Zia's Home PageHi! Glad to see you wanted to know a bit more about me. Let me give you a brief overview.
I am a native of Pakistan, born in Karachi on 19 January, 1962. I am the second of three sons born to Brig. (R) Abdul Rahman Siddiqi and Arifa Khatoon Siddiqi. I got my early schooling in Pakistan and came to the United States in 1981 as an undergraduate to Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin.
I graduated from Ripon College in 1984 with majors in Physics and Mathematics. The same year I started graduate work in Electrical Engineering at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. I got my Master's in Electrical Engineering in 1986. My Master's research was on using image processing algorithms for motion detection. The new idea there was to use a biological visual system model for this operation since biological visual systems are excellent at such tasks. I used a model of the human retina which mapped the Cartesian input coordinates to a complex Log polar mapping which was invariant under changes in scale and rotation, and translations were easily detectable. My thesis title was Motion Detection Using a Biologically Based Sensor.
Aside from playing rogue I then went on to get my Ph.D. which I completed in 1989. I continued my Master's work and extended it to target tracking. I had since become interested in neural networks and had also been extremely impressed by the capabilities of the meanest nervous systems in detecting, recognizing, and tracking prey/mate. Conventional computer algorithms for target tracking used complex systems of equations to define the motion of the target with respect to the tracker and then made adjustments. I decided that a simple approach may be the best. The idea was that as long as a target and tracker are on a collision course, the image of the target on the tracker remains centered on it and also expands. If the course shifts, a flow is induced on the tracker. The only corrective action then is to adjust the tracker until the image of the target is again centered. I implemented this algorithm using the competitive learning neural network followed by a self organizing feature map. The results were very promising in computer simulations but then I graduated and went on to other pastures. My Ph.D. Thesis was entitled Algorithms for a Neural Network Implementation of Autonomous Visual Flight control Using Optical Trajectories (Clap! Clap!).
In 1989, I joined Science and Technology Corporation as a research scientist. My research was conducted at the Visual Information Processing Lab at the NASA Langley Research Center on various topics in image processing including image compression, image restoration, and image enhancement using non-linear models. I, along with my co-researchers, have published considerably on these and related topics (Click here for a list of publications). In 1996, I joined the Computer Science Department of the College of William & Mary as a research associate working on information adaptive compression and enhancement. In 2002, I moved from the CS Department to the Applied Science Department, and in 2006, joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Old Dominion University as an Associate Professor.
So much for my professional life!
I told you above that I was a native of Pakistan. I am now a US citizen, naturalized in October, 1993. I am a happy 20+ year husband, married to Katherine Irene Rahman and have 3 sons, Haroun (17-) Kamran (13+), and Noor (12-). We live in Williamsburg, Virginia. Katherine teaches at the Department of Government at the College of William & Mary now, having previously taught at Chatham College in Pittsburgh for 3 years. Can't think of anything else to say on this thread.
I love to read mysteries and horror stories, and have built up quite a collection of my favorite authors. My taste in music is eclectic and my taste in food is mostly non-vegetarian. (I do love Quarter pounders with Cheese.) I also enjoy cooking especially Pakistani food (drool!!).
Well, that is me in a Reader's Digest condensed book version. You can always contact me if you want some more information.
Thanks for taking the time to visit me.
Zia's Home Page