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

Dipen Shah

Multimedia Mobile Unit

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Arvin Agah, Chair
Swapan Chakrabarti
Man Kong


Abstract


MATTHEW COOK

CPM-Based Radar Waveforms for Efficiently Bandlimiting a Transmitted Spectrum

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Shannon Blunt, Chair
Erik Perrins
Jim Stiles


Abstract


KEVIN PLAYER

Linearization using Digital Predistortion of a High-Speed, Pulsed, Radio Frequency Power Amplifier for VHF Radar Depth-Sounder Systems

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Prasad Gogineni, Chair
Fernando Rodriguez-Morales
Sarah Seguin


Abstract


WILLIAM BLAKE

InSAR for Fine-resolution Basal Ice Sheet Imaging

When & Where:


317 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Chris Allen, Chair
Shannon Blunt
Carl Leuschen
Glenn Prescott
David Braaten*

Abstract


HEATHER OWEN

Design and Development of an Amplitude Leveling Subsystem for FM Radar

When & Where:


317 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Prasad Gogineni, Chair
Chris Allen
Sarah Seguin


Abstract


JOHN GIBBONS

Friend Lens: Novel Web Content Sharing through Strategic Manipulation of Cached HTML

When & Where:


2001B Eaton Hall

Committee Members:

Arvin Agah, Chair
Jim Miller
Brian Potetz


Abstract


BING HAN

Integrative Method for Differential Gene Networks Detection and Analysis

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Xue-Wen Chen, Chair
Arvin Agah
Jerzy Grzymala-Busse
Luke Huan
Gerald Lushington*

Abstract


MANJIRI NAMJOSHI

Towards Future Method Hotness Prediction for Virtual Machines

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Prasad Kulkarni, Chair
Perry Alexander
Andy Gill


Abstract


GABRIEL WISHNIE

A Complex Event Routing Infrastructure for Distributed Systems

When & Where:


155 Regnier Hall

Committee Members:

Hossein Saiedian, Chair
Bo Luo
Gunes Ercal-Ozkaya


Abstract


GEOFFREY AKERS

An Approach to Ground Moving Target Indication Using Multiple Resolutions of Mutlilook Synthetic Aperture Radar

When & Where:


246 Nichols Hall

Committee Members:

Jim Stiles, Chair
Shannon Blunt
Dave Petr
Glenn Prescott
Tyrone Duncan*

Abstract