In 2023 IEEE 10th International Conference on Data Science and Advanced Analytics (DSAA), 2023

Bib HTML

@inproceedings{10302510,
  author = {Lakha, Bishal and Duran, Jason and Serra, Edoardo and Spezzano, Francesca},
  booktitle = {2023 IEEE 10th International Conference on Data Science and Advanced Analytics (DSAA)},
  title = {Prediction of Future Nation-initiated Cyberattacks from News-based Political Event Graph},
  year = {2023},
  volume = {},
  number = {},
  pages = {1-8},
  doi = {10.1109/DSAA60987.2023.10302510},
}

IEEE

Anomaly Detection in Cybersecurity Events Through Graph Neural Network and Transformer Based Model: A Case Study with BETH Dataset

Bishal Lakha, Sara Lilly Mount, Edoardo Serra, and 1 more author

In 2022 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data), 2022

Bib HTML

@inproceedings{10020336,
  author = {Lakha, Bishal and Mount, Sara Lilly and Serra, Edoardo and Cuzzocrea, Alfredo},
  booktitle = {2022 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data)},
  title = {Anomaly Detection in Cybersecurity Events Through Graph Neural Network and Transformer Based Model: A Case Study with BETH Dataset},
  year = {2022},
  volume = {},
  number = {},
  pages = {5756-5764},
  doi = {10.1109/BigData55660.2022.10020336},
}