TITLE:  Graph continuum limits in data science

ABSTRACT:

Many problems in data science fields including data mining, computer vision, and machine learning involve combinatorial optimization over a graphs, e.g., minimal spanning trees, traveling salesman tours, or k-point minimal graphs over a feature space.  Certain properties of minimal graphs like their length, minimal paths, or span have continuum limits  as the number of nodes approaches infinity. These include problems  arising in spectral clustering, statistical classification, multi-objective learning, and anomaly detection. In some cases these continuum limits lead to analytical approximations that can  break the combinatorial bottleneck.  In this talk, I will present an overview of some of the remarkable theory of graph continuum limits and illustrate with data science applications.

Bio:
Alfred O. Hero III received the B.S. (summa cum laude) from Boston University (1980) and the Ph.D from Princeton University (1984), both in Electrical Engineering. Since 1984 he has been with the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is the R. Jamison and Betty Williams Professor of Engineering and co-director of the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) . His primary appointment is in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and he also has appointments, by courtesy, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Statistics. From 2008 to 2013 he held the Digiteo Chaire d'Excellence, sponsored by Digiteo Research Park in Paris, located at the Ecole Superieure d'Electricite, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. He has held other visiting positions at LIDS Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006), Boston University (2006), I3S University of Nice, Sophia-Antipolis, France (2001), Ecole Normale Sup\'erieure de Lyon (1999), Ecole Nationale Sup\'erieure des T\'el\'ecommunications, Paris (1999), Lucent Bell Laboratories (1999), Scientific Research Labs of the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan (1993), Ecole Nationale Superieure des Techniques Avancees (ENSTA), Ecole Superieure d'Electricite, Paris (1990), and M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory (1987 - 1989).

Alfred Hero is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He received the University of Michigan Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award (2011). He has been plenary and keynote speaker at several workshops and conferences. He has received several best paper awards including: an IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award (1998), a Best Original Paper Award from the Journal of Flow Cytometry (2008), a Best Magazine Paper Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Society (2010), a SPIE Best Student Paper Award (2011), an IEEE ICASSP Best Student Paper Award (2011), an AISTATS Notable Paper Award (2013), and an IEEE ICIP Best Paper Award (2013). He received an IEEE Signal Processing Society Meritorious Service Award (1998), an IEEE Third Millenium Medal (2000), an IEEE Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecturership (2002), and a IEEE Signal Processing Society Technical Achievement Award (2014).  In 2015 he received the Society Award, which is the highest award bestowed by
the IEEE Signal Processing Society.

Al Hero was President of the IEEE Signal Processing Society (2006-2007). He was a member of the IEEE TAB Society Review Committee (2009), the IEEE Awards Committee (2010-2011), and served on the Board of Directors of the IEEE (2009-2011) as Director of Division IX (Signals and Applications). He served on the IEEE TAB Nominations and Appointments Committee (2012-2014). Alfred Hero is currently a member of the Big Data Special Interest Group (SIG) of the IEEE Signal Processing Society. Since 2011 he has been a member of the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics (CATS) of the US National Academies of Science.

Alfred Hero's recent research interests are in the data science of high dimensional spatio-temporal data, statistical signal processing, and machine learning. Of particular interest are applications to networks, including social networks, multi-modal sensing and tracking, database indexing and retrieval, imaging, biomedical signal processing, and biomolecular signal processing.