Alia El Bolock joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at The American University in Cairo (AUC) in the fall of 2023. She specializes in character computing, privacy preservation and security and applied AI for improving mental well-being. She obtained her PhD from Ulm University, Germany, in 2022, and her MSc and BSc from the German University in Cairo, Egypt, in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

El Bolock coined the term and established the research field of character computing, which combines computer science and psychology to enhance the understanding of human behavior and improve well-being through technology. Her work focuses on interdisciplinary computer science, integrating knowledge from multiple domains. She has played a key role in establishing several research groups in character computing, applied machine learning and human-computer interaction.

Due to the nature of sensitive data involved in character computing and her commitment to improving mental well-being, El Bolock is actively working on privacy preservation, advanced cryptography and ethical and responsible AI. Given the current state of the art, her research has expanded to include quantum cryptography.

She has organized numerous workshops, hackathons, seminars and summer schools on topics including character computing, artificial intelligence, privacy preservation, quantum computing, virtual reality and women in computing. She has over 60 refereed publications in her areas of research.

Before joining AUC, El Bolock was a lecturer at the Department of Informatics and Computer Science at the German International University (2021-2023) and previously an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Media Engineering and Technology at the German University in Cairo (2013-2021). She has introduced and taught courses in cryptography, information security, information security management, discrete mathematics, fundamentals in computing and research methodology.