Özgür Şimşek
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Computer Science
University of Massachusetts Amherst
ozgur [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Machine learning, artificial intelligence, reinforcement learning, knowledge discovery and data mining, statistical relational learning, decision making under uncertainty, developmental learning, skill acquisition, network science, information propagation in complex networks
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Computer Science, expected May 2008 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Thesis: Skill acquisition in autonomous agents Advisor: Andrew G. Barto M.S., Computer Science, 2004 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA M.S., Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, 1997 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1995 Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Istanbul, Turkey
EMPLOYMENT
Research Assistant, Sept. 2000 – present Autonomous Learning Laboratory, Knowledge Discovery Laboratory, Information Extraction and Synthesis Laboratory Department of Computer Science University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Research Scientist, Nov. 1997 – Aug. 2000 Human Factors Transportation Center Battelle Memorial Institute, Seattle, WA Research Assistant, June 1996 – Aug. 1997 Human Performance Laboratory Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Teaching Assistant, Sept. 1995 – May 1996 Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Instructor, April 1994 – May 1995 Computing Center Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Istanbul, Turkey
PUBLICATIONS
Listed here.
INVITED TALKS
Acquiring Skill Hierarchies Using Reinforcement Learning. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Cambridge, MA, December 2007. Host: Leslie Kaelbling. Acquiring Skill Hierarchies Using Reinforcement Learning. Williams College, Computer Science Department, Williamstown, MA, November 2007. Host: Brent Heeringa. Autonomous Acquisition of Skill Hierarchies Using Reinforcement Learning. Australian National University, Computer Sciences Laboratory, Canberra, Australia, November 2007. Host: John Lloyd. Skill Acquisition in Autonomous Agents. Rutgers University, Department of Computer Science, Piscataway, NJ, June 2007. Host: Michael Littman. Navigating Complex Networks Using Homophily and Degree. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Berlin, Germany, February 2007. Host: Gerd Gigerenzer.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Co-Organizer, New England Spring Symposium on Reinforcement Learning. May 31, 2002. Amherst, MA. Program Committee Member, Twenty-Fifth International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Helsinki, Finland, July 2008. Program Committee Member, Twenty-Fourth International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Corvallis, OR, June 2007. Program Committee Member, Twenty-Second National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 2007. Program Committee Member, Twenty-First National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Boston, MA, July 2006. Program Committee Member, Twentieth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 2005. Reviewer, Artificial Intelligence Journal (2007). Reviewer, Journal of Machine Learning Research (2004–2006). Reviewer, Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (2005). Reviewer, Twenty-Second Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI), Cambridge, MA, 2006.
INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE
Panelist, CS Saturday, October 1, 2005 Organizer, Machine Learning and Friends Lunch, Spring 2004 Graduate student representative, 2002-2003 academic year Member, Curriculum Committee, 2001-2002 academic year Member, New Students Committee, 2000-2001 academic year
ASSOCIATION
Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
MEDIA FEATURES
My work on graph navigation was featured in New Scientist and ScienceNOW, Science magazine's online news site.