Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Cook for successfully passing his PhD dissertation exam!

Dr. Cook’s research centers on developing algorithms that use null space projections within neural networks to add additional functionality. The primary application of this method is detecting out-of-distribution data, such as encountering unexpected objects during Automatic Target Recognition data collections. Moreover, results showed that null space projections could also shed light on how neural networks make decisions, paving the way for potential breakthroughs in explainable AI research. Further experiments examined how architectural modifications, within a neural network, influence the proposed methods’ performance while also compared it with other state-of-the-art algorithms. This work opens up exciting avenues for future research, including task-based data obfuscation and further explorations of explainable AI. We are excited to see more of your future achievements, Dr. Cook!