About
Bio
Nashlie H. Sephus received her PhD from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia) during Summer 2014 and has started a position with Exponent in New York City. Her core research areas are digital signal processing (mainly music, speech, and image signals), machine learning, and computer engineering/science, and her research has lead to several conference and journal publications. She received her B.S. in Computer Engineering from Mississippi State University (2007) and received her M.S. in ECE at Georgia Tech (2010). She is a native of Jackson, Mississippi, and she has had several internships and research experiences worldwide with companies and research labs, such as the IBM, Delphi, University of California at Berkeley, GE Research Center, and GE Energy. While at Georgia Tech, she has volunteered tutoring and mentoring students of all levels and ages. Lately, she has been one of the lead engineers working on the image recognition algorithms for the startup company and app called Partpic. She will begin a position as an associate with consulting company Exponent following graduation.
Vitae
Acknowledgements
I thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and all who have helped me through this process. My advisors, Dr. Aaron Lanterman and Dr. David Anderson, have pushed me to go the extra mile and to achieve new heights in my research. I thank them and my committee members, Dr. Mark Clements, Dr. William Hunt, Dr. Ayanna Howard, and Dr. Alexander Lerch, for accepting the challenge as we joined forces in this research. I also acknowledge the assistance and counsel from Dr. Chin Lee, Dr. Les Atlas (University of Washington), Dr. Pascal Clark (University of Washington), Dr. Shigeki Sagayama (University of Tokyo--along with PhD student Hideyuki Tachibana), and Dr. Dan P.W. Ellis (Columbia University).
My mentors, especially Dr. Donna Reese (Mississippi State University), Dr. Otis Smart (Emory University), and Mr. Michael Parran, both within and outside of Georgia Tech have motivated me to press on and have guided me in several ways. I thank Dr. Gary May for his efforts to inspire undergraduates in engineering to do research, in particular for founding the Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research at Berkeley (SUPERB). My family, especially my mother (Ms. Tonie M. Sephus) and grandmother (Ms. Betty J. McPherson); friends; teachers and professors of the past and present; church family; and fellow colleagues have provided me with many resources, expertise, and helpful advice. I acknowledge the various people and departments I have worked with at Georgia Tech, such as the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering staff, Jill Auerbach and Julie Ridings from the Opportunities Research Scholars (ORS) Program, the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Office of the Vice President for Institute of Diversity (VPID), the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA), the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC), the Sam Nunn Security Fellowship/McArthur Foundation, the Virtuous Organization of Women (VOW) Bible Study, and the College of Engineering. They have helped to mold me and enrich my Georgia Tech experience. Lastly, I am truly grateful for the Georgia Tech Center for Women, Science, and Technology (WST) and the co-directors Dr. Carol Colatrella, Dr. Mary Frank Fox, and Dr. Mary Lynn Realff who have funded the majority of my PhD research and who have helped to make my dream a reality.