Dr. Ali Sekmen

Professor of Computer Science

student on campus

Department of Computer Science
Tennessee State University
3500 John A Merritt Blvd
Nashville, TN 37209

Office : McCord Hall 005P (Main Campus)
Email : asekmen[at]tnstate[dot]edu
Phone : (615) 963-5712
Homepage : www.sekmen.org

Areas of Interest
Approximation Theory, Sampling Theory, High-Dimensional Data Analysis, Machine Learning, and Robotics.

Education
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering - Vanderbilt University -2000
Ph.D. in Mathematics - Vanderbilt University - 2012
MS in Mathematics - Vanderbilt University - 2009
MS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering - Bilkent University - 1997
BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering - Bilkent University - 1995

Biographical Sketch
Dr. Ali Sekmen joined TSU in 1998 as a research associate. He holds two Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics, both from Vanderbilt University. He is a full professor of Computer Science and serves as the Computer Science Department Chair since 2010. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Tennessee State University.  Dr. Sekmen has published over 50 articles in approximation theory, machine learning, high-dimensional data analysis, and robotics. He has been actively involved in funded research from NSF, NASA, AFRL, ARL, USDA, and Department of Defense.

Teaching Interests/Courses Taught
Senior Projects, Software Engineering, Machine Learning, Mobile App Development, Game Programming, Discrete Mathematics, Digital Logic Design, Mobile Robotics.

Grants

  • PI, "Development of a Meso-Scale Intellident Robot for Water Leak Detection," US Department of Agriculture, (2017-2020, $300,000).
  • PI, "Subspace Segmentation: Theory and Algorithms," The U.S. Army, $590,546, August 15, 2015, to August 14, 2018.
  • PI, "Subspace Segmentation and High Dimensional Data Analysis," NASA, $238,000, August 1, 2012, to July 30, 2014.
  • PI, "Development of an Undergraduate Bioinformatics Program at Tennessee State University," National Science Foundation, (2011-2014, $297,800).
  • PI, "Collaborative Work Between TSU and UTK Researchers on Bioinformatics and Solar Energy," National Science Foundation, (Oct 2011 – Oct 2013, $135,000).
  • Co-PI, "Cooperative Air/Ground Robotic Sensing," Air Force Research Lab, (Oct. 2010- Oct. 2011).
  • PI, "Networked Multi-Phenomenology Sensor Node Development for ATR Testbed Facility," Air Force Research Lab, (Oct. 2009- Oct. 2010).
  • PI, "Heterogeneous Vision Data Fusion for Independently Moving Cameras," Air Force Research Lab, (Apr. 2009- Nov. 2009).
  • PI, "Multi-Sensor Vision Data Fusion for Smart Airborne Surveillance," Air Force Research Lab, (Feb. 2008- Dec. 2008).
  • Co-PI, "City Beat," Air Force Research Lab, (Sep. 2008- Dec. 2009).
  • PI, "Moving Target Detection and Tracking across Multiple Moving Observers," Air Force Research Lab, (Mar. 2008- Sep. 2008).
  • PI, "Development of Real-Time Algorithms for Moving Target Detection and Tracking from Moving Platform," Air Force Research Lab, (Sep. 2006- Mar. 2008).
  • PI, "Mesh Networking for Efficient Multi-Robot Communication," Faculty Research Award, TSU (May. 2006- Aug. 2007).
  • Co-PI, "Embodiment of Intelligent Behaviors on Mobile Robots," NASA Ames Research Center, (Apr. 2001-Nov 2001).
  • Co-PI, "Embodiment of Intelligent Behaviors on Mobile Robots Phase II," NASA Ames Research Center, (Nov. 2001-Aug. 2004,).
  • PI, "Development of Desktop Robotics Systems," Research Initiation, Supplement, and Enhancement, (Jan. 2002-June 2002).
  • Co-PI, "VisUnit Control System," Lockheed Martin, (Nov. 2006 – Feb. 2007).

Selected Publications

  • “CUR decompositions, similarity matrices, and subspace clustering,” A. Aldroubi, K. Hamm, A. Koku, and A. Sekmen, Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Vol 4, pp. 1-16, January 2019. (pdf)
  • “Deep convolutional networks with improved feature subspace separation,” A. Sekmen, M. Parlaktuna, A. Abdul-Malek, and A. Koku, Submitted to Knowledge-Based Systems.
  • "Similarity matrix framework for data from union of subspaces," A. Aldroubi, A. Sekmen, A. Koku, and A. Cakmak, Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis, Vol 45, Issue 2, pp. 425-435, Sep 2018. (pdf)
  • "Subspace clustering of orthologous genetic sequences," T. Wallace, A. Sekmen, and X. Wang, Journal of Computational Biology, July 2015. (pdf)
  • "Kaczmarz iterative projection and non-uniform sampling with complexity estimates," T. Wallace and A. Sekmen, Journal of Medical Engineering, December 2014. (pdf)
  • Reduced row echelon form and non-linear approximation for subspace segmentation and high-dimensional data clustering," A. Aldroubi and A. Sekmen, Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis, Dec 2013. (pdf)
  • "Nearness to local subspace algorithm for subspace and motion segmentation," A. Aldroubi and A. Sekmen, IEEE Signal Processing Letters, Vol 19, Issue 10, pp. 704-707, Oct 2012. (pdf)
  • "Train or not to train," A. Koku, A. Cakir, M. Parlaktuna, A. Sekmen, 2018 IEEE 14th Internatonal Conference on Control and Automation, Anchorage, AK, USA, June 2018.
  • "Principal coordinate clustering," A. Sekmen, A. Aldroubi, A. Koku, and K. Hamm, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Boston, MA, USA, Dec 2017.
  • "Unsupervised deep learning for subspace clustering," A. Kuko, A. Sekmen, M. Parlaktuna, A. Abdul-Malek, and N. Vanamala, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Bid Data, Boston, MA, USA, Dec 2017.
  • "Matrix reconstructions: Skeleton decomposition versus Singular Value Decomposition," A. Sekmen, A. Aldroubi, A. Kuko, and K. Hamm, 2017 International Symposium on Performance Evaluation of Computer and telecommunication Systems, Seattle, WA, USA, July 2017.
  • "Skeleton decomposition for high-dimensional data segmentation," A. Sekmen, A. Aldroubi, and A. Kuko, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Big Data, pp. 1841-1848, Washington DC, USA, Dec 2016.
  • "Nonlinear approximations for motion and subspace segmentation," A. Sekmen and A. Aldroubi, IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, Istanbul, Turkey, July 7-12, 2013.
  • "Binary reduced row echelon form approach for subspace segmentation," A.Aldroubi and A. Sekmen, 10th International Conference on Sampling Theory and Applications, Bremen, Germany, July 1-5, 2013.
  • "Computational approaches for predicting interaction sites of cytochrome and photosystem I." W. Chen, A. Sekmen, B. Bruce, K. Nguyen, P. Mishra, and L. Emujakporue, 5th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Hawaii, USA, March 2013.
  • "Subspace and motion segmentation via local subspace estimation," A. Sekmen and A. Aldroubi, IEEE Workshop on Robot Vision, USA, Jan 16-17, 2013. (22% acceptance rate).
  • "Acceleration of Kaczmarz using orthogonal subspace projections," T. Wallace and A. Sekmen, Annual Biomedical Science and Engineering Center Conference, Accepted, ORNL, Knoxville, TN, USA, May 21-22, 2013

 





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