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Ali Vahdat, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University
6050 University Ave., Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2
Email: ali.vahdat@dal.ca
Phone: +1(902)489-9020
Web: www.vahdat.ca
Canadian Citizen
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Research Interests
Machine Learning, Data Mining, Big Data, (Un)supervised Learning, Evolutionary Computation,
Multi-objective Optimization, Neural Networks, Machine Vision.
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Education
Ph.D. Computer Science, 2008 – 2013
Dalhousie University (http://cs.dal.ca/), Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada
Thesis: Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering (S-ESC).
Advisor: Dr. Malcolm I. Heywood
Synopsis: Subspace clustering identifies the attribute support for each cluster as well as the location
and number of clusters. In the most general case, attributes associated with each cluster can be
unique. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is proposed to identify the unique attribute support and
instances of each cluster simultaneously. The proposed algorithm, Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace
Clustering (S-ESC), borrows from ‘symbiosis’ (in biology) in which two evolutionary populations
co-evolve together, and utilizes an evolutionary multi-objective algorithm to perform the clustering
task. The symbiotic representation of S-ESC is key to making it scalable to high-dimensional datasets,
while an integrated subsampling process makes it scalable to large-scale datasets.
M.Sc. Computer Science, 2005 – 2008
Amirkabir University of Technology (http://aut.ac.ir/), Tehran, Iran
Major: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Thesis: Tracking People Using Multiple Uncalibrated Non-overlapping Cameras for Automated Visual Surveillance.
B.Sc. Computer Science, 2000 – 2005
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (http://um.ac.ir/), Mashhad, Iran
Major: Computer Hardware
Thesis: Design and Implementation of a PLC Controller for a Silk Screen Printing Machine.
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Academic Experience
01/2014 - Present: Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
Classifying streaming data under influence of concept change. We deal with non-stationary streaming
data in which the definition of ‘classes’ change over time, therefore traditional offline train and test
methodology is not an option and continuous learning should be employed to track the concept changes.
Ali Vahdat, Ph.D., Curriculum Vitæ, November 2014
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01/2014 - 08/2014: Part-time Faculty, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS.
Teaching Introduction to Computer Applications (CISY 1225): This course is an introduction to computer applications and their use in a business environment. The emphasis of the course is on learning
computer concepts and solving business problems with common business software packages.
09/2008 - 12/2013: Research Assistant, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
Designing and developing “Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering (S-ESC)” algorithm in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for my Ph.D. at Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University.
01/2009 - 01/2010: Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
- Computer Science Learning Centre: Learning Centre is a study room for Computer Science students to study and brainstorm to solve assignments and projects. The centre is staffed with TAs
with broad knowledge of Computer Science courses to provide help and resources to students.
- Computer Organization and Assembly Language, CSCI 2121 (Assistant to Dr. N. Kalyaniwalla)
This class deals with the fundamentals of computer organization. Assembly language is used as
an aid to study computer organization. Topics include digital logic, ALU and CPU design, object
code, microprogramming, CISC, RISC, and parallel computers.
09/2007 - 09/2008: Lecturer, Faculty of Computer Science, Elmi Karbordi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
- Computer Science I (First-year CS course) This class provides a general introduction to computer
science and the hardware and software of computers. The main focus is on algorithmic thinking,
programming skills and how to apply these skills in solving a variety of problems.
- Computer Science II (Second-year CS course) This class provides a comprehensive introduction
to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and implementation. Topics
include stacks, queues, lists, vectors, sets, trees, priority queues, dictionaries, hashing, search
trees, graphs, and sorting.
- Discrete Structures (Second-year CS course) This class offers a survey of set theory, mathematical
induction, number theory, relations, functions, algebraic structures and introduction to graph
theory. The topics are fundamental to most areas of Mathematics and have wide applicability to
Computer Science.
09/2006 - 05/2007: Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Computer Science, Amirkabir University of Technology,
Tehran, Iran.
- Designing Logic Circuits (Second-year CS course) This course covers the basics of logic circuits
from Boolean concept to implementation of a simple ALU. Topics include introduction to Boolean
logic, Boolean functions, and designing sample logic circuits such as multiplexers, registers, ALUs,
and memory.
- Computer Architecture (Third-year CS course) This course introduces different building blocks of
a computer system and the relation between them. Topics include CPUs, instruction sets, pipelining, multithreading, caches, physical memory, virtual memory, hardware / software interaction,
assembly and VHDL language. A simple computer with limited instruction set is built through
the course.
09/2003 - 01/2005: Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Computer Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad,
Mashhad, Iran.
- Algorithms and Programming Fundamentals (First-year CS course) This class provides a comprehensive introduction to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and
implementation. Topics include an introduction to basic data structures, trees, queues, dictionaries, hashing, search trees, sorting and sets, and graphs.
Ali Vahdat, Ph.D., Curriculum Vitæ, November 2014
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- Designing Logic Circuits (Second-year CS course) Course material mentioned earlier.
- Computer Architecture (Third-year CS course) Course material mentioned earlier.
2002 - 2004: Conference Organizing Staff, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
- Editor Assistant, First Iranian National Conference on IT, Software and e-City (Elecit2004)
- Outreach and Marketing Committee, 8th Annual Conference of Iranian Computer Society (CSICC2003)
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Industry Experience
03/2009 - 12/2013: Web Developer, Dalhousie University, Halifas, NS, Canada.
Designed, developed and maintained multiple websites for Department of Political Science and European Union Centre of Excellence at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
05/2008 - 08/2008: Assembly Line Supervisor, Fojan Arghavan Machinery, Mashhad, Iran.
Led a team of 20 assembly line workers and technicians for a period of 3 months and reduced total
manufacturing time by 20%.
06/2004 - 05/2008: PLC Programmer, Fojan Arghavan Machinery, Mashhad, Iran.
Designed and implemented a PLC-based (Programmable Logic Controller) control unit for silk screen
printing machine interfaced to a HMI (Human-Machine Interface) touchscreen.
05/2003 - 09/2003: LAN Technician, National Health Insurance, Mashhad, Iran.
Set up Local Area Network (LAN) for different hospitals and clinics as the contractor for ministry of
National Health Insurance.
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Honours and Awards
- Dalhousie Ph.D. scholarship: Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering. 2008 – 2013.
- Best paper candidate: Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering, IEEE Congress on Evolutionary
Computation, Brisbane, Australia, 2012.
- Scholarship to attend IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Brisbane, Australia, June 2012.
- Scholarship to attend IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Barcelona, Spain, July 2010.
- Iran Telecommunication Research Center (ITRC) Scholarship on M.Sc. Thesis, 2007.
- Top 1% of the National Annual Graduate School Entrance Exam. I was Ranked 33rd among more
than 8,000 Computer Science undergraduate students in the country. This exam is very similar to the
GRE Subject in Computer Science, March 2005.
- Top 1% of the National Annual University Entrance Exam for math, engineering and science university
programs. I was ranked 2500th among more than 400,000 high school graduates in the country, June
2000.
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Volunteering
- Co-founder and vice-president, Dalhousie Iranian Student Society, Sep 2011 – Sep 2012.
Provided services to international students and organized more than 10 events with over 2000 attendance in total.
Ali Vahdat, Ph.D., Curriculum Vitæ, November 2014
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- Co-founder and director, Friends for Refugees, Jul 2009 – Jul 2011.
Sponsored a family of 5, selected by United Nations and fund-raised over $30,000 to support them.
- Volunteer, Halifax Refugee Clinic, Jan 2009 – Jul 2009.
Performed diverse range of tasks and responsibilities related to refugee clients.
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Affiliations and Activities
- ACM: Student member since 2005
- IEEE: Student member since 2005
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Technical Skills
- Programming Languages: C, C++, Java, Shell, Python, R, Matlab
- Web Development: HTML, CSS, PHP
- Operating Systems: Linux/Unix, Windows, OS X
- Machine Language: 8051, 80x86 and TI DSP Assembly
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Publications (Selected Refereed Journals and Conferences)
9.1
Refereed Journals and Conference Articles (Selected since 2007)
1. Vahdat, Ali, Morgan, Jillian, McIntyre, Andrew R., Heywood, Malcolm I., Zincir-Heywood, Nur,
“Tapped delay lines for GP streaming data classification with label budgets,” Under Review in European Conference on Genetic Programming (EuroGP 2015), Springer Verlag, 2015.
2. Vahdat, Ali, Morgan, Jillian, McIntyre, Andrew R., Heywood, Malcolm I., Zincir-Heywood, Nur,
“Evolving GP classifiers for streaming data tasks with concept change and label budgets: A benchmark
study,” Under Review for a book chapter in Handbook of Genetic Programming Applications (HGPA
2015), Springer Verlag, 2015.
3. Vahdat, Ali, Atwater, Aaron, McIntyre, Andrew R., Heywood, Malcolm I., “On the Application of
GP to Streaming Data Classification Tasks with Label Budgets,” Evolutionary Computation for Big
Data and Big Learning Workshop, ACM Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO
2014), pp 1287-1294, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 12-16 July 2014.
4. Vahdat, Ali, Heywood, Malcolm I., “On Evolutionary Subspace Clustering with Symbiosis,” Evolutionary Intelligence, Volume 6, Issue 4, pp 229-256, Springer, March 2014.
5. Vahdat, Ali, Heywood, Malcolm I., “Flat vs. Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clusterings,” Proceedings of the ACM Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2013), Amsterdam,
Netherlands, 6-10 July, 2013.
6. Vahdat, Ali, Heywood, Malcolm I., Zincir-Heywood, A. Nur, “Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering,” Proceedings of the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2012), Brisbane, Australia, 10-15 June, 2012.
7. Vahdat, Ali, Heywood, Malcolm I., Zincir-Heywood, A. Nur, “Bottom-up Evolutionary Subspace Clustering,” Proceedings of the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2010), Barcelona,
Spain, 18-23 July, 2010.
Ali Vahdat, Ph.D., Curriculum Vitæ, November 2014
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8. Naghibi, Farzaneh, Vahdat, Ali, Heywood, Malcolm I., “Evolutionary Clustering with Arbitrary Subspaces,” Proceedings of ACM Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2009),
Montreal, QC, Canada, 8-12 July, 2009.
9. Vahdat, Ali, Rahmati, Mohammad, “Color-based Motion Segmentation and Object Tracking,” Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Image Processing, Computer Vision, and Pattern
Recognition (IPCV 2008), pp. 774-781, CSREA Press 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 14-17 July,
2008.
10. Vahdat, Ali, Rahmati, Mohammad, “Person Re-identification based on Track Matching across Disjoint
Camera Views,” Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Image Processing, Computer
Vision, and Pattern Recognition (IPCV 2008), pp. 786-792, CSREA Press 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada,
USA, 14-17 July, 2008.
11. NourAshrafoddin, Naser, Vahdat, Ali, Ebadzadeh, Mohammad M., “Automatic Design of Modular
Neural Networks Using Genetic Programming,” International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks
(ICANN 2007), Porto, Portugal, 9-13 September, 2007, Proceedings: Part I. Lecture Notes in Computer
Science 4668, pp. 788-798, Springer 2007.
12. Vahdat, Ali, NourAshrafoddin, Naser, Shiry Ghidary, Saeed, “Mobile Robot Global Localization using
Differential Evolution and Particle Swarm Optimization,” Proceedings of IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2007), Singapore, 25-28 Sep, 2007.
9.2
Theses and Technical Reports
1. Vahdat, Ali, “Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering (S-ESC),” PhD thesis, Dalhousie University,
Halifax, Canada, Nov 2013.
2. Vahdat, Ali, “Evolutionary Subspace Clustering,” PhD thesis proposal report, Dalhousie University,
Halifax, Canada, Nov 2011.
3. Vahdat, Ali, “Bottom-Up Evolutionary Subspace Clustering,” PhD research aptitude defence report,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, Mar 2010.
9.3
Conferences Presentations
1. GECCO2014, “On the Application of GP to Streaming Data Classification Tasks with Label Budgets,,”
ACM Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2014), Vancouver, Canada, 12-16
July 2014.
2. GECCO2013, “Flat vs. Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clusterings,” ACM Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2013), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 6-10 July 2013.
3. CEC2012, “Symbiotic Evolutionary Subspace Clustering,” IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2012), Brisbane, Australia, 10-15 June 2012.
4. CEC2010, “Bottom-up Evolutionary Subspace Clustering,” IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2010), Barcelona, Spain, 18-23 July 2010.
5. GECCO2009, “Evolutionary Clustering with Arbitrary Subspaces,” ACM Genetic and Evolutionary
Computation Conference (GECCO 2009), Montreal, Canada, 8-12 July 2009.
Ali Vahdat, Ph.D., Curriculum Vitæ, November 2014
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References
Available upon request.
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