.

Dr Aniko Ekart

Phone number
+44 (0)121 204 3456

Email
a.ekart@aston.ac.uk

Room number
MB 211A

Profile
I joined Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in January 2006.
Previously, I spent six years at the Computer and Automation Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. I first held a junior and then a senior research position there. At the same time I lectured in artificial intelligence at various levels for the Eötvös Loránd University and the Dennis Gábor University in Budapest.

My first lecturing position was at the University of Birmingham where I lectured in artificial intelligence and human computer interaction.

After graduation I spent one year as a teaching assistant at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where I was responsible for laboratory sessions in computer graphics and various programming languages.

Qualifications & Education

  • PhD in Informatics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 2001
  • MSc in Next Generation of Computers, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 1996
  • MSc with Distinction in Computer Science, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 1995

Employment

  • 2006 – date: Lecturer in Computer Science, School of  Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University
  • 2003 – 2006: Senior Researcher, Computer and Automation Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
  • 2001 – 2003: Lecturer in Computer Science, University of Birmingham
Teaching activity    
Computer Science Postgraduate Programme Director

Modules:
CS1140 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CS3410 Interaction Design
CS4650 Interaction Design
CS4400 Project Investigation
CS4700 MSc Project

Research interests
My main research area is evolutionary computation and more specifically genetic programming, their application to engineering and design problems. I am also interested in creative design by computers.

Recent research funding
EPSRC CASE studentship in collaboration with Sirdar Spinning Ltd

PhD Supervision
I am currently supervising 2 PhD students:
  • Steven Dalton
  • Paul Richards
I am happy to supervise new applicants in the areas of evolutionary computation, artificial intelligence, data mining and their application to engineering problems, design.

Membership of Professional Bodies
Association for Computing  Machinery

Selected publications 

Journal articles

Zs. Jankó; D.Chetverikov; A. Ekárt, A.: Using Genetic Algorithms in Computer Vision: Registering Images to 3D Surface Model, Acta Cybernetica, Vol. 18, Nr. 2, pp.193-212, 2007.

E. Lomonosov; D. Chetverikov and A. Ekárt: Pre-registration of Arbitrarily Oriented 3D Surfaces Using a Genetic Algorithm. Pattern Recognition Letters, 27(11):  1201-1208, August 2006.

Zs. Jankó; D. Chetverikov and A. Ekárt: Using a Genetic Algorithm to Register an Uncalibrated Image Pair to a 3D Surface Model. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 19(3): 269-276, April 2006.  

A.Ekárt; S. Z. Németh: Stability Analyis of Tree Structured Decision Functions. European Journal of Operational Research, 160: 676-695, 2005.

S. Gustafson; A. Ekárt; E. Burke and G. Kendall: Problem Difficulty and Code Growth in Genetic Programming. Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, 5(3): 271-290, 2004.

G. Renner; A. Ekárt: Genetic Algorithms in Computer Aided Design. Computer Aided Design, 35(8): 709-726, 2003.

A. Ekárt; A. Márkus: Using Genetic Programming and Decision Trees for Generating Structural Descriptions of Four Bar Mechanisms. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 17(3): 205-220, 2003.

A. Ekárt; S. Z. Németh: Selection Based on the Pareto Nondomination Criterion for Controlling Code Growth in Genetic Programming. Journal of Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, 2(1): 61-73, 2001.

A. Ekárt; S. Z. Németh: A Noncontinuous Generalization of the Arithmetic-Geometric Mean. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 124(2): 261-279, 2001.


Recent conference proceedings

P. Richards, P.; A. Ekárt: Supporting Knitwear Design Using Case-Based Reasoning, CIRP Design Conference, Cranfield University, 30-31 March 2009.
Ekárt, A.: Genetic Programming for the Design of Lace Knitting Stitch Patterns, In R. Ellis; T. Allen and M. Petridis (Eds.) Applications and Innovations in Intelligent Systems XV, Proceedings of AI-2007, the Twenty-seventh SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence, pp. 261-274, Springer.
A. Ekárt; S. Gustafson: A Data Structure for Improved GP Analysis via Efficient Computation and Visualisation of Population Measures. M. Keijzer et al. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Genetic Programming EUROGP'2004, Coimbra, 5-7 April 2004, LNCS volume 3003, pp. 35-46.

A. Ekárt: Analysing the Emerging Properties of Genetic Programs through the iTrees of Populations. Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Emergent Synthesis IWES'04, Budapest, 24-25 May 2004, pp. 61-66.

E. Lomonosov; D. Chetverikov and A. Ekárt: Fully Automatic, Robust and Precise Alignment of Measured 3D Surfaces for Arbitrary Orientations. 28th Annual Workshop of the Austrian Association for Pattern Recognition, Hagenberg, 17-18 June 2004.

A. Ekárt: Using Genetic Algorithms for Improved Discrete Sequence Prediction. The 2003 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Las Vegas, 23-26 June 2003.

A. Ekárt; S. Z. Németh: Maintaining the Diversity of Genetic Programs.  E. Lutton, J. A. Foster, J. Miller, C. Ryan, A. G. B. Tettamanzi (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Genetic Programming, EUROGP'2002, Kinsale, 3-5 April 2002, LNCS volume 2278, pp. 163-172.

A. Ekárt: Genetic Algorithms for Discrete Sequence Prediction. J. Bullinaria (Editor). Proceedings of the UK Workshop on Computational Intelligence UKCI'2002, Birmingham, 2-4 September 2002, pp. 31-36.

A. Ekárt: Genetic Algorithms for Discrete Time Series Prediction. B. Katalinic (Editor). Proceedings of the 13th International DAAAM Symposium, Vienna , 23-26 October 2002.

A. Ekárt; S. Z. Németh: Stability of Distributive and Ideal AHP Models with Respect to the Addition of a New Alternative, Proceedings of ISAHP2001, Bern, 2-4 August 2001.

A. Ekárt; S. Z. Németh: Stability of Tree Based Decision Principles, Proceedings of XIXth EURO Summer Institute, Toulouse, 10-21 September 2001, pp. 67-75.

Edited proceedings

M. Giacobini; A. Brabazon; S. Cagnoni; G.A. Di Caro; R. Drechsler; A. Ekart; A. Esparcia-Alcazar; M. Farooq; A. Fink; J. McCormack; M. O'Neill; J. Romero; F. Rothlauf; G. Squillero; S. Uyar; S. Yang (Eds.): Applications of Evolutionary Computing, EvoWorkshops 2008: EvoCOMNET, EvoFIN, EvoHOT, EvoIASP, EvoMUSART, EvoNUM, EvoSTOC, and EvoTransLog, Lecture Notes in Computer Science , Vol. 4974

M. Ebner, M. O’Reilly, A. Ekárt , L. Vanneschi and A. Esparcia-Alcazar: Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Genetic Programming, EuroGP’2007, 11-13 April 2007, Valencia, Spain, LNCS volume 4445.

P. Collet, M. Tomassini, M. Ebner, S. Gustafson and A.  Ekárt: Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Genetic Programming, EuroGP’2006, 10-12 April 2006, Budapest, Hungary, LNCS volume 3905.