Oleg Zendel

Oleg Zendel

Research Fellow

School of Computing Technologies RMIT University

About

Welcome! I am a Research Fellow at the School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. My research focuses on search systems and their evaluation, with particular attention to Information Retrieval.

During my Ph.D. under the guidance of Profs. J. Shane Culpepper and Falk Scholer, I focused on Query Performance Prediction (QPP). My thesis aimed to advance the understanding and evaluation of QPP. Currently, I am exploring how end-to-end search pipelines and user behavior analysis can improve system effectiveness and user experience. Beyond QPP, I utilize empirical experimentation, statistical analysis, and machine learning models to gain deeper insights into these areas.

My M.Sc. thesis at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, supervised by Prof. Oren Kurland, focused on enhancing QPP using reference queries.

Outside of academia, I enjoy hiking, biking, and spending quality time with my family and our dog, Quan. I also volunteer with Guide Dogs Victoria, where I have been both a puppy raiser and a temporary carer, supporting a cause close to my heart.

If you are interested in Information Retrieval or wish to collaborate on research, please feel free to reach out to me via email or social media. I am always happy to explore new opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Interests
  • Information Retrieval
  • Evaluation
  • User Interaction
  • Data Science
Education
  • Ph.D. in Computer Science, 2024

    RMIT University

  • M.Sc. in Information Management Engineering, 2020

    Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

  • BSc in Industrial Engineering and Management, 2017

    Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Publications

Experience

Industry and Academic

 
 
 
 
 
Research Fellow at the ADM+S Centre
RMIT University
Aug 2024 – Present Melbourne, Australia
Working with Prof. Mark Sanderson and other ADM+S researchers. With a focus on various aspects of search, including search evaluation, search interaction, and search user modeling. The position is part of the assembeld team for the The Australian Search Experience 2.0 project, funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
 
 
 
 
 
Research Fellow in Search Interaction
The University of Melbourne
Mar 2024 – Jul 2024 Melbourne, Australia
Worked with Prof. Alistair Moffat on the ARC Discovery Project: ``New approaches to interactive sessional search for complex tasks’’ at the School of Computing and Information Systems.
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant and Mentor
Case Studies in Data Science - COSC2669 (Graduate), RMIT
Jul 2022 – Oct 2022 Melbourne, Australia

Case Studies in Data Science is part of the Masters in Data Science program.

Responsibilities include:

  • Mentoring multiple teams in their project throughout the course.
  • Marking weekly assessments, and final projects and presentations.
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant
Practical Data Science with Python - COSC2670 (Graduate & Undergraduate), RMIT
Jul 2022 – Oct 2022 Melbourne, Australia

Practical Data Science with Python is designed for advanced undergraduate students and first-year Master students in the program Master of Data Science.

Responsibilities include:

  • Composing assignments and marking criteria
  • Composing weekly quizzes
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant
Practical Data Science with Python - COSC2670 (Graduate & Undergraduate), RMIT
Jul 2021 – Oct 2021 Melbourne, Australia

Practical Data Science with Python is designed for advanced undergraduate students and first-year Master students in the program Master of Data Science.

Responsibilities include:

  • Teaching
  • Assignments marking
 
 
 
 
 
Subject-Matter Expert (SME) for PDS Online course
Aug 2021 – Dec 2021 Melbourne, Australia
Acting as SME on the redevelopment of the online course Practical Data Science with Python. Updating and adding content and course materials.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Intern
Oct 2019 – Jan 2020 Haifa, Israel
During the internship at Yahoo! Research, we developed a prediction model able to forecast the closure of ads based on user interactions within the Yahoo email application. Our findings were presented as a short paper at CIKM 2020 and received the Best Data Science Paper award at TechPulse 2020. Additionally, the work has resulted with a registered patent.
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant
Apr 2018 – Sep 2019 Haifa, Israel

The course covers intro to various topics such as graph theory, social networks, game theory, and blockchain; with practical applications in Python.

Responsibilities include:

  • Teaching
  • Assignments writing and marking
  • Exam marking

Service

Program Committee Member

I have served as a PC member for the following conferences and workshops:

Peer Reviewing

I have served as a reviewer for the following journals: