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CSE Graduate student profiles


Borzoo BonakdarpourBorzoo Bonakdarpour

Research

My research interests are fault-tolerant & real-time computing, formal methods, and distributed systems.

We focus on the problem of automatic revision of real-time programs. We consider this problem in two contexts. First, we investigate the problem of automated addition of properties expressed in Metric Temporal Logic (MTL) formulas to existing real-time programs modeled in Alur and Dill timed automata. Then, we consider transformation problems, where we design synthesis methods to add fault-tolerance to existing fault-intolerant real-time programs. While both problems have been addressed in the literature for untimed programs in theory and practice, there is much to be done for real-time programs. To this end, we concentrate on filling the gap between theory and practice of automated methods for synthesizing real-time programs by characterizing the class of real-time programs and properties, where program synthesis is practically feasible.

About

I am a violinist in the MSU Philharmonic Orchestra and Campus String Quartet. I received third place in the 2006 MSU International Essay Contest. (Essay title: A Stranger in Paradise) [ pdf ][ doc ]. Prior to attending MSU, I worked as a software designer at Tecteon Plc in London, England and as a full-time research assistant at the Electrical & Computer Engineering Research Center (ECERC) of Isfahan University of Technology , Iran.

Why MSU?

  1. Excellent research program at CSE
  2. Excellent financial support by the department
  3. Existence of many interdisciplinary programs
  4. Beautiful large campus
  5. Presence of huge number of international students
  6. Multicultural environment of the campus

Paul CornwellPaul Cornwell

Research

My research focuses on the integration of bottom-up and top-down attention in developmental neural models of cognition. A long-term goal is to design an autonomous agent that may (in the spirit of Jürgen Schmidhuber) surpass myself as a scientist and engineer. My inspirations range from the 1980's television animated series "The Transformers" to Isaac Asimov's works of fiction (and his character R. Daneel Olivaw in particular) to the human brain itself.

About

I am an avid reader, and a few of my favorite authors are Orson Scott Card, Ken Wilber, and Richard Bach. I graduated summa cum laude from Northern Michigan University with majors in Computer Science and Psychology as well as a minor in Mathematics.

Why MSU?

I was impressed by the content of the journal articles displayed upon the web pages of Dr. Juyang (John) Weng and the Embodied Intelligence Lab concerning Autonomous Mental Development. When I read those articles, I thought that the authors would make excellent collaborators in the pursuit of autonomous artificial intelligence. When an offer was made including financial support such as the Page Fellowship, the choice was easy to make.

Laura GrabowskiLaura Grabowski

Research

In our lab, we work with digital evolution. The lab studies the evolution of digital organisms both to better understand natural evolution, and to apply that understanding to computational problems. I am also involved in the Evolving Intelligence Project, working with Dr. Robert T. Pennock and Dr. Charles Ofria. The project is investigating the evolutionary emergence of simple intelligent behavior. I am particularly interested in simple behaviors that underlie navigation.

I am supported by the Evolving Intelligence Project , and so I have the opportunity to do interdisciplinary research, which I really love. Last year, I was supported by the MSU IGERT program.

About

I am now starting my 4th year at MSU. Before attending MSU, I taught full-time for nearly 20 years: 18 years on the faculty of Univ. of Texas-Pan American (17 years in performing arts, 1 year computer science), 1 year on the faculty of South Texas Community College).

I have a B.A. from Bowling Green State Univ. (OH) in French, M.A. from BGSU (Theatre), M.A. from Texas Woman's University (Dance), M.S. from Univ. of Texas-Pan American (Computer Science). Hobbies (when I HAVE spare time) include reading (SF/Fantasy is my favorite genre), music (both listening and making -- I sing and play piano), reading, movies.

Why MSU?

I was very interested by a number of the research projects at MSU: many of the research groups are doing very unique and innovative work.

John HettingerJohn Hettinger

Research

Research is an important part of my present and future. I believe Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science are in the middle of a major paradigm shift, from top-down symbol and programmer driven systems, to bottom-up sensor, developmental and connectionist driven systems. It will take some time and a lot of work, but I look forward to making my contributions to the effort.

About

Teaching is just as natural, exciting and difficult as I imagined it would be. I have a long way to go in developing my pedagogical skills, but I now realize teaching is one of the things I need to be doing for the rest of my life. Not only am I pretty good at helping students develop their skills and nurture their drive for exploration and discovery, but I have a real passion for it.

Why MSU?

I am thoroughly enjoying my experiences here, from challenging and rewarding courses, to interesting and friendly peers, to career changing work as a TA in cse101. My first two semesters have confirmed my desire to change career paths and enter academia as a researcher, teacher and public servant. Service is important to me and I am an active member of the CSE Graduate Student Association and the Council of Graduate Students.

 

 

 

Mayur MudigondaMayur Mudigonda

MS student
M.I.N.D. Lab
Advisor: Dr. George.C.Stockman
Co-Advisor: Dr. Frank.A.Biocca

Research

My research interests are problems in Machine Learning, Computer Vision and Cognitive Neuroscience, that addresses issues in Human Computer Interaction.

I am currently working on problems that broadly fall under the class of problems called face classification with Dr.Stockman. I am also interested in the concepts of Semi-supervised learning (humans and machines) and how we can use psychophysical data to improve automation, with Dr.Biocca. I sometimes work on problems in Neuroscience with Dr.David Zhu, dealing with Steady State Analysis.

About

I tell myself I am a global denizen but on days that I do not see the sun here in East Lansing, I realize I hail from the beautiful, sunny, port city of - Chennai, in Southern India. The people are warm, the coffee is divine and the sea in all its glory and splendor is omnipotent.

Computer Science and AI are something that is widely interpreted as a strong interest of my family. My brother deals with Bio-Mimetics and Robotics. My father’s interests are in Expert Systems and Automation (from a Software Engineering perspective).

In my free time, I enjoy pursuing sports such as – badminton, basketball. I try and keep in shape by running a few miles everyday. I am an avid movie buff, but since I don’t blog about it, you can read my brother’s reviews. I sometimes make cartoons when I am sleep depraved. I also enjoy classical music, classic rock, jazz and some blues. I find playing the guitar a very relaxing activity.

Why MSU?

One must keep in mind that MSU is a small school as Computer Science schools come. How one looks at this is entirely up to perspective and interests. My research interests are broadly met at MSU, while the basic research environment here is exciting. People will lend you an ear if you have new ideas or problems of any kind, and point you in the right directions, if they can. MSU also has a good Inter-disciplinary Program- IGERT Cognitive Science Program. The collective experience and interests that MSU offers makes it a great place to do your studies and research.

Hamed ValizadeganHamed Valizadegan

PhD student
Language Processing and Knowledge Discovery (LINKS) lab
Advisor: Dr. Rong Jin

Research

My general research area is machine learning, where the objective is to develop intelligent systems based on probabilistic and mathematical tools. This includes any learning model where there are strong mathematical justifications and computational theories as to why they work. Semi-supervised learning, active learning, learning the kernel and learning the distance metric are some of the areas I am more interested in exploring. Here is my personal web page where you can find more information including the list of my publications.

About

Holder of a master degree in computer science from University of Tehran, I am now a forth year PhD student in MSU working under supervision of Dr. Rong Jin. I love mathematics, philosophy and psychology and enjoy reading materials related to these areas in my spare times. I am also a member of MSU Ballroom Dance Club where we perform different dances from Salsa and Cha-Cha to Swing and Tango.

Why MSU?

MSU has one of the biggest and most beautiful campuses in the world. The home of Michigan State University, East Lansing, is a small town far from the tumult of big cities which makes it an ideal research place; yet it has an excellent set of entertainment centers to spend the free times. The department of computer science and engineering provides a very flexible program to PhD students allowing them to find the best match to their research interests.