PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name:

Address:

Phone:

Aylin Koca

5 Derwent Court

16 Dyke Road, Brighton

BN1 3JA,  UK

+44 1273 642920  (office)

+44 1273 328357  (home)

Date of Birth:

Place of Birth:

E-mail:

May 21, 1980

Ankara, TURKEY

Aylin.Koca@itri.brighton.ac.uk

akoca80@hotmail.com

EDUCATION 

2004 – 

November 2007

(anticipated) 

2002 – 2004

August 2003

1998 – 2002

1991 – 1998

University of Brighton, Information Technology Research Institute, Brighton, U.K.

Supervisors: Dr. Roger Evans (principal supervisor), Dr. Sebastian Varges

Thesis Topic: Interpreting Temporal/Eventual Information in Text  for Automating TimeML Tagging

Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

M.Sc., Computer Engineering 

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Varol Akman

Thesis: Semantic Argument Classification and Semantic Categorization of Turkish Existential Sentences Using Support Vector Learning

Courses: Natural Language Processing, Introduction to Semantics, Aspect-Oriented Software Development, Distributed Database Systems, Topics in Graph Theory And Algorithms, Cryptography And Network Security, Applications of Computer Graphics, Implications of the Internet,[ Modern British Fiction I (to the 1950s), British Drama II ].

ESSLLI ’03, Vienna, Austria

Fifteenth European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information

Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

B.Sc., Computer Engineering 

Honor Degree

Courses(Incomplete List): Innovative Product Design and Development I-II, Varieties of Formal Semantics, Principles of User Interface Design, Automata Theory and Formal Languages, Information Retrieval Systems, Software Engineering Project Management, Algorithms I, Intermediate German I-II, Technical Report Writing and Presentation Skills, Shakespeare II (Tragedies, Roman Plays), Database Management Systems, Programming Languages, Computer Networks, Object Oriented Programming, Poetry, The Short Story, Database Management Systems, Data Organization and Management

Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey

(specialized in mathematics and science)

High-Honor Degree

Courses(Incomplete List):  Calculus I-II (AP), Advanced Mathematics (AP), Chemistry I-II-III (AP), Physics I-II (AP)

WORK EXPERIENCE

September 2002 – October 2004

June – August 2001

June – August 2000

Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

Computer Engineering Department, Research Assistant

• Research Interests: Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Computational Linguistics.

William O’Neil + Co. Incorporated, Los Angeles, California, USA

Software Development Department, Software Developer

• Database design/development and software development (ATL COM programming, Visual C++, SQL) for WONDA project

William O’Neil + Co. Incorporated, Los Angeles, California, USA

Software Development Department, Assistant Programmer

• Web based user management system development for the company's intranet (SQL, VBScript, JScript for ASP)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

September 2002 – 2004 

Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

Computer Engineering Department, Research and Teaching Assistant

• Courses Taught: Algorithms and Programming I & II, Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming, Introduction to Programming

SKILLS

Computer

• MS Visual C++, Java, SQL, SQL Server 2000, AspectJ, HyperJ, DJ, VBScript, JScript, Delphi, Pascal, HTML, XML, UML, Windows, DOS, Unix, MS Office

Languages

• Advanced English

• Intermediate German (Zertifikat Deutsch, 2004: 85/100)

• Turkish (native)

TALKS GIVEN

• “Semantic Argument Classification and Semantic Categorization of Turkish Existential Sentences Using Support Vector Learning” (Information Technology Research Institute, University of Brighton, UK, 2004) [slides]
• “Identifying and Assigning Semantic Categories of Turkish Existential Sentences via Support Vector Learning” (ICTL-04: 12^th International Conference on Turkish Linguistics, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey, 2004)
• “Specificity, Automatic Designation and ‘I’ ” (ESSLLI-03: Workshop on “Direct Reference and Specificity” as part of 15th European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information, Vienna Technical University, Austria, 2003.) [slides]
• “An Algorithm Testbed for Cost-Sensitive Classifiers” (TAOSD-03: 1^st Turkish Aspect-Oriented Software Development Workshop, Bilkent University, Turkey, 2003.) [slides]

PUBLICATIONS

•  A Koca. “Semantic Argument Classification and Semantic Categorization of Turkish Existential Sentences Using Support Vector Learning” M.Sc. Thesis, Bilkent University, Ankara, 2004.  
• A Koca. “Identifying and Assigning Semantic Categories of Turkish Existential Sentences via Support Vector Learning” 12^th International Conference on Turkish Linguistics (ICTL '04), Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, 2004. (to appear)
• V Akman, A Koca. “Specificity, Automatic Designation and 'I'” Direct Reference and Specificity, a workshop in 15^th European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information (ESSLLI '03), Vienna, 2003.
• N Ikizler, A Koca, İ E Şahin. “An Algorithm Testbed for Cost-Sensitive Classifiers” 1^st Turkish Aspect-Oriented Software Development Workshop (TAOSD ‘03), Bilkent University, Ankara, 2003.

AWARDS, GRANTS

January 2005

November 2004  – November 2007

August 2004

July 2004

August 2003

September 2002 – November 2004

April 2002

May 2001

June 1999

September 1998

• CLUK grant, University of Brighton, Brighton, England

Covering registration, accommodation, and travel expenses.

• Full Scholarship awarded by University of Brighton, Brighton, England

   

  Including tuition and stipend

• ICTL grant, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

Covering registration, accommodation, travel expenses, and stipend with regard to participating to the conference to present individual research work.

• Zertifikat Deutsch (ZD), Goethe Institut, Ankara, Turkey

Certification of knowledge of German language, due to the fulfillment of the ZD standardized test with a "Good" degree (i.e. 85/100)

• ESSLLI grant, Vienna, Austria

Covering registration, accommodation, travel expenses, with regard to participating to the workshop on “Direct Reference and Specificity”, Vienna, Austria [photos]

• Full Scholarship awarded by Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

Including tuition, stipend, and accommodation

• IYEM prize, Ankara, Turkey

Awarded 3^rd place among 33 innovative projects in an international project competition in IYEM (International Young Entrepreneurs Meeting) organized by “Young Entrepreneurs Club” of Bilkent University [project] [photos]

•  Software Quest 2001, Trivia Quiz prize, Ankara, Turkey

Awarded 1^st place in Trivia Quiz, organized by “Computer Club” of Bilkent University

• Scholarship by “Deutsches Kulturinstitut”, Ankara, Turkey

Partial scholarship for best accomplishment on German final exam

• AP Scholar, USA

Granted AP Scholar designation for college-level achievement on Advanced Placement Examinations (Calculus, Chemistry, Physics)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

·        Co-Organizer of the ITRI (University of Brighton)/NLCL (University of Sussex) Student Workshop, 2005.

·        Full Scholarship offered by Eindhoven Technical University, Eindhoven, Holland (for a joint PhD programme with the Design Technology Institute of National University of Singapore, within the context of the Trader project), 2004.

·        Full Scholarship offered by Twente University, Enschede, Holland (for a PhD position within the context of the Trader project), 2004.

·        Full Scholarship offered by Twente University, Enschede, Holland (for a PhD position within the context of the Network of Excellence in Software Architecture Design), 2004.

·        Have received high-quality job offers -upon earning BSc degree- from many prestigious institutions/organizations/companies such as: Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (Ankara), GVZ Speech Technologies Co. (Istanbul), Tubitak UEKAE (Istanbul), Havelsan (Ankara), Aselsan (Ankara), Koc Systems (Ankara), IBM (Istanbul), Microsoft (Ankara), Procter & Gamble (Istanbul), 2002.

·        Representative of the Engineering Faculty of Bilkent University at the annual awards ceremony "Bilisim 500" organized by Interpro, Istanbul, 2002.

·        Senior project got nominated for Best Senior Project,  Bilkent University, 2002 [slides]

·        Best project group of "Innovative Product Design and Development I-II", 2002 [project] [photos]

·        Student Union representative of the engineering faculty of Bilkent University, 2001

·       Central (visual) coordinator of term project of GE301 course that involved 250 people majoring in electrical, computer and industrial engineering, 2001

·       “Internet and People Club” founder and active member, 2000-2002

·        California driving license, since 2000; and Turkish driving license, since 2002

·       “Computer Club” board member, 1999-2002

·        Admitted to University of Southern California, Industrial and Systems Engineering, 1998

·       Admitted to Syracuse University, Computer Engineering, 1998 (got offered an additional Dean's Award as partial scholarship)

·       Tennis, horseback riding, ice skating, ballroom dancing, piano, ceramics, oil painting, drawing, calligraphy, reading, cinema, travelling