Defense Notices


All students and faculty are welcome to attend the final defense of EECS graduate students completing their M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. Defense notices for M.S./Ph.D. presentations for this year and several previous years are listed below in reverse chronological order.

Students who are nearing the completion of their M.S./Ph.D. research should schedule their final defenses through the EECS graduate office at least THREE WEEKS PRIOR to their presentation date so that there is time to complete the degree requirements check, and post the presentation announcement online.

Upcoming Defense Notices

Vinay Kumar Reddy Budideti

NutriBot: An AI-Powered Personalized Nutrition Recommendation Chatbot Using Rasa

When & Where:


Eaton Hall, Room 2001B

Committee Members:

David Johnson, Chair
Victor Frost
Prasad Kulkarni


Abstract

In recent years, the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and healthcare has paved the way for intelligent dietary assistance. NutriBot is an AI-powered chatbot developed using the Rasa framework to deliver personalized nutrition recommendations based on user preferences, diet types, and nutritional goals. This full-stack system integrates Rasa NLU, a Flask backend, the Nutritionix API for real-time food data, and a React.js + Tailwind CSS frontend for seamless interaction. The system is containerized using Docker and deployable on cloud platforms like GCP.

The chatbot supports multi-turn conversations, slot-filling, and remembers user preferences such as dietary restrictions or nutrient focus (e.g., high protein). Evaluation of the system showed perfect intent and entity recognition accuracy, fast API response times, and user-friendly fallback handling. While NutriBot currently lacks persistent user profiles and multilingual support, it offers a highly accurate, scalable framework for future extensions such as fitness tracker integration, multilingual capabilities, and smart assistant deployment.


Arun Kumar Punjala

Deep Learning-Based MRI Brain Tumor Classification: Evaluating Sequential Architectures for Diagnostic Accuracy

When & Where:


Eaton Hall, Room 2001B

Committee Members:

David Johnson, Chair
Prasad Kulkarni
Dongjie Wang


Abstract

Accurate classification of brain tumors from MRI scans plays a vital role in assisting clinical diagnosis and treatment planning. This project investigates and compares three deep learning-based classification approaches designed to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating recurrent layers into conventional convolutional architectures. Specifically, a CNN-LSTM model, a CNN-RNN model with GRU units, and a baseline CNN classifier using EfficientNetB0 are developed and assessed on a curated MRI dataset.

The CNN-LSTM model uses ResNet50 as a feature extractor, with spatial features reshaped and passed through stacked LSTM layers to explore sequential learning on static medical images. The CNN-RNN model implements TimeDistributed convolutional layers followed by GRUs, examining the potential benefits of GRU-based modeling. The EfficientNetB0-based CNN model, trained end-to-end without recurrent components, serves as the performance baseline.

All three models are evaluated using training accuracy, validation loss, confusion matrices, and class-wise performance metrics. Results show that the CNN-LSTM architecture provides the most balanced performance across tumor types, while the CNN-RNN model suffers from mild overfitting. The EfficientNetB0 baseline offers stable and efficient classification for general benchmarking.


Past Defense Notices

Dates

MATTHEW CASPER

Radar Testbed Characterization for Evaluation of Modulated Scatterer Concepts

When & Where:


250 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Chris Allen, Chair
Shannon Blunt
Carl Leuschen


Abstract


ARVIND MADHAVAN

Improving the Bandwidth of a UHF RFID Tag Using a Capacitor

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Dan Deavours, Chair
Erik Perrins
Jim Stiles


Abstract


JUSTIN EHRLICH

The Effect of Desktop Illumination Realism on Presence in a Virtual Learning Environment

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

James Miller, Chair
Perry Alexander
Gunes Ercal
Man Kong
Sean Smith*

Abstract


ZAID HAYYEH

Exploiting OFDM Systems for Covert Communication

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Victor Frost, Chair
Dave Petr
Erik Perrins


Abstract


JUSTIN ROHRER

End-to-End Resilience Mechanisms for Network Transport Protocols

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

James Sterbenz, Chair
Joseph Evans
Victor Frost
David Bonner
Tyrone Duncan*

Abstract


MARK SNYDER

Type-Driven Specification Analysis

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Perry Alexander, Chair
Gunes Ercal-Ozkaya
Andy Gill
Nancy Kinnersley
Jeremy Martin*

Abstract


DEEPAK CHELLAMANI

A Novel DHT Routing Protocol for Manets

When & Where:


1 Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Joseph Evans, Chair
Arvin Agah
Gunes Ercal-Ozkaya


Abstract


ROBERT TYSON THEDINGER

Store and Haul: Improving Mobile Ad-Hoc Network Connectivity through Repeated Controlled Flooding

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

James Sterbenz, Chair
Arvin Agah
Joseph Evans


Abstract


ASHWINI SHIKARIPUR NADIG

Improving Face Recognition Performance Using a Hierarchical Bayesian Model

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Brian Potetz, Chair
Luke Huan
Prasad Kulkarni


Abstract


JASON KROGE

Content-Based Image Retrieval Using Deep Belief Networks

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Brian Potetz, Chair
Xue-Wen Chen
Bo Luo


Abstract