Speech Title: The Role of Time in Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition
Abstract: One of the simplest and the most important human temporal enterprise is to handle time dependent information involving questions such as "when the car was collected from the garage", "what happened after the shop had been closed", and "until when was the suspect away from home" and so on. In fact, time seems to play the role of a common universal reference - everything appears to be related by its temporal reference, although the temporal reference may be absolute, e.g., "The shop opens at 9:00 am", or just relative, e.g., "He went back to his office after sitting in the garden for about 15 minutes”.
Temporal representation and reasoning are ubiquitous and vital in modelling natural phenomena and human activities concerning the dynamic aspect of the real world. Many applications of Artificial Intelligence, notably that of Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition, need to deal with the temporal dimension of data, the change of information over time and the knowledge about how it changes.
The purpose of this talk is to: (a) motivate and explain a topic of emerging importance in Machine Learning; (b) provide an overview on some fundamental issues with respects to temporal ontology; (c) present a brief introduction to temporal representation and reasoning in Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition in terms of some illustrating examples.

Biography: Dr Jixin Ma is a Full Professor of Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) and the Director of PhD/Postgraduate Research Programme in the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at University of Greenwich, U.K. He has been the Director of the Centre for Computer and Computational Science and the Lead of Artificial Intelligence Research Group. Professor Ma is also a Visiting Professor of Beijing Normal University, Hainan University, Anhui University, Zhengzhou Light Industrial University and Macau City University. Professor Ma obtained his BSc and MSc of Mathematics in 1982 and 1988, respectively, and PhD of Computer Sciences in 1994. His main research areas include Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Information Systems, with special interests in Temporal Logic, Information Security, Machine Learning, Case-Based Reasoning and Pattern Recognition. Professor Ma has been a member British Computer Society, American Association of Artificial Intelligence, ACIS/IEEE, World Scientific and Engineering Society, and Special Group of Artificial Intelligence of BCS. He has also been the Editor of several international journals and international conference proceedings, Conference/Program Chair, and Invited Keynote Speakers of many international conferences. Professor Ma has published more than 200 research papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conferences.

Prof. Armin Grasnick
IU International University, Germany

Biography: Armin Grasnick is Professor of Augmented & Virtual Reality at IU International University of Applied Sciences. With a background in technical optics, he has founded a few companies focused on 3D/VR technologies. Prof. Grasnick holds a PhD in autostereoscopic displays from FernUniversität Hagen and brings experience in high-performance lens design and 3D display development to his current role.