Dr. Havana Rika
Fields of Research
Short Bio
Holds a B.Sc. (cum laude) in computer science from Bar-Ilan University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in computer science from the Weizmann Institute of Science under the supervision of Prof. Robert Krauthgamer. Has rich experience in teaching Programming Courses, Data Science, AI, and Algorithms. Coordinates the Programming Courses and leads the Data Science and AI fields in the School of Information Systems. Her research focuses on Explainable AI for NP-hard problems, sarcasm detection, and data science projects that drive social and environmental impact.
Selected Publications
Shoham, E., Cohen, H., Wattad, K., Rika, H., Vilenchik, D. (2025). Concept learning for algorithmic reasoning: insights from SAT-solving GNNs. Information Sciences, 122754.
Barzilai, O., Rika, H., Hassine, Y.(2025). Smart Social Junction Traffic Control Using Reinforcement Learning on Real Data. International Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems Research, 8(83).
Gafni, R., Aviv, I., Kantsepolsky, B., Sherman, S., Rika, H., Itzkovich, Y., & Barger, A. (2024). Objectivity by design: The impact of AI-driven approach on employees' soft skills evaluation. Information and software technology, 170, 107430.
Barzilai, O., Rika, H., Voloch, N., Hajaj, M., Lavi Steiner, O., Ahituv, N. (2023). Using Machine Learning Techniques to Incorporate Social Priorities in Traffic Monitoring in a Junction with a Fast Lane. Transport and Telecommunication Journal, 24(1).
Rika, H., Aviv, I., Weisfeld, R. (2022). Unleashing the Potentials of Quantum Probability Theory for Customer Experience Analytics. Big Data and Cognitive Computing Journal (BDCC), 6(4).
Gottlieb, L., Krauthgamer, R., Rika, H. (2020). Faster Algorithms for Orienteering and k-TSP. Journal of Theoretical Computer Science (TCS), 914, 73-83.
Krauthgamer, R., Rika, H. (2020). Refined Vertex Sparsifiers of Planar Graphs. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics (SIDMA), 34(1), 101-129.
Publications in Conference Proceedings
Shoham, E., Rika, H., & Vilenchik, D. (2025). From Black Box to Algorithmic Insight: Explainable AI in Graph Neural Networks for Graph Coloring. Neural Reasoning and Mathematical Discovery (NeurMAD) workshop by AAAI 2025.
Rika, H., Leiba, M., Shani, Y., & Ben-Yaacov, A. (2025). Game On: Leveraging Gamification in CS0 to Boost Preparedness and Persistence for CS1. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 41-58).
Aviv, I., Leiba, M., Rika, H., Shani, Y. (2024). The Impact of ChatGPT on Students’ Learning Programming Languages. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 207-219).
Rika, H., Aviv, I., Aviv, B. (2022). Novel Data Science Approach for Emotion Analytics: from Machine Learning to Quantum Cognition. In Proceedings of the IEEE World Conference on Applied Intelligence and Computing (AIC2022), Virtual Conference (pp. 713-724).
Krauthgamer, R., Lee, J. R., Rika, H. (2019). Flow-Cut Gaps and Face Covers in Planar Graphs. In Proceedings of the 30th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), San Diego, January 6-9, 525--534.
Krauthgamer, R., Rika, I. (2013). Mimicking Networks and Succinct Representations of Terminal Cuts. In Proceedings of the 24th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), New Orleans, January 6-8, 1789--1799.
Tsai, J., Fridman, N., Bowring, E., Brown, M., Epstein, S., Kaminka, G., Marsella, S., Ogden, A., Rika, I., Sheel, A., Taylor, M., Wang, X., Zilka, A., & Tambe, M. (2011). ESCAPES: Evacuation Simulation with Children, Authorities, Parents, Emotions, and Social Comparison. In International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), Taipei, May 2-6, Vol. 1-3: 457--464.