CV

General Information

Full Name Ali Caglayan
Position Senior Researcher
Affiliation National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Education

  • 2011 - 2018
    Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering
    Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
    • Thesis: RGB-D Object Recognition using Deep Learning Techniques.
  • 2005 - 2009
    B.Sc. in Computer Science & Engineering
    Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
    • Graduation project: A web-based system for enhancing vocabulary skills.
  • 2004 - 2005
    Prep. Class, School of Foreign Languages
    Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
  • 2000 - 2004
    Malatya Science High School
    Malatya, Turkey

Employment History

  • 09/2019 - Current
    Senior Researcher (Tenured since 04/2023)
    National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan
    • Develops and contributes to methods for multi-modal indoor object and scene recognition, saliency-driven LiDAR segmentation and odometry, RGB-D indoor mapping, and digital-twin perception.
    • Current work focuses on foundation models for remote sensing, especially Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, including classification, detection, segmentation, and downstream SAR analysis tasks.
    • Technical skills: Python, PyTorch, MATLAB, Git, Unity.
  • 12/2018 - 08/2019
    Research Assistant & Assistant Professor
    Bingol University, Bingol, Turkey
    • Conducted research on colorized 3D/volumetric object recognition and RGB-D indoor mapping/localization.
    • Co-founded the computer engineering undergraduate program.
    • Technical skills: Python, Theano, MATLAB.
  • 02/2011 - 12/2018
    Research & Teaching Assistant
    Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
    • Conducted research on RGB-D object recognition using deep learning.
    • Led lab practicals and recitation sessions, and designed and evaluated assignments, projects, and experiments for computer science courses.
    • Technical skills: Python, Theano, MATLAB, Java, C++, LaTeX.
  • 04/2013 - 09/2016
    Co-founder
    Ming, Ankara, Turkey
    • Co-founded SIYAP, a business process management platform for automating lawyers' case lifecycle workflows in Turkey; designed and implemented the end-to-end system.
    • Technical skills: Java, J2EE, Tomcat Web Server, Spring Security, ZK, JPA, Hibernate, Maven, Apache Velocity, UML, Design Patterns, SVN.
  • 01/2010 - 11/2010
    Software Engineer
    Cybersoft, Ankara, Turkey
    • Developed web services integrating Turkey's Tax Office Automation Project (VEDOP) with other public institutions.
    • Technical skills: Java, C++, J2EE, Tomcat Web Server, Hibernate, Maven, Design Patterns, Web Services, CVS.
  • 10/2009 - 12/2009
    Software Engineer
    LST, Ankara, Turkey
    • Designed and implemented a system to automate applications for foreign candidates seeking to work in Turkey.
    • Technical skills: Java, J2EE, Apache Web Server, Hibernate, Maven, Design Patterns, Oracle ADF, JSF, UML, CVS.

Research Interests

  • Computer vision
  • 2D/3D scene understanding
  • Point cloud understanding
  • Visual simultaneous localization and mapping
  • Foundation models
  • Remote sensing and SAR data analysis