JAESIK CHOI Curriculum Vitae
+1-217-721-8274
jaesik@illinois.edu
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Computer Science
3301 Siebel Center
201 N. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Education
· University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D in Computer Science, 2005May 2012 (expected).
Thesis title: Lifted Inference for Relational Hybrid Models.
Research advisor: Eyal Amir
· Seoul National University, B.S. in Computer Engineering, cum laude, 19972004.
Research Interests
Inference and Learning in Large-Scale Graphical Models, with emphasis on intelligent hybrid (cyber-
physical) systems. My technical work is divided among three areas: (a) scaling up probabilistic reasoning
and learning in hybrid system models, (b) learning large-scale dynamic systems, and (c) a noble combination
of motion planning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) planning for robotic manipulations. Examples of my
works include inference with large relational hybrid graphical models, tracking and monitoring dynamic
systems, and learning graphical models for real-world environmental data. Recent applications of my work
include robot motion planning, groundwater modeling, video retrieval, internet crawling decisions, image-
based email filtering, and web monitoring, among others.
Research Experience
· SRI International. Summer Intern as Student Associate. Created efficient inference algorithms for
large-scale graphical models
with Rodrigo de Salvo Braz and Hung Bui. Published a paper in AAAI-
11. 2010.
· Yahoo! Inc. Labs. Summer Intern. Designed and implemented a feature estimation algorithm using
matrix factorization for large scale web data,
with Hao Zheng and Jianchang Mao. 2008.
· Yahoo! Inc. Mail. Summer Intern. Invented algorithms to block spam mails using artificial intelli-
gence and Machine Learning techniques
with Hao Zheng, Vish Ramarao and Jitendra Malik (Yahoo!
Research Berkeley). Invented two US Patents, #8055078 and #7849146. 2007
· Korea Institute Science and Technology (KIST) & Korea University. Research Programmer. De-
signed and implemented an algorithm that controls a mobile robot for safe navigation
with Woojin
Chung. Published a paper in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. 20042005
Patents
· J. Choi, K. Wei, and V. Ramarao, Filter For Blocking Image-Based Spam, United States Patent No.:
US 8055078, 2011.
· J. Choi, J. Pujara, V. Ramarao, and K. Wei, Identifying IP Addresses For Spammers, United States
Patent No.: US 7849146, 2010.
Papers and Publications
Journal Papers
[1] W. Chung, S. Kim, M. Choi, J. Choi, H. Kim, C. Moon, and J.-B. Song, Safe Navigation of a Mo-
bile Robot Considering Visibility of Environment
, Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on, Vol
56(10), pp. 3941 -3950, 2009.
Proceedings of Peer-Refereed Conferences
[2] T. Xu, A. J. Valocchi, J. Choi and E. Amir Improving Groundwater Flow Model Prediction Using
Complementary Data-Driven Models
, in XIX International Conference on Computational Methods in
Water Resources (CMWR 2012), 2012.
[3] J. Choi, R. de Salvo Braz, and H. Bui, Efficient Methods for Lifted Inference with Aggregate Factors,
in Proceedings of the 25th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-11), 2011.
[4] J. Choi, A. Guzman-Rivera, and E. Amir, Lifted Relational Kalman Filtering, in Proceedings of the
22nd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-11), 2011.
[5] J. Choi, D. J. Hill, and E. Amir, Lifted Inference for Relational Continuous Models, in Proceedings
of the 26th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI 2010), 2010.
[6] H. Hajishirzi, A. Shirzi, J. Choi, and E. Amir, Greedy Algorithms for Sequential Sensing Decisions,
in Proceedings of the 21st International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-09), 2009.
[7] J. Choi and E. Amir, Combining Planning and Motion Planning, in Proceedings of 2009 IEEE Inter-
national Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2009), 2009.
[8] J. Choi, W. Jeon, and S.-C. Lee, Spatio-Temporal Pyramid Matching for Sports Videos, in Proceedings
of ACM International Conference on Multimedia Information Retrieval (MIR2008), 2008.
[9] J. Choi and E. Amir, Factor-Guided Motion Planning for a Robot Arm, in Proceedings of the 2007
IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2007), 2007.
[10] J. Choi, W. Chung, and J.-B. Song, Efficient navigation of mobile robot based on the robot's experi-
ence in human co-existing environment
, in Proceedings of 2005 International Conference on Control,
Automation and Systems (ICCAS 2005), 2005.
Workshop Papers and Abstracts
[11] J. Choi and E. Amir, Combining Planning and Motion Planning: An Extended Abstract, in ICAPS'10
Workshop on Combining Action and Motion Planning (CAMP 2010), 2010. (Invited paper)
[12] J. Choi and E. Amir, Combining Planning and Motion Planning with an Action Formalism, in 9th
Symposium on the Logical Formalizations of Commonsense Reasoning (Commonsense 2009), 2009.
[13] J. Choi and E. Amir, Factored Planning for Controlling a Robotic Arm: Theory, in 5th International
Cognitive Robotics Workshop (CogRob 2006), 2006.
[14] Y. Liu, D. Hill, T. Abdelzaher, J. Heo, J. Choi, B. Minsker, and D. Fazio, Virtual Sensor-Powered
Spatiotemporal Aggregation and Transformation: A Case Study Analyzing Near-Real-Time NEXRAD
and Precipitation Gage Data in a Digital Watershed
, in Environmental Information Management,
2008.
[15] W. Chung, S. Kim, and J. Choi, High speed navigation of a mobile robot based on experiences, in
Proceedings of the 2006 JSME Annual Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics, 2006.
[16] Sanheon Lee, Jaesik Choi, and Hyukjae Lee, A review of detecting and preventing the propagation
of worm in early phase
, in technical report, Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research
Institute, March 2004.
Papers in Preparation
[17] J. Choi, Z. Wang, S.-C. Lee, and W. Jeon, A Spatio-Temporal Pyramid Matching for Video Retrieval,
under review in Computer Vision and Image Understanding (CVIU).
[18] J. Choi and E. Amir, Lifted Relational Variational Inferences, in preparation.
[19] J. Choi and W. Jeon, and E. Amir, Learning and Sampling Pyramids, in preparation.
Teaching Experience
· Guest Instructor, CS 498-EA: Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence,
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Computer Science, Fall 2011.
* Taught inference algorithms with undirected graphical models (or Markov Networks) to advanced
undergraduate and graduate students.
* Incorporated real-world (econometric) examples into the lecture to engage students.
· Teaching Assistant, CS 440: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence,
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Computer Science, taught by Eyal Amir,
Fall 2006.
* Guided students through a semester project, on-road vehicle detection for autonomous cars.
* Provided feedback on codes, and gave additional support for students encountering problems.
· Teaching Assistant, MEC 788: Mobile Robotics,
Korea University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, taught by Woojin Chung, Spring 2005.
Mentoring Experience and Grant Writing
· Research Mentor: an undergraduate student.
Since September 2010, I have continued my work [
], and guided the research of an undergraduate
student, and my description of the project won an Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(REU) grant from NSF (the REU started on May 2011, PI: Eyal Amir).
Select Awards and Honors
· Cognitive Science / Artificial Intelligence Award, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, 2009.
· Graduate Research Fellowship for overseas study, Korea Research Foundation (KRF) - the Korean
NSF, 2005-2007.
· Korean Government Scholarships for overseas study toward energy engineering, Ministry of Com-
merce, Industry and Energy, 2005 (declined)
· The second place, mathematics competition, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, 1995.
· The first place, programming competition, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, 1993.
· Ministry of Science and Technology Award, Korean Programming competition, 1990.
Academic Service
· Program Committee Member for
- AAAI National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-12).
- IJCAI International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-11).
· Reviewer for
- UAI Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI 2011 and UAI 2008).
- ICRA IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2011 and ICRA2010).
- AAAI National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-10 and AAAI-08).
- IROS IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2009 and IROS2007).
- JAIR Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.
- Computational Intelligence.
- Mechatronics.
· Professional organizations:
- IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
- AAAI Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
· Honor Society:
- Tau Beta Pi The Engineering Honor Society.
Invited Talks
· IJCAI-11 Tutorial on Lifted Inference in Probabilistic Logical Models, Lifted Inference with Con-
tinuous Variables
, July 2011 (Presented by a coauthor).
· SRI International, Lifted Inference for Relational Continuous Models, June 2011.
· ICAPS 2010 Workshop on Combining Action and Motion Planning, Combining Planning and Mo-
tion Planning
, May 2010 (Presented by a coauthor).
Industry Experience
· Somansa Co., LTD.. Team lead and Lead programmer. Led a team of 5 software engineers to
develop a web traffic monitoring system for high-traffic networks like Google Analytics
, processed
0.7B pageviews per day (as of 2003) in realtime for a top 5 portal site in Korea. 20002003
Technical Skills
Programming Languages
· Matlab, C, C++, Perl, JAVA, Hadoop, ASP, CGI, and SQL among others.
References
· Assoc. Prof. Eyal Amir
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Computer Science
3314 Siebel Center
201 N. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801-2302
eyal@illinois.edu
(217) 333-8756
· Prof. Dan Roth
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Computer Science
3322 Siebel Center
201 N. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801-2302
danr@illinois.edu
(217) 244-7068
· Prof. Steven M. LaValle
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Computer Science
3318 Siebel Center
201 N. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801-2302
lavalle@illinois.edu
(217) 265-6313
· Prof. David Poole
University of British Columbia
Department of Computer Science
2366 Main Mall
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4
poole@cs.ubc.ca
(604) 822-6254
· Dr. Hung Bui
SRI International
Room EJ290
333 Ravenswood Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3493
bui@ai.sri.com
(650) 859-5352