Rezumat in limba romana Teza de abilitare intitulata Contributii la tehnici de prelucrare a datelor cu aplicatii in tehnologia informatiei si electrotehnologii, prezinta realizarile stiintifice, profesionale si academice dupa obtinera titlului de doctor in urma sustinerii publice a tezei de doctorat in data de 5 decembrie 2005 la Universitatea Tehnica din Tampere, Finlanda. De asemenea, teza prezinta, directii viitoare de dezvoltare in cariera profesionala, abordand atat aspecte stiintifice cat si educationale. Am obtinut doctoratul cu teza intitulata "Image Analysis and Understanding Techniques with Application to Content Bases Image Manipulation". In urma doctoratului, mi-am continuat cariera profesionala in cadrul Centrului IT pentru Stiinta si Tehnologie (CITST), pe care l-am fondat in anul 2007 in Bucuresti, Romania. CITST este un IMM orientat spre cercetare si abordari integrative ale cercetarii interdisciplinare. In cadrul CITST am fost implicat in mai multe proiecte de cercetare de tip grant, atat nationale cat si europene, realizari prezentate in partea de inceput a acestei teze. Rezultatele obtinute au fost prezentate in mai multe articole, asa cum este detaliat in lista de publicatii. Sectiunea 2.1.1 este dedicata "TIC pentru Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) ", domeniu pentru care exista o preocupare din ce in ce mai mare, atat in Europa, cat si in intreaga lume. Schimbarile demografice actuale vor influenta negativ importante aspecte sociale si economice daca nu se gasesc solutii care sa ajute persoanle varstnice in a mentine o stare buna de sanatate, in a fi independente si autonome pe o perioada cat mai indelungata. In acest context, Tehnologia Informatiei si Comunicatiilor (TIC) are un semificativ potential in dezvoltarea de tehnologii de tip AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) care sa fie usor de utilizat si accesibile varstnicilor. In cadrul a doua proiecte europene, am contribuit la dezvoltarea a doua platforme AAL (NITICS si CAMI) care ofera solutii TIC integrate, modulare, flexibile, usor de utilizat si de extins. Platforma NITICS cuprinde tehnologii pentru detectarea caderilor, alerte, monitorizarea sanatatii, monitorizarea activitatii la domiciliu, etc. In CAMI, sunt implicat in crearea unui cadru cu o arhitectura inovatoare, care este bazata la toate nivelele pe inteligenta artificiala (AI) si care permite integrarea fara probleme a unui numar mare de senzori cu platforme robotice. Contributia mea la dezvoltarea celor doua platforme s- a axat in principal catre dezvoltarea arhitecturii sistemului, dezvoltarea software-ului distribuit, interfetele multimodale si integrarea robotica. Tot in domeniul AAL, am participat ca si responsabil al proiectului Mobile@Old la dezvoltarea unei platforme care propune dezvoltarea de jocuri pe calculator concepute special pentru persoanele in varsta, cu scopul de a intarzia, atat degradarea fizica, cat si cea cognitiva. Jocurile sunt prezentate sub forma diferitelor exercitii interactive, ca joc adaptiv, personalizate functie de capacitatile utilizatorului. Sectiunea 2.1.2 este dedicata "Electro-tehnologiilor". In acest domeniu se inscriu un numar mare de tehnologii precum si domenii de aplicatie. Sectiunea dedicata electro-tehnologiilor descrie aplicatii in diverse domenii, cum ar fi productia de nano-fibre prin electrofilare,
inactivarea microorganismelor in produse alimentare si produse de panificatie prin tratamente cu radiofrecventa sau prin combinarea campurilor electrice pulsatorii si tratamente sub presiune. In toate cazurile, dezvoltarea tehnologica are la baza dezvoltarea modelului teoretic pentru stabilirea parametrilor optimi de proces si proiectarea tehnologiei. De exemplu, pe baza modelelor teoretice si a observatiilor experimentale, am propus o metodologie de proiectare a experimentelor electrospinning. Diametrul dorit al fibrelor trebuie sa fie determinat pe baza domeniului specific de aplicare al materialului electrofilat. Conductivitatea si valorile vascozitatii sunt determinate apoi pe baza valorilor stabilite pentru diametru. Procesul poate fi controlat in continuare prin debitul utilizat si tensiunea aplicata. In cadrul proiectului RAFSIF, modelele teoretice propuse au fost utilizate in proiectarea si construirea unui dispozitiv de tratare cu radiofrecventa a produselor de panificatie. Dispozitivul proiectat permite automatizarea procesului printr-un control automat al impedantei dintre generatorul RF si camera de tratare. Sectiunea 2.1.2 este dedicata procesarii de imagini, minarii de date precum si calculului in medii extreme. Procesarea imaginilor este utilizata pentru monitorizarea si evaluarea automata a infrastructurii rutiere si in particular a pavajului. Aceasta este corelata cu estimarile cost / beneficiu implementate intr-o platforma elaborata de alte echipe din cadrul proiectului PAV3M. Rezultatul, este o platforma integrata de gestionare a drumurilor, care vine in sprijinul agentiilor de transport si a companiilor care executa lucrari de constructii si de reabilitare a drumurilor. Procesarea datelor, din cadrul proiectului MCVRO finantat la nivel national, are ca scop identificarea conceptelor din documentele vechi romanesti care au fost scanate si convertite in diferite formate text, prin recunoasterea optica a caracterelor (ROC). De asemenea, pe partea de prelucrare a datelor, am contribuit la dezvoltarea platformei Cubert, care a fost conceputa ca un mediu de calcul paralel capabil sa functioneze in medii de radiatii ridicate, de exemplu in misiuni spatiale. Redundanta, este una dintre caracteristicile care fac ca sistemul sa fie tolerant la erori. Platforma Cubert foloseste o redundanta fizica pentru ca sistemul, ca intreg, sa tolereze pierderea sau defectiunea anumitor componente. Hardware-ul consta dintr-un grup de 64 de noduri computationale care executa acelasi program atribuit acestora, intr-un mod asincron, independent unul de celalalt. Sectiunea dedicata principalelor directii de dezvoltare a carierei prezinta cercetarea si interesele academice pe care le voi urmari. Acestea includ dezvoltari ulterioare in domeniul TIC pentru AAL, cu accent pe categoriile vulnerabile (de exemplu varstnicii care sufera de dementa) si pe integrarea platformelor robotice in mediile AAL. De asemenea, voi continua, sa lucrez la dezvoltarea tehnologiei de electrofilare prin implementarea unui control mai bun al productiei de nano-fibre si prin dezvoltarea de tehnologii hibride care combina electrofilarea cu electropulverizarea. Pe partea de procesare a imaginilor, imi voi concentra eforturile in domeniul de robotic vision, fiind interesat atat de aplicatii de tip AAL cat si de roboti care sa ofere servicii de indrumare si informare in medii precum spatii expozitionale, malluri, spitale, muzee, banci, etc. Eforturile viitoare pentru dezvoltarea platformei Cubert vor cuprinde dezvoltarea hardware prin integrarea de unitati de procesare de inalta performanta. Pe partea de software, voi lucra de exemplu, la imbunatatirea algoritmului pentru a gestiona si situatiile in care legaturile dintre nodurile de calcul au fost deteriorate.
Voi continua si extinde colaborarea cu universitati si institute de cercetare, astfel incat sa implicam un numar cat mai mare de studenti in cadrul proiectelor de cercetare si dezvoltare CITST. Obtinerea abilitarii imi va permite sa indrum in mod direct, ca si coordonator de doctorat, studentii implicati in proiectele de ecrcetare. O parte integranta a activitatii mele o va constitui publicarea de articole stiintifice precum si contributii la manuale si carti. Continuarea si sustenabilitatea cercetarii si dezvoltarii vor fi sprijinite de extinderea retelei actuale de colaborare la nivel national si european. Ma voi implica activ in pregatirea de proiecte de tip grant cat si in obtinerea de contracte de cercetare cu mediul academic si industrial. English language summary This habilitation thesis entitled Contributions to data processing techniques with applications to information technology and electrotechnologies is presenting my scientific, professional and academic achievements after the public defense of the Ph.D. Thesis on the 5th of December, 2005. The thesis is also presenting future directions of development in the professional career by addressing both scientific and educational aspects. I obtained my Ph.D. degree in Engineering from Tampere University of Technology, Finland, with the thesis entitled Image Analysis and Understanding Techniques with Application to Content Bases Image Manipulation". Following my Ph.D. I continued my professional career at the Centrul IT pentru Stiinta si Tehnologie (CITST) which I co-founded in 2007 in Bucharest, Romania. CITST is a research oriented SME targeting integrative approaches to interdisciplinary research. Within CITST I was involved in several research grants, both national and European, which lead to the developments and achievement presented in section 2 of this thesis. The work was reported in several articles, as outlined in my list of publications. Section 2.1.1 is dedicated to ICT for Ambient Assisted Living, a field which is addressing a growing concern in Europe and also worldwide. The current demographic changes will have significant social, economic and budgetary impact unless intelligent solutions are develop that support people in remaining healthy, independent and autonomous long into their old age. In this context, information and communication technologies (ICT) is considered as an important enabler of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions that are user friendly, accessible and widely available on the market. In the context of two European projects I have contributed to the development of two AAL platforms (NITICS and CAMI) which offer integrated ICT solutions which are modular, flexible and easy expandable. The NITICS platform comprises technologies for fall detection, alerts, health monitoring, monitoring activity in the home, etc. In CAMI, I am involved in creating a framework with an innovative architecture relying from its very core to its higher layers on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and allowing a seamless integration of any number of sensors and home appliances with commercial robotic platforms. My contribution is at several levels in the development of both NITICS and CAMI with focus on system architecture, distributed software development, multimodal interfaces and robotic integration. In addition, Mobile@Old, a national AAL grant, is developing computer games specifically designed for elderly people with the aim of
delaying both physical and cognitive degradation. The games are presented in the form of various exercises performed interactively, as an adaptive game, and personalized to the user s capabilities. Section 2.1.2 is dedicated to Electrotechnologies which encompass a wide number of technologies and application areas. In this section applications in various domains such as production of nano-fibers through electrospinning, micro-organism inactivation in food and bakery products through radiofrequency treatments or by combing pulsed electric fields and pressure treatments. In all cases, the technological development was supported by theoretical model development for establishing optimal processes and device parameters. For example, based on the theoretical models and experimental observations we propose a methodology for the design of electrospinning experiments. The desired fiber diameter has to be determined based on the particular application domain of the electrospun material. Conductivity and viscosity values are determined next based on the established diameter values. The process can be further controlled by the flow rate and the applied voltage. Within RAFSIF the proposed theoretical models were used in designing and building a Radio Frequency (RF) treatment device which allows automation of the process through an automated control of the impedance between the RF generator and the treatment room. Section 2.1.2 is dedicated to Image processing, data mining and computing in extreme environments. Image processing is employed for automatic pavement monitoring and assessment. This is coupled with cost/benefit estimations developed by other teams with the PAV3M project. The result is an integrated platform to support road management needs of transportation agencies, construction and road rehabilitation companies. Data mining within the nationally funded MCVRO project has as goal to identify concepts in old Romanian documents which were scanned and converted to various text-like formats through optical character recognition (OCR). Also on the data processing side, I have contributed the development of the Cubert platform which has been designed as a parallel resilient computing environment able to operate in high radiation environments, e.g. on space missions. Redundancy is one of the features that make a system fault tolerant. The Cubert platform uses physical redundancy in order for the system as a whole to tolerate the loss or malfunctioning of some components. The hardware consists of a group of 64 computational nodes which are executing the same program assigned to them, in an asynchronous manner, independently of one another. The section dedicated to main directions for future career development is presenting the research and academic interests which I will pursue. These include further developments in the field of ICT for AAL with focus on sensitive categories of elderly (e.g. suffering with dementia) and the integration of robotic platforms in AAL environments. I will also continue my work on the development of electrospinning technologies by implementing a better control over the production of nano-fibers and by developing hybrid technologies combining electrospinning with electrospraying. On the image processing side, I will concentrate on robotic vision with applications in AAL and service robots. Future work for the development of the Cubert platform will comprise hardware development by considering integration of higher performance processing units. On the software side, I will work for example on
enhancing the leader election algorithm to also handle situations in which the links between computational nodes have been damaged. I will continue and extend my collaboration with universities and research institutes such as to involve students at various levels of their studies in the research and development projects at CITST. A successful habilitation will allow me to directly act as Ph.D. supervisor of the involved students. Article writing and editing of books will also be an integral part of my activity. A natural process which will allow continuation and sustainability of my research is extending the current collaboration network through direct contacts and also within national and European collaborations. Consequently, I will be actively involved in gathering funding through grants and also by offering our expertise to both industry and academia.