Computer Scientist · Researcher · Inventor
Associate Professor of Computer Science at Claflin University, working at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and access to computing. Her work spans socially adaptive robotics, health technology research, and a mobile STEM laboratory serving rural communities.
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Dr. Karina Liles is a computer scientist and academic leader whose work joins robotics and artificial intelligence to the question of who technology is built to serve.
She holds a Ph.D. and M.E. in Computer Science and Engineering and an M.Ed. in Educational Technology from the University of South Carolina, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Spelman College. At Claflin University she has led curriculum development, accreditation, and campus innovation across the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, serving as Department Chair from 2021 to 2026.
Dr. Liles developed the department's Programming Languages and Robotics Fundamentals courses, and subsequently established a bachelor's program, a master's program, and a graduate certificate in Cybersecurity to address regional workforce demand. She co-chairs the President's Taskforce on AI in Higher Education, chairs the AI Faculty Advisory Committee, and is a principal contributor to the university's partnerships with Google and Zoom.
She designed and launched the Claflin University SmartHOME, an initiative addressing health disparities in African American and other minority communities through connected devices, biometric sensing, and AI-driven analytics. She directed the digital transformation of the H.V. Manning Library, founded the Claflin Data Science Team supporting the Athletics Department with performance analytics, and developed recruitment technologies ranging from NFC digital business cards to interactive robot demonstrations.
Beyond the university, Dr. Liles is the founder and owner of STEM Truck, a mobile STEM laboratory delivering robotics, coding, drone, and AI instruction directly to schools and underserved communities. Her doctoral research produced Ms. An, a socially adaptive robot tutor demonstrated to improve engagement among rural minority students in mathematics education.
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Claflin University · Orangeburg, SC
Teaching and research across computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, with continued leadership of externally funded research programs and university-wide AI governance.
Claflin University · Orangeburg, SC
Led a department spanning mathematics, computer science, and cybersecurity — directing academic strategy, faculty management, accreditation, and external funding development.
Claflin University · Orangeburg, SC
Established the campus innovation initiatives that became SmartHOME and the Robotics Outreach Program.
STEM Truck · South Carolina
Founded and operates a mobile STEM laboratory delivering hands-on robotics, coding, engineering design, drone, and AI instruction to schools, community organizations, and rural populations.
Carolina Center on Alzheimer's Disease and Minority Research
Contributed to efforts increasing diversity in the research workforce studying sociocultural, behavioral, and environmental determinants of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias disparities.
University of South Carolina · Columbia, SC
Assistive Robotics and Technology Laboratory. Designed and conducted the Ms. An robot tutor studies and the Smart Presence telepresence research program in retirement communities.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Simulation of warhead monitoring for systems evaluation.
Northeastern Technical College
AT&T
Merrill Lynch
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Research programs, community initiatives, and applied software systems.
Research · 2014–2019
A social robot tutor that assesses student engagement in real time and adapts its instructional strategy accordingly, developed to sustain mathematics practice among rural minority students. The subject of Dr. Liles's doctoral dissertation and a sustained body of peer-reviewed human-robot interaction research.
Founder & Director · 2017–Present
A mobile STEM laboratory delivering hands-on instruction directly to schools, community organizations, and underserved populations across robotics, coding, engineering design, drones, and emerging technologies. Supports workforce development, teacher training, and scalable pathways into STEM careers.
Founder & Principal Investigator · Claflin University
An interdisciplinary health technology initiative applying artificial intelligence, data analytics, and connected devices to health awareness and wellness monitoring in communities experiencing health disparities. Integrates wearable technologies and biometric sensors to generate personalized insights on body composition, activity, and recovery.
Founder & Director · Claflin University
Workshops, camps, competitions, and community events providing K–12 students and underserved communities with hands-on robotics, coding, and engineering experience — developing computational thinking while broadening participation in computing disciplines.
Founder & Faculty Lead · Claflin University
A sports analytics program supporting Claflin Athletics with live dashboards and performance analysis, while providing students applied experience in data collection, visualization, and statistical modeling.
Design & Development · In Production
A client and athlete wellness platform providing role-aware dashboards, daily wellness logging, check-in stations, coach readiness views, appointment scheduling, and an administrative console.
Platform · The Live Connect
A unified platform consolidating performance analytics, athlete profile management, and STEM Truck scheduling under a single point of access.
Visit the live siteSports Analytics · The Live Connect
A real-time football analytics platform pairing in-game play logging with a live dashboard — scoreboard, charts, leaderboards, and per-player breakdowns update as plays are entered. Built multi-team, with roster CSV upload and database-enforced row-level security so each program sees only its own games and athletes.
Visit the live siteAthlete Branding
A single-page recruiting site designed to present student athletes to scouts and college coaches. Each profile is built from a single content record, allowing a new athlete to be published quickly without redesign.
H.V. Manning Library · Claflin University
A camera-driven shelf kiosk that identifies a book by barcode, cover, or spine, retrieves the full catalogue record, and logs whether the item has left the shelf or been returned.
Community Research Tool
An interactive model of a proposed Marlboro County data center, presenting projected economic, energy, water, and employment impacts across alternative build scenarios for residents and public officials.
Wellness Technology
A face-enrolled smart mirror that identifies the individual present, surfaces personalized wellness and daily information, and controls connected devices within the environment.
Family Archive
An account-free family record comprising a visual family tree, member profiles with photo timelines, an heirloom artifact log, and a family-wide health view scoped deliberately to hereditary conditions in order to keep the record clinically meaningful.
Group Planning Tool
A shareable group trip planner supporting collaborative voting on dates and destinations, agenda collection, and generated day-by-day itineraries.
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The Book
A Beginner's Guide
An introduction to computer programming written for readers with no prior experience. The text presents the core concepts of Java without unnecessary detail, establishing the foundation a novice programmer needs before advancing to more complex material.
Developed from classroom instruction, the book is intended for students encountering programming for the first time.
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United States Patent · Granted October 3, 2023
US 11,772,642 B2
Left turns across oncoming traffic account for a disproportionate share of intersection collisions, as the decision depends on a driver's visual estimate of an approaching vehicle's speed and distance. This invention replaces that estimate with measurement: sensors positioned at the intersection capture the distance and speed of approaching vehicles and detect pedestrians in the crosswalk, a controller evaluates those readings against defined safety thresholds, and a dedicated indicator advises the waiting driver — amber when conditions are clear, red when they are not.
Read the patent filing05
Over $10M in awarded external funding as Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigator, or key contributor.
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