Biographical sketches of authors

Lev Kozakov Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 704, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (kozakov@us.ibm.com). Dr. Kozakov is a research staff member at the Watson Research Center. He received a Ph.D. degree in applied mathematics and computer sciences from M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1983. He has worked in many areas, including dynamic systems, applied statistics, information management systems, man-machine interface, and object-oriented design and programming. His current research interests include information-management frameworks and natural-language-processing technologies. He has published in various fields of computer science and applied mathematics and holds several patents.

Youngja Park Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 704, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (young_park@us.ibm.com). Dr. Youngja Park received a Ph.D. degree in computer science from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. Her research interests lie in natural language processing, and in particular, in unsupervised lexical knowledge acquisition, computational terminology, information extraction, information retrieval, and the semantic Web. She is also interested in genetic algorithms, and especially in applying genetic algorithms to clustering problems.

Tong-Haing Fin Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 704, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (thfin@us.ibm.com). Dr. Fin is a senior software engineer at the Watson Research Center. He received a Ph.D. degree in computer science from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 1982. He has worked in many areas, including computer-supported cooperative work, real-time conferencing and meeting systems, and team-collaboration applications. He is the author of a number of publications in computer science and holds several patents. His current research interests include natural-language-processing technologies, team-collaboration technologies, and designing and prototyping innovative applications in the area of unstructured information management.

Youssef Drissi Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 704, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (youssefd@us.ibm.com). Mr. Drissi is an advisory software engineer at the Watson Research Center. He received an M.S. (diplome des arts et manufactures) degree in computer science from Ecole Centrale de Paris, France. He joined the Watson Research Center in 1998 and worked in various areas, including text analytics, knowledge management, search systems, electronic services, predictive analysis, meta-learning, and Internet messaging frameworks. He is the author of several publications and patents. His current work involves designing and prototyping innovative solutions, applications, tools, and utilities in the area of unstructured information management.

Yurdaer Doganata Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 704, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (yurdaer@us.ibm.com). Dr. Doganata is the manager of the Information Management Solutions group at the Watson Research Center in Hawthorne, New York. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and a Ph.D. degree from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, all in electrical engineering. He joined the Watson Research Center as a research staff member in 1989 and worked on projects in many diverse areas, including high-speed switching systems, multimedia servers, intelligent transportation systems, multimedia collaborative applications, e-services, and information search and retrieval systems for technical support. His current work involves designing and prototyping innovative solutions, applications, tools, and utilities in the area of unstructured information management.

Thomas A. Cofino Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 704, Yorktown Heights New York 10598 (cofino@us.ibm.com). Mr. Cofino is a research staff member and Senior Manager at the Watson Research Center. He joined the company in 1969 and the Research Center in 1974. Mr. Cofino has held numerous technical leadership and management positions within IBM, including the Research Division. He led projects on RFID systems, User Experience and User-Centered Design, text analytics and search systems, and user-interface management systems, including the Guest Services System at Expo 92 in Seville, Spain. He is the author of a number of publications and holds 14 patents. His current work involves designing and prototyping innovative information-retrieval applications in the area of unstructured information management. He holds an M.B.A. degree in management information systems from Iona College, New Rochelle, New York.